An den See | An dies Schifflein schmiege

An dies Schifflein schmiege

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: CAT DUT ENG ENG FRE

  An dies Schifflein schmiege,
Holder See, dich sacht!
Frommer Liebe Wiege,
Nimm sie wohl in Acht!

  Deine Wellen rauschen;
Rede nicht so laut!
Laß mich ihr nur lauschen,
Die mir viel vertraut!

  Deine Wellen leuchten,
Spiegeln uns zurück
Tausendfach die feuchten
Augen voller Glück.

  Deine Wellen zittern
Von der Sonne Glut;
Ob sie's heimlich wittern,
Wie die Liebe tut?

  Weit und weiter immer
Rück den Strand hinaus!
Aus dem Himmel nimmer
Laß uns steigen aus!

  Fern von Menschenreden
Und von Menschensinn,
Als ein schwimmend Eden
Trag dies Schifflein hin!

Available sung texts: ← What is this?

• J. Brahms • J. Lang

J. Brahms sets stanzas 1-2, 4-6

About the headline (FAQ)

View text with all available footnotes

Confirmed with Gedichte von C. Reinhold, Stuttgart: C. Mäcken, Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1853, pages 41-42.

First published in the periodical Morgenblatt, November 9, 1840 (No. 268).

Note to Lang's setting: Lang was working a text that Köstlin had copied out for her (Christian Reinhold Köstlin’s poetry manuscripts, Cod.hist. 4º 437, Fasz. 10a Nr. 1, poem [23], Württembergische Landesbibliothek, Stuttgart, Germany); in that copy the poem began with "Um." With the exception of "rauschen" in stanza 3 (which was Lang's error) all the other differences are also from that poetry manuscript.

Text Authorship:

by Christian Reinhold (1813 - 1856), no title, written 1840, appears in Gedichte, in Lieder und vermischte Gedichte, in Seelieder, no. 11, first published 1840 [author's text checked 2 times 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 Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897), "Auf dem See", op. 106 (Fünf Lieder) no. 2 (1885), published 1888, stanzas 1-2,4-6 [ voice and piano ], Berlin, Simrock [sung text checked 1 time]
by Josephine Lang (1815 - 1880), "An den See", op. 14 (Sechs deutsche Lieder) no. 4 (1841), published 1848 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig, Breitkopf und Härtel [sung text checked 1 time]

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

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: 89