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Ich komme vom Gebirge her, Es dampft das Thal, es braust das Meer, Ich wandle still, bin wenig froh, Und immer fragt der Seufzer: wo? Die Sonne dünkt mich hier so kalt, Die Blüte welk, das Leben alt, Und was sie reden, leerer Schall, Ich bin ein Fremdling überall. Wo bist du, mein geliebtes Land, Gesucht, geahnt und nie gekannt? Das Land, das Land so hoffnungsgrün, Das Land, wo meine Rosen blühn? Wo meine Freunde wandelnd gehn, Wo meine Todten auferstehn; Das Land, das meine Sprache spricht, O Land, wo bist du? Ich wandle still, bin wenig froh, Und immer fragt der Seufzer: wo? Im Geisterhauch tönt's mir zurück: »Dort, wo du nicht bist, dort ist das Glück!«
Note: The poem was first published 1808 in a version with five stanzas in Becker's Taschenbuch zum geselligen Vergnügen "Mit Musik von Herrn Zelter". It has also been set by Kuhlau and was published 1812 in Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung, but with "Werner" as the author's name. Schubert's text source was Deinhardstein's Dichtungen für Kunstredner, where the poem has the title Der Unglückliche and again "Werner" as author. Schmidt von Lübeck revised his poem and added three stanzas between stanza 1 and 2; this final version was published 1813 in Becker's Guirlanden; see below.
Composition:
- Set to music by Franz Peter Schubert (1797 - 1828), "Der Wanderer", D 493 [ voice and piano ], note: D. 493 has been removed and included as the second and third versions in D. 489
Text Authorship:
- by Georg Philipp Schmidt von Lübeck (1766 - 1849), "Des Fremdlings Abendlied", first published 1808
- sometimes misattributed to Friedrich Ludwig Zacharias Werner (1768 - 1823)
See other settings of this text.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2018, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "De zoeker", copyright © 2006, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Paul Hindemith) , no title, copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English [singable] (Walter A. Aue) , "The wanderer", copyright © 2007, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Yannis Haralambous) , "Le voyageur", copyright © 2006, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- IRI Irish (Gaelic) [singable] (Gabriel Rosenstock) , copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Amelia Maria Imbarrato) , "Il viandante", copyright © 2007, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- RUS Russian (Русский) (Elena Kalinina) , copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Peter Rastl [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 20
Word count: 137
I come from highlands down to shore, the valleys steam, the oceans roar. I wander silent, joyless here: my sigh keeps asking, Where? Oh, where? Their sun appears to me so cold, their blossoms limp, their life so old; and what they speak of, empty fare: I am a stranger everywhere. Where are you, land, beloved home? Imagined, sought, but never known! The land, the land, whence hope does flow, the land where all my roses grow, where friends shall never meet in vain, where all my dead shall rise again, the land that speaks my language true: Oh land, where are you?... I wander silent, joyless here, my sigh keeps asking, Where? Oh where? The specters answer my distress: "Where you are not, there's happiness."
Text Authorship:
- Singable translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2007 by Walter A. Aue, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you must ask the copyright-holder(s) directly for permission. If you receive no response, you must consider it a refusal.
Walter A. Aue. Contact: waue (AT) dal (DOT) ca
If you wish to commission a new translation, please contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
Based on:
- a text in German (Deutsch) by Georg Philipp Schmidt von Lübeck (1766 - 1849), "Des Fremdlings Abendlied", first published 1808 and misattributed to Friedrich Ludwig Zacharias Werner (1768 - 1823)
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This text was added to the website: 2007-07-06
Line count: 20
Word count: 126