Ach, um deine feuchten Schwingen,
West, wie sehr ich dich beneide:
Denn du kannst ihm Kunde bringen
Was ich [in der]1 Trennung leide!

Die Bewegung deiner Flügel
Weckt im Busen stilles Sehnen;
Blumen, [Augen]2, Wald und Hügel
Stehn bei deinem Hauch in Thränen.

Doch dein mildes sanftes Wehen
Kühlt die wunden Augenlieder;
Ach, für Leid müßt' ich vergehen,
Hofft' ich nicht [zu sehn ihn]3 wieder.

[Eile denn]4 zu meinem Lieben,
Spreche sanft zu seinem Herzen;
Doch vermeid' ihn zu betrüben
Und [verbirg]5 ihm meine Schmerzen. 

Sag [ihm, aber]6 sag's bescheiden:
Seine Liebe sey mein Leben,
Freudiges Gefühl von beiden
Wird mir seine Nähe geben.

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Goethe's Werke. Vollständige Ausgabe letzter Hand. Fünfter Band. Unter des durchlauchtigsten deutschen Bundes schützenden Privilegien. Stuttgart und Tübingen, in der J. G. Cotta'schen Buchhandlung. 1827, pages 185-186; and with West-oestlicher Divan. von Goethe. Stuttgard, in der Cottaischen Buchhandlung 1819, pages 166-167.

Note: Marianne von Willemer's poem Westwind was published anonymously with the title Suleika as part of Goethe's West-östlicher Divan, Buch Suleika - Suleika Nameh, with a few textual revisions by Goethe.

¹ Willemer's original poem: "durch die"
² Schubert: "Auen"
³ Willemer's original poem: "wir sehn uns"
⁴ Willemer's original poem: "Geh denn hin"
⁵ Willemer's original poem: "verschweig"
⁶ Willemer's original poem: "ihm nur, doch"

Note: modernized spelling would change "Augenlieder" to "Augenlider", "sey" to "sei", and "Thränen" to "Tränen", etc.

Text Authorship:

• sometimes misattributed to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832)
• by Marianne von Willemer (1784 - 1860), title 1: "Suleika", title 2: "Westwind", written 1815, first published 1819 [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 Nicolas Bacri (b. 1961), "Suleika", op. 126a no. 2 (2012), first performed 2013 [ voice and piano ], from Drei romantische Liebesgesänge, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Carl Banck (1809 - 1889), "Suleikas Song", op. 7 no. 5 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Karl Collan (1828 - 1871), "Suleika", 1855 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
• by (Franz) Carl Adalbert Eberwein (1786 - 1868), "Suleika" [sung text not yet checked]
• by Moritz Hauptmann (1792 - 1868), "Ach! um deine feuchten Schwingen", op. 28 (12 Lieder) no. 5, published 1842 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig, Peters [sung text not yet checked]
• by Fanny Hensel (1805 - 1847), "Suleika", 1836 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Felix Mendelssohn (1809 - 1847), "Suleika", op. 34 (Sechs Gesänge) no. 4 (1837) [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Benedikt Randhartinger (1802 - 1893), "Suleika", probably 1830 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Franz Peter Schubert (1797 - 1828), "Suleika II", op. 31, D 717 (1821), published 1825, first performed 1825 [ voice, piano ], A. Pennauer, VN 133, Wien [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Artur Seemann (1861 - 1925), "Suleika. An den Westwind", op. 13 no. 1, published [1919], from Suleika. Sieben Lieder für eine hohe Singstimme mit Klavierbegleitung, no. 1, Leipzig: C. F. Kahnt [sung text not yet checked]
• by Karl Friedrich Zelter (1758 - 1832), "Suleika", 1820 [sung text checked 1 time]

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

• CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "Suleika II", copyright © 2007, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• ENG English (Emily Ezust) , "Suleika", copyright ©
• ENG English (Elisabeth Siekhaus) , "Ah, how I envy you, westwind", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• ENG English [singable] (Shula Keller) , "Suleika", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• FIN Finnish (Suomi) (Erkki Pullinen) , "Suleika II", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• HEB Hebrew (עברית) (Hamutal Atariah) , copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Ah, come invidio il tuo soffiare", copyright © 2008, (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: 20
Word count: 104

Ai, per les teves humides ales,
vent de ponent, com t’envejo:
car tu li pots donar notícia
de com pateixo en la nostra separació.

El batec de les teves ales
desperta un mut anhel en el meu pit;
flors, prades, boscos i tossals
resten en llàgrimes amb el teu alè.

Però el teu oreig dolç i tendre
refresca les parpelles adolorides;
ai, de pena em moriria
si no pogués tornar-lo a veure.

Apressa’t doncs vers el meu estimat
i parla dolçament al seu cor;
però evita d’entristir-lo
i amaga-li el meu dolor.

Digues-li, digues-li simplement:
que el seu amor és la meva vida,
que un joiós sentiment de tots dos
em donarà la seva presència.