The Maiden | Down below here stands a knight

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by Franz Xaver Freiherr von Schlechta (1796 - 1875)

Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Das Fräulein

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: CAT DUT ENG FRE GRE ITA

Hier unten steht ein Ritter
Im hellen Mondenstrahl,
[Es tönet seine Zitter
Von treuer Liebe]¹ Qual:
 
»Lüfte spannt die blauen Schwingen
Sanft für meine Botschaft aus,
Rufet sie mit leisem Klingen
An dieß [Fensterchen]² heraus.
 
Sagt ihr, daß im Blätterdache
Seufz' ein [wohlbekannter]³ Laut,
Sagt ihr, daß noch einer wache
Und die Nacht sey kühl und traut,
 
Sagt ihr wie des Mondes Welle
Sich an ihrem Fenster bricht,
Sagt ihr wie der Wald die Quelle,
Heimlich und von Liebe spricht!

[Laß ihn leuchten durch die Bäume
Deines Bildes süßen Schein
Das sich hold in meine Träume
Und mein Wachen webet ein.]⁴«
 
Doch drang die zarte Weise
Wohl nicht zu [ihrem]⁵ Ohr,
Der Sänger schwang sich leise
Zum Fensterlein empor.
 
Und oben zog der Ritter
Ein Kränzchen aus der Brust,
Das band er fest am Gitter
Und seufzte: »Blüht in Lust!
 
Und fragt sie wer euch brachte,
Dann Blumen thut ihr kund:« -
Ein Stimmchen unten lachte:
»Dein Ritter Liebemund!«

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Dichtungen vom Freyherrn Franz von Schlechta. Erster Band. Wien, 1824. Im v. Hirschfeld'schen Verlage, pages 10-11.

Note: Schlechta's poem is the second of a pair of romances Liebeslauschen. Zwey Romanzen, the other being Der Ritter. A footnote (Zu Gemählden von Schnorr) explains that both poems were inspired by paintings of Ludwig Ferdinand Schnorr von Carolsfeld.

Note: This is the revised version of Schlechta's Des Fräuleins Liebeslauschen, published in 1820/21 and set by Schubert. When Schubert's song was published by Diabelli in 1832, Schlechta entered further text changes into Schubert's autograph, which was used as the engraver's copy. Here he kept the original fifth stanza which he had deleted in his 1824 edition. Schubert's song with the 1832 text has been further publicised by Friedlaender in Peters edition and by Mandyczewski in Alte Gesamtausgabe, but is not what Schubert wrote into his manuscript. Schlechta finally created a further, substantially changed version, which was published posthumously in his Ephemeren.

¹ Schlechta (Schubert edition 1832): "Und singt zu seiner Zither / Ein Lied von süßer"
² Schlechta (Schubert edition 1832): "Fensterlein"
³ Schlechta (Schubert edition 1832): "wohl bekannter"
⁴ This stanza is omitted in Schlechta's 1824 edition, but is preserved in Schlechta (Schubert edition 1832).
⁵ Schlechta (Schubert edition 1832): "Liebchens"

Text Authorship:

by Franz Xaver Freiherr von Schlechta (1796 - 1875), "Das Fräulein" [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):

[ None yet in the database ]

Set in a modified version by Franz Peter Schubert.

Go to the text. [ view differences ] CAT ENG FRE

Another version of this text exists in the database.

Go to the text. [ view differences ] ENG

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

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

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 32
Word count: 164

The Maiden

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

Down below here stands a knight
In the bright moonlight,
[And his zither is resounding
With the agony of faithful love:]¹

"Breezes, spread your blue wings
Gently to receive my message,
With soft resounding entice her
To [open] this window [and look] out.

Tell her that in the leafy canopy
There sighs a well-known sound,
Tell her that one person is still awake
And that the night is cool and cozy;

Tell her how the moon's wave
Breaks against her window,
Tell her how the forest, the water-spring
Speak secretly and [speak] of love!

[Let shine through the trees,
The sweet gleam of your image,
Which beautifully weaves itself
Into my dreams and my waking."]²

But the gentle air must not
Have penetrated to her³ ear,
The singer swung himself quietly
Up to the little window.

And up there the knight pulled
A little wreath from his breast;
That he bound firmly to the screen
And sighed: "Bloom in joy!

And should she ask who brought you,
Then, flowers, tell her:" --
A little voice below laughed:
"[It was] your knight, Liebemund [literally, lips of love]."

View original text (without footnotes)
¹ Schlechta (Schubert edition 1832): "And to his zither he is singing / A song of sweet agony"
² This stanza is omitted in Schlechta's 1824 edition, but is preserved in Schlechta (Schubert edition 1832).
³ Schlechta (Schubert edition 1832): "the beloved’s"

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2017 by Sharon Krebs, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
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Based on:

a text in German (Deutsch) by Franz Xaver Freiherr von Schlechta (1796 - 1875), "Das Fräulein"
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2015-06-08
Line count: 32
Word count: 188