LiederNet logo

CONTENTS

×
  • Home | Introduction
  • Composers (20,508)
  • Text Authors (20,318)
  • Go to a Random Text
  • What’s New
  • A Small Tour
  • FAQ & Links
  • Donors
  • DONATE

UTILITIES

  • Search Everything
  • Search by Surname
  • Search by Title or First Line
  • Search by Year
  • Search by Collection

CREDITS

  • Emily Ezust
  • Contributors (1,121)
  • Contact Information
  • Bibliography

  • Copyright Statement
  • Privacy Policy

Follow us on Facebook

by Hans Christian Andersen (1805 - 1875)
Translation by Julius Thomsen, Dr. (flourished c1849)

Agnete var elsket, uskyldig og god
Language: Danish (Dansk) 
Agnete var elsket, uskyldig og god, 
Sligt Hjerte har aldrig en ond Draabe Blod;
Hun var som Guds Engle og mild som Guds Sol.
Og dog saa beskeden, som Markens Viol.
O Gud, hvor mit Hjerte maa lide!

Den fattige Fugl sad paa Grenen og sang,
Men hun saae alene paa Bølgernes Gang.
Der klang det saa listigt, ei vidste hun hvad;
Hun hørte paa Havmandens lokkende Kvad.
O Gud! hvor mit Hjerte maa lide!

Den Havmand, han nævned' saa sødt hendes Navn,
Hun glemte sin Jesum og sprang i hans Favn;
-- Ak, sand er min Vise, men det er ei stort!
Den fattige Fugl har selv Visen gjort.
O Gud! hvor mit Hjerte maa lide! --

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

•   N. Gade 

About the headline (FAQ)

View text with all available footnotes

Text Authorship:

  • by Hans Christian Andersen (1805 - 1875), appears in Agnete og Havmanden [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 Niels Wilhelm Gade (1817 - 1890), "Vise", 1843 [ voice and piano ], from Agnete og Havmanden, no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]
  • by Halfdan Kjerulf (1815 - 1868), "Romance af Agnete og Havmanden", op. 1 (Seks sange) no. 2, HK. 15 (1840?) [ voice and piano ]
        Score: IMSLP [external link]  [sung text checked 1 time]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

  • Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Julius Thomsen, Dr. (flourished c1849) , "Am Ufer", subtitle: "(Der Mond scheint auf's Wasser)", appears in Andersens Dichtungen. Auswahl in deutscher Übertragung, first published 1849 ; composed by Ludwig Schnorr von Carolsfeld.
    • Go to the text.

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2009-07-09
Line count: 15
Word count: 119

Geliebt war Agnete, voll Unschuld und...
Language: German (Deutsch)  after the Danish (Dansk) 
Geliebt war Agnete, voll Unschuld und gut,
ihr Herz hatte nie einen Tropfen bös' Blut;
Wie die Sonn', wie die Engel so mild war ihr Herz,
und doch so bescheiden wie's Veilchen im März.
O Gott, wie mein Herze muss leiden!

Der arme Vogel saß singend im Baum,
sie hatte nur Aug' für den wogenden Raum.
Sie wusste nicht, was ihr so lieblich klang,
sie lauschte des Meergottes lockendem Sang.
O Gott, wie mein Herze muss leiden!

Der Meergott hat mild sie beim Namen genannt,
da, Jesum vergessend, sie sprang von dem Strand.
Ach, wahr ist die Weise, ob viel auch nicht wert,
der arme Vogel hat selbst sie gelehrt.
O Gott, wie mein Herze muss leiden!

Available sung texts:   ← What is this?

•   L. Schnorr von Carolsfeld 

About the headline (FAQ)

View text with all available footnotes

Confirmed with Andersens Dichtungen. Auswahl in deutscher Übertragung von Dr. Julius Thomsen, Altona, 1849. Note: the poem is preceded by the character name "Ein Fischer" with the directive "(singt im Boote)".


Text Authorship:

  • by Julius Thomsen, Dr. (flourished c1849), "Am Ufer", subtitle: "(Der Mond scheint auf's Wasser)", appears in Andersens Dichtungen. Auswahl in deutscher Übertragung, first published 1849 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Based on:

  • a text in Danish (Dansk) by Hans Christian Andersen (1805 - 1875), appears in Agnete og Havmanden
    • Go to the text page.

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

  • by Ludwig Schnorr von Carolsfeld (1836 - 1865), "Hemmings Lied aus Agnete" [ soprano or tenor and piano ], from Neun Lieder für Sopran oder Tenor mit Begleitung des Pianoforte von Ludwig und Malvina Schnorr von Carolsfeld, herausgegeben von Malvina Schnorr von Carolsfeld, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Johann Winkler

This text was added to the website: 2026-01-03
Line count: 15
Word count: 120

Gentle Reminder

This website began in 1995 as a personal project by Emily Ezust, who has been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your help is greatly appreciated!
–Emily Ezust, Founder

Donate

We use cookies for internal analytics and to earn much-needed advertising revenue. (Did you know you can help support us by turning off ad-blockers?) To learn more, see our Privacy Policy. To learn how to opt out of cookies, please visit this site.

I acknowledge the use of cookies

Contact
Copyright
Privacy

Copyright © 2026 The LiederNet Archive

Site redesign by Shawn Thuris