Allein, nachdenklich, wie gelähmt vom Krampfe,
Durchmess' ich öde Felder, schleichend träge,
Und wend' umher den Blick, zu fliehn die Wege,
Wo eine Menschenspur den Sand nur stampfe.
Nicht andre Schutzwehr find' ich mir im Kampfe
Vor dem Erspähn des Volks in alle Wege,
Weil man im Thun, wo keine Freude rege,
Von außen lieset, wie ich innen dampfe.
So daß ich glaube jetzt, Berg und Gefilde,
Und Fluß und Waldung weiß, aus welchen Stoffen
Mein Leben sey, das sich verhehlt jedweden.
Doch find' ich nicht so rauhe Weg' und wilde,
Daß nicht der Liebesgott mich stets getroffen,
Und führt mit mir, und ich mit ihm dann Reden.
Composition:
Set to music by Franz Peter Schubert (1797 - 1828), "Sonett II", D 629 (1818), published 1895 [ voice, piano ]
Text Authorship:
Based on:
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Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Malcolm Wren) , copyright © 2018, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- LIT Lithuanian (Lietuvių kalba) (Giedrius Prunskus) , copyright © 2022, (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: 2003-11-07
Line count: 14
Word count: 110
Alone, reflecting, as if made lame by cramp,
I tread across barren fields, creeping sluggishly,
And I turn my gaze away in order to escape the paths
Where any trace of a human being has touched the sand.
I can find no other form of defence in the battle
Against people catching sight of me on all the paths,
Since from my actions, in which there is a lack of joy,
They can see from outside how I am boiling within.
So much so that I now believe the mountains and fields,
Rivers and woods all know what stuff
My life is made up of, though it is hidden from others.
Yet I have not found any path so uneven and wild
Where I have not always come across the god of love,
Who has engaged me in conversation, and I with him.
