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Auf langer Haide wallt Die Wolke [kreuz und quer.]1 Sie geht ohn' Aufenthalt, Sie wandert hin und her. O käm' sie doch zum Felsensprung, Der niederstürtzt ins Thal! Sie möcht' hinab in raschem Schwung, -- Sie träumt es tausendmal. Vergebens daß sie späht Das geht in gleichem Lauf. Verloren nieder geht Der Weg und schleicht sich auf. Ist denn kein Vogel hier herum, [Zu weisen ihr]2 den Weg? Auf öder Haid' ist alles stumm; Kein Mensch betritt den Steg. [So]3 kommt sie endlich auch Zum [Bergsee still]4 und tief, Im Schilf ein müder Hauch, O wer da [drunten]5 schlief'! Und leise, leise dehnt sich hin Darauf das sanfte Grau, Und thaut und sinkt und stirbt darin,-- Der See dann lächelt blau.
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)Confirmed with C. Reinhold, Gedichte, Stuttgart: Carl Mäcken, 1853, page 68.
1 Lang: "hin und her"2 Lang: "Der zeigte mir"; this was the wording in both of Köstlin’s poetry manuscripts, which Lang would have used as her source, since she composed the song ten years before the poem was published.
3 Lang: "Und"
4 Lang: "Berg-See schwarz"
5 Lang: "unten"
Text Authorship:
- by Christian Reinhold (1813 - 1856), "Die Wolke", written 1843, appears in Gedichte, in Lieder und vermischte Gedichte, first published 1853 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Josephine Lang (1815 - 1880), "Die wandernde Wolke", op. 12 (Sechs Lieder) no. 6 (1843), published 1845 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig, Kistner [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , copyright © 2006, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 24
Word count: 126
On the wide heath undulates The cloud [every which way]1, It wanders without stopping, It wanders back and forth, Oh, if it only came to the cliff's edge, Which plummets down to the valley! It would want to descend with a rapid sweep, -- It dreams of it a thousand times. It is for naught that it peers [about], Everything runs in the same pattern, The pathway loses itself in its descent And creeps back up [again]. Is there no bird around here Who could show [it]2 the way? On the barren heath, everything is mute, No one sets foot upon the path. [Thus]3 finally [the cloud] comes To the mountain lake, [still]4 and deep. In the reeds there moves a weary breath. Oh, [how fortunate is he] who sleeps down there. And quietly, quietly the gentle greyness [Of the cloud] stretches itself [over the lake], And melts and sinks and dissolves therein, -- The lake then smiles in blueness.
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)Translated titles:
"Die Wolke" = "The cloud"
"Die wandernde Wolke" = "The wandering cloud"
2 Lang: "me"; this was the wording in both of Köstlin’s poetry manuscripts, which Lang would have used as her source, since she composed the song ten years before the poem was published.
3 Lang: "And"
4 Lang: "black"
Text Authorship:
- Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2006 by Sharon Krebs, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
Based on:
- a text in German (Deutsch) by Christian Reinhold (1813 - 1856), "Die Wolke", written 1843, appears in Gedichte, in Lieder und vermischte Gedichte, first published 1853
This text was added to the website: 2006-11-26
Line count: 24
Word count: 164