Er, der Herrlichste von allen,
  Wie so milde, wie so gut!
Holde Lippen, klares Auge,
  Heller Sinn und fester Muth.

So wie dort in blauer Tiefe,
  Hell und herrlich, jener Stern,
Also er an meinem Himmel,
  Hell und herrlich, [hoch]1 und fern.

Wandle, wandle deine Bahnen;
  Nur betrachten deinen Schein,
Nur in Demuth ihn betrachten,
  Selig [nur]2 und traurig sein!

Höre nicht mein stilles Beten,
  Deinem Glücke nur geweiht;
Darfst mich niedre Magd nicht kennen,
  Hoher Stern der Herrlichkeit!

Nur die Würdigste von allen
  [Soll]3 beglücken deine Wahl,
Und ich will die Hohe segnen,
  [Segnen]4 viele tausend Mal.

Will mich freuen dann und weinen,
  Selig, selig bin ich dann,
Sollte mir das Herz auch brechen,
  Brich, o Herz, was liegt daran.

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Gedichte von Adelbert von Chamisso, Neunzehnte Auflage (19th edition), Berlin, Weidmannsche Buchhandlung, 1869, page 10.

Note: modernized spelling would change "Muth" to "Mut", and "Demuth" to "Demut"
¹ Schumann: "hehr"
² Loewe: "nun"
³ Schumann: "Darf"
⁴ omitted by Schumann

Authorship

• by Adelbert von Chamisso (1781 - 1838), no title, appears in Lieder und lyrisch epische Gedichte, in Frauen-Liebe und Leben, no. 2 [author's text checked 2 times 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 Elizabeth R. Austin (b. 1938), "Er, der Herrlichste von allen", 1999 [ mezzo-soprano or soprano and piano ], from Frauenliebe und -leben, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Franz Paul Lachner (1803 - 1890), "Er, der Herrlichste von allen", 1839 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Johann Karl Gottfried Loewe (1796 - 1869), "Er, der Herrlichste von allen", op. 60 no. 2 (1836), from Frauenliebe, Liederkranz von Chamisso, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Robert Schumann (1810 - 1856), "Er, der Herrlichste von allen", op. 42 no. 2 (1840), published 1843 [ voice and piano ], from Frauenliebe und -Leben, no. 2, Leipzig, Whistling [sung text checked 1 time]

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

• CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "Ell, el més esplèndid de tots", copyright © 2020, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• CHI Chinese (中文) (Mei Foong Ang) , "他, 是最崇高的", copyright © 2018, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• DAN Danish (Dansk) (Maryanna Morthensen) , "Han, den dejligste af alle", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "Hij, de heerlijkste van allen", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• ENG English (Daniel Platt) , "He, the most glorious of all", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• ENG English [singable] (Shula Keller) , "He, the best of all", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• ENG English (Kyle Gee) , copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Lui, le plus glorieux de tous", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• HEB Hebrew (עברית) (Max Mader) (Tsippora Samberg) , copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• ITA Italian (Italiano) (Amelia Maria Imbarrato) , "Lui, il più splendido di tutti", copyright © 2007, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• NOR Norwegian (Bokmål) (Marianne Beate Kielland) , copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• RUS Russian (Русский) (Natalia Vyshynska) , "Он, прекраснейший из всех", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 24
Word count: 121

He, the most magnificent of them all,
how gentle and good he is!
Enchanting lips, luminous eyes,
an open mind, and strong courage!

Just like that bright and glorious star
in the deep blue heavens,
he is bright and glorious in my heaven,
illustrious, and so far above me.

Follow, follow your own path,
just to gaze upon your radiance--
just to humbly gaze upon it,
is to be both blissful and melancholy.

Don’t bother to hear my quiet prayer,
dedicated solely to your happiness;
You don’t need to know this irrelevant girl,
you sublime and glorious star!

Only the worthiest one of them all
should be made happy by your choice,
And I will bless that elevated one
a thousand times over.

Then I shall rejoice and weep,
blissful, I will be blissful then,
and if then my heart breaks:
Break, heart! Why does it matter?