Meine Ruh' ist dahin,
Meine Freud' ist entflohn;
In dem [Flüstern]1 der Lüfte,
In dem [Rauschen]2 des Bachs,
Hör' ich [bebend]3 nur Klageton.

Seinem [schmeichelnden]4 Wort
Und dem Druck seiner Hand,
Seinem heißen Verlangen,
Seinem glühenden Kuß -
Weh mir, daß ich nicht widerstand!

Wenn ich von fern Ihn seh,
[Will]5 ich ihn zu mir ziehn;
Kaum entdeckt mich sein Auge,
Kaum tritt näher er mir,
Möcht' ich [gern in mein Grab]6 entfliehn.

Einmal, [ach einmal nur]7	
Möcht' ich ihn glücklich sehn
Hier, am klopfenden Herzen;
An der sehnenden Brust;
Wollte dann lächelnd untergehn! -

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Glycine von Friedrich Rochlitz, Erster Theil, Züllichau und Freystadt, bey Darnmann, 1805, pages 213-214.

¹ Danzi, Schreiber, Schubert: "Säuseln"
² Danzi, Schreiber, Schubert: "Murmeln"
³ Neukomm: "leiser"
⁴ Neukomm: "freundlichen"
⁵ Neukomm: "Möcht'"
⁶ Danzi: "in mein Grab"
⁷ Danzi: "ach einmal"; Neukomm: "nur einmal noch"

Text Authorship:

• by Johann Friedrich Rochlitz (1769 - 1842), "Sehnsucht", appears in Glycine, Züllichau und Freystadt, Darnmann, first published 1805 [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 Franz Danzi (1763 - 1826), "Meine Ruh' ist dahin", P 178 [ voice and piano ], confirmed with the manuscript, Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek, Darmstadt (D-DS): Mus.ms 1377-12 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Hans Georg Nägeli (1773 - 1836), "Liebesklage", 1800-10 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Sigismund von Neukomm (1778 - 1858), "Sehnsucht", op. 10 (Sechs Gesänge) no. 1 (1808-9), published 1808-9 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Christian Schreiber (1781 - 1857), "Meine Ruh' ist dahin", published 1805 [ voice, piano ], from Gesänge mit Begleitung des Pianoforte von Chr. Schreiber. Zweyte Sammlung., no. 12, Leipzig: Breitkopf und Härtel [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Franz Peter Schubert (1797 - 1828), "Klaglied", op. posth. 131 (Drei Lieder) no. 3, D 23 (1812), published 1830 [sung text checked 1 time]

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) , "Klaaglied", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• ENG English (Malcolm Wren) , no title, copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Plainte", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Thierry Morice , Malcolm Wren [Guest Editor] , Peter Rastl [Guest Editor] , Johann Winkler

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 20
Word count: 100

My peace is gone,
My joy has flown off,
In the murmuring of the breezes,
In the babbling of the brook,
Trembling, I only hear the sound of lament.

His flattering words
And the pressure of his hand,
His hot desire,
His glowing kiss,
What pain because I did not resist!

If I see him from a distance
I will draw him to me.
As soon as his eye discovers me
As soon as he comes nearer to me
I will happily fly to my grave.

Just once, oh, just once,
I would like to see him and be happy,
Here at my pounding heart,
At my longing breast,
Then I would die smiling.