Rider’s departure | Arise, it is decided

Attention! Some of this material is not in the public domain.

It is illegal to copy and distribute our copyright-protected material without permission. It is also illegal to reprint copyright texts or translations without the name of the author or translator.

To inquire about permissions and rates, contact Emily Ezust at licenses@email.lieder.example.net

If you wish to reprint translations, please make sure you include the names of the translators in your email. They are below each translation.

Note: You must use the copyright symbol © when you reprint copyright-protected material.

by Friedrich Heinrich Karl, Freiherr de La Motte-Fouqué (1777 - 1843)

Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Auf, es ist entschieden

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG

Auf, es ist entschieden,
  Munter fort in's Feld!
  Alles, was im Frieden
  Bindet ihn und hält,
  Wirft der kühne Reiter
  Hinter sich und weiter
  Trabt er durch die ungestüme Welt.
 
Doch die süße Liebe,
  Liebchen, wandelt mit,
  Wie ihn Schicksal triebe,
  Folgt ihm Schritt auf Schritt,
  Wagt's, in süßen Bildern
  Deine Huld zu schildern,
  Heißt vergessen, was er schweigend litt.
 
Denn die Menschen alle
  Mögen schwatzen nun!
  Wenn ich siegend falle,
  Wird ihr Tadel ruh'n.
  Unter'm freyen Himmel,
  Kühn in Schlachtgewimmel
  Zwängt sich nicht mein Reden und mein Thun.
 
Besser ist's zu bluten,
  Offen und bewehrt,
  Als, von wilden Gluthen
  Schweigend aufgezehrt,
  Unter Kirchhofsbäumen
  Todestraum zu träumen,
  Wo kein Edler den Gefall'nen ehrt.

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• H. Nägeli

H. Nägeli sets stanzas 1-2

About the headline (FAQ)

Confirmed with Gedichte von Fridr. Baron de la Motte-Fouqué, Neueste Auflage, Wien: Bey B. Ph. Bauer, 1816, pages 79-80

Text Authorship:

by Friedrich Heinrich Karl, Freiherr de La Motte-Fouqué (1777 - 1843), "Reiters Ausfahrt" [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 Hans Georg Nägeli (1773 - 1836), "Reiterausfahrt", published 1817, stanzas 1-2 [ men's chorus ], confirmed with Gesangbildungslehre für das Männerchore: Chorgesangschule (Zürich: bei H. G. Nägeli, 1821), in Rundgesänge, Song no. XI, page 34 [sung text checked 1 time]

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

ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "Rider’s departure", copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2015-12-13
Line count: 28
Word count: 113

Rider’s departure

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

Arise, it is decided,
  Merrily off into the battlefield!
  Everything that in peacetime
  Ties and holds him
  The bold rider casts
  Behind him, and onward
  He tramps through the tumultuous world.
 
But sweet love,
  Beloved, wanders with him
  Wherever fate drives him,
  Follows him step after step,
  Dares in sweet images
  To depict your grace,
  Commands him to forget what he suffered silently.
 
Let the people all
  Gossip now if they will!
  When I fall victoriously
  Their censures shall cease.
  Under the free sky,
  Boldly in the seething battle
  My discourse and my actions are not coerced.
 
It is better to bleed,
  Openly and in arms,
  Than to be consumed
  Silently by wild flames,
  Under the trees of the churchyard
  To dream the dream of death,
  Where no noble person honours the fallen one.

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2015 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.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

a text in German (Deutsch) by Friedrich Heinrich Karl, Freiherr de La Motte-Fouqué (1777 - 1843), "Reiters Ausfahrt"
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2015-12-13
Line count: 28
Word count: 134