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Du fragst mich, Mädchen, was flüsternd der West Vertraue den Blüthenglocken? Warum von Zweige zu Zweig im Geäst Die zwitschernden Vögel sich locken? Warum an Knospe die Knospe sich schmiegt, Und Wellen mit Wellen zerfließen, Und dem Mondstrahl, der auf den Kelchen sich wiegt, Die Violen der Nacht sich erschließen? O thörichtes Fragen! Wem Wissen frommt, Nicht kann ihm die Antwort fehlen; Drum warte, mein Kind, bis die Liebe kommt, Die wird dir Alles erzählen!
About the headline (FAQ)
View text with all available footnotesConfirmed with Gesammelte Werke des Grafen Adolf Friedrich von Schack, Erster Band, Stuttgart: Velag der J.G. Cotta'schen Buchhandlung, 1883, page 386
Text Authorship:
- by Adolf Friedrich, Graf von Schack (1815 - 1894), "Das Geheimniß" [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 Reinhold Becker (1842 - 1924), "Das Geheimniss", op. 11 (Zwei Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 1, published 1881 [ voice and piano ], Dresden, Ries [sung text not yet checked]
- by R. Fried , "Das Geheimniss", op. 3 (Fünf Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 5, published 1890 [ voice and piano ], Berlin, Raabe & Plothow [sung text not yet checked]
- by (Leonard Johann Heinrich) Albert Fuchs (1858 - 1910), "Das Geheimniss", op. 22 (Drei Lieder für 1 mittlere Stimme und Pianofortebleitung) no. 2, published 1887 [ medium voice and piano ], Dresden, Hoffarth [sung text not yet checked]
- by Julius Neugebauer , "Das Geheimniss", op. 50 (Sechs Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianofortebegleitung) no. 6, published 1880 [ voice and piano ], Breslau, Hientzsch [sung text not yet checked]
- by Max Spicker (1858 - 1912), "Das Geheimniss", op. 21 (Drei Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 3, published 1888 [ voice and piano ], Berlin, Fr. Luckhardt [sung text not yet checked]
- by Richard Georg Strauss (1864 - 1949), "Das Geheimnis", op. 17 (Sechs Lieder von Adolf Friedrich Graf von Schack) no. 3 (1885-7), published 1888 [ high voice and piano ], Hamburg, Rahter [sung text checked 2 times]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2016, (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 (Sharon Krebs) , copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Le secret", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Il segreto", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Alberto Pedrotti , Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 76
You ask me, maiden, what the west wind whisperingly Confides to the flower-bells of the blossoms? Wherefore from branch to branch in the boughs The chirping birds woo each other? Why bud snuggles up to bud, And wave dissolves into wave, And why the violas of the night open themselves To the moonbeam that disports itself upon their calyces? Oh foolish questioning! He who benefits from knowledge Cannot lack an answer to your questions; Therefore wait, my child, until Love comes, Love shall tell you everything.
About the headline (FAQ)
View text with all available footnotesTranslated titles:
"Das Geheimniß (Geheimnis, Geheimniss)" = "The mystery"
"Geheimnis" = "Mystery"
Text Authorship:
- Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2014 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 Adolf Friedrich, Graf von Schack (1815 - 1894), "Das Geheimniß"
This text was added to the website: 2014-05-08
Line count: 12
Word count: 87