By the stream | It seems as if my life

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by Johann Baptist Mayrhofer (1787 - 1836)

Translation © by Emily Ezust

Am Strome

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: CAT DUT ENG FRE ITA

Ist mir's doch, als sey mein Leben
An den schönen Strom gebunden.
Hab' ich Frohes nicht [am]¹ Ufer,
Und Betrübtes hier empfunden?

Ja du gleichest meiner Seele;
Manchmahl grün, und glatt gestaltet,
Und zu Zeiten - herrschen [Winde]² -
Schäumend, unruhvoll, gefaltet.

Fließest [fort zum]³ fernen Meere,
Darfst allda nicht heimisch werden.
Mich drängt's auch in mildre Lande -
Finde nicht das Glück auf Erden.

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• F. Schubert

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Gedichte von Johann Mayrhofer. Wien. Bey Friedrich Volke. 1824, page 78.

¹ Schubert: "an seinem"
² Schubert: "Stürme"
³ Schubert: "zu dem"

Text Authorship:

by Johann Baptist Mayrhofer (1787 - 1836), "Am Strome" [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 Peter Schubert (1797 - 1828), "Am Strome", op. 8 (Vier Lieder) no. 4, D 539 (1817), published 1822 [ voice and piano ], Cappi und Diabelli, VN 872, Wien [sung text checked 1 time]

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

CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "Al riu", copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "Bij de rivier", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English (Emily Ezust) , "By the stream", copyright ©
FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Près de la rivière", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Presso la corrente", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this page: Richard Morris , Peter Rastl [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 65

By the stream

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

 It seems as if my life
 is somehow bound to this fair stream;
 have I not had many joys by its banks,
 and experienced many sorrows?
 
 Yes, you are like my soul;
 sometimes green and smooth in form,
 and sometimes dominated by storms:
 foaming, restless and furrowed.
 
 You flow to the distant sea:
 you cannot be at home here;
 I am also urged onward to gentler lands,
 for I find no happiness here.

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © by Emily Ezust
Emily Ezust permits her translations to be reproduced without prior permission for printed (not online) programs to free-admission concerts only, provided the following credit is given:
Translation copyright © by Emily Ezust,
from the LiederNet Archive
For any other purpose, please write to the e-mail address below to request permission and discuss possible fees.
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Based on:

a text in German (Deutsch) by Johann Baptist Mayrhofer (1787 - 1836), "Am Strome"
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 74