To the yearned-for one | I have christened you Switch, because you are so slender

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by Richard Fedor Leopold Dehmel (1863 - 1920)

Translation © by Sharon Krebs

An die Ersehnte

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG

Ich habe dich Gerte getauft, weil du so schlank bist
und weil mich Gott mit dir züchtigen will,
und weil eine Sehnsucht in deinem Gang ist
wie in schmächtigen Pappeln im April.

Ich kenne dich nicht - aber eines Tages
wirst du im Sturm an meine Türe klopfen,
und ich werde öffnen auf dies Klopfen,
und meine zuchtlose Brust wird gleichen Schlages
an Deine zuchtlosen Brüste klopfen.

Denn ich kenne dich - deine Augen glänzen wie Knospen,
und du willst blühen, blühen, blühen!
und deine jungen Gedanken sprühen
wie gepeitschte Sträucher an Sturzbächen;
und du möchtest wie ich den Stürmen Gottes trotzen
oder zerbrechen!

View text with all available footnotes

Confirmed with Richard Dehmel, Gesammelte Werke in drei Bänden, Band 1, S. Fischer Verlag, Berlin, 1920, page 19.

Text Authorship:

by Richard Fedor Leopold Dehmel (1863 - 1920), "An die Ersehnte" [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 Ján Móry (1892 - 1978), "An die Ersehnte", op. 16 (Drei Lieder) no. 2 [ voice and piano ], Berlin: Verlag von Ries & Erler [sung text checked 1 time]

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

ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "To the yearned-for one", copyright © 2025, (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: 2024-02-04
Line count: 15
Word count: 102

To the yearned‑for one

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

I have christened you Switch, because you are so slender
and because God wishes to chastise me with you,
and because there is a yearning in your walk
as in delicate poplars in April.

I do not know you -- but someday
you shall knock at my door during a storm,
and I shall open to this knocking,
and with the same beat my dissolute breast
shall knock upon your dissolute breasts.

For I know you -- your eyes gleam like buds,
and you wish to blossom, blossom, blossom!
and your young thoughts spark forth
like whipped shrubs at the plunging brooks;
and, like me, you wish to defy the storms of God
or break into pieces!

View text with all available footnotes

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2025 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 Richard Fedor Leopold Dehmel (1863 - 1920), "An die Ersehnte"
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2025-01-02
Line count: 15
Word count: 115