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Ich denke dein, wenn mir der Sonne Schimmer Vom Meere strahlt; Ich denke dein, wenn sich des Mondes Flimmer In Quellen mahlt. Ich sehe dich, wenn auf dem fernen Wege Der Staub sich hebt; In tiefer Nacht, wenn auf dem schmalen Stege Der Wandrer bebt. Ich höre dich, wenn dort mit dumpfem Rauschen Die Welle steigt. Im stillen Haine geh' ich oft zu lauschen, Wenn alles schweigt. Ich bin bei dir, du seyst auch noch so ferne, Du bist mir nah! Die Sonne sinkt, bald leuchten mir die Sterne. O wärst du da!
Available sung texts: (what is this?)
• A. Backer-Grøndahl • L. Beethoven • I. Bronsart von Schellendorf • F. Geldner • G. Gerson • F. Hiller • R. Martinsson • N. Medtner • C. Meyer • C. Pax • R. Schumann • R. Stöhr • Caroline Sabatier-Ungher • H. Weber • M. Wilhelmj • P. WolfrumL. Beethoven sets stanza 1
F. Geldner sets stanza 1
About the headline (FAQ)
View text with all available footnotesConfirmed with Goethe's Werke, Vollständige Ausgabe letzter Hand, Erster Band, Stuttgart und Tübingen, in der J.G.Cottaschen Buchhandlung, 1827, page 65, and with Musen-Almanach für das Jahr 1796, herausgegeben von Schiller. Neustrelitz, bei dem Hofbuchhändler Michaelis, page 5.
Note: Wilhelmj's score has a typo in stanza 1, line 3: word 5 is "dich" instead of "sich".
Text Authorship:
- by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832), "Nähe des Geliebten", written 1795, first published 1795 [author's text checked 2 times against a primary source]
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Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Sharon Krebs [Senior Associate Editor], Peter Rastl [Guest Editor] , Johann Winkler
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 103
I think of you when the sunlight shimmers, beaming from the sea; I think of you when the moon's gleam paints the streams. I see you when, on distant roads, the dust rises up; in deep night, when on the narrow bridge a traveler quivers. I hear you when there, with a muffled roar, the waves rise. In the still grove I go often to listen, when everything is silent. I am with you, even if you are so far away. You are near me! The sun sinks, and soon the stars will shine for me. O, if only you were here!
About the headline (FAQ)
View text with all available footnotesTranslations of titles:
"Ich denke dein" = "I think of you"
"Ich denke Dein, wenn mir der Sonne Schimmer vom Meere strahlt" = "I think of you when the sunlight shimmers, beaming from the sea"
"Nähe der Geliebten" = "Near the beloved"
"Nähe des Geliebten" = "Near the beloved"
"Near the Beloved" = "Near the beloved"
"O wärst du da" = "O, if only you were here"
Text Authorship:
- Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © by Emily Ezust, (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.
Based on:
- a text in German (Deutsch) by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832), "Nähe des Geliebten", written 1795, first published 1795
Go to the general view
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 103