Ach wärst du mein, es wär' ein schönes Leben!
So aber ists Entsagen nur und Trauern,
Und ein verlornes Grollen und Bedauern;
Ich kann es meinem Schicksal nicht vergeben.
Undank tut wohl und jedes Leid der Erde;
Ja! meine Freund' in Särgen, Leich' an Leiche,
Sind ein gelinder Gram, wenn ichs vergleiche
Dem Schmerz, daß ich dich nie besitzen werde.
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Text Authorship:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Leopold Damrosch (1832 - 1885), "An *", op. 8 no. 5 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Hans Fleischer (1896 - 1981), "Ach, wärst du mein", op. 71 (6 Lieder für mittlere Singstimme und Klavier) no. 2 (1930) [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by (Leonard Johann Heinrich) Albert Fuchs (1858 - 1910), "Ach wärst du mein, es wär' ein schön'res Leben", published 1879 [ mezzo-soprano or soprano or tenor and piano ], from Sechs Lieder für Mezzo-Sopran (oder Sopran oder Tenor) mit Pianofortebegleitung, no. 5, Leipzig, Rieter-Biedermann [sung text not yet checked]
- by Adalbert von Goldschmidt (1848 - 1906), "Ach wärst du mein!", published 1893 [ voice and piano ], from Neue Lieder und Gesänge, no. 8, note: this may be the wrong text for this setting ; Leipzig, Breitkopf & Härtel [sung text not yet checked]
- by Adolph Gollmick (1825 - 1883), "Ach, wärst du mein" [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Richard Georg Strauss (1864 - 1949), "O wärst du mein!", op. 26 (Zwei Lieder nach Nicolaus Lenau) no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2020, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , copyright © 2019, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Emily Ezust) , "To *", copyright ©
- FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "A *", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust
[Administrator] , Johann Winkler
This text was added to the website: 2004-05-08
Line count: 8
Word count: 65
Ah if you were mine, it would be a finer life,
But instead it is only renunciation and grief,
And wasted lament and regret.
I cannot forgive my fate.
Ingratitude is good, and all the sorrow on earth;
Yes, my friends in coffins, corpse upon corpse -
All these are small griefs when I compare them to
The agony that I will never possess you.
