Wie klag' ich's aus
Language: German (Deutsch)
Available translation(s): CAT DUT ENG FIN FRE
»Wie klag' ich's aus
Das Sterbegefühl,
Das auflösend
Durch die Glieder rinnt?
Wie sing' ich's aus
Das Werdegefühl,
Das erlösend
Dich, o Geist, anweht?«
[Es klagt', es]1 sang
Vernichtungsbang,
Verklärungsfroh,
Bis das Leben floh.
Das [ist]2 des Schwanen Gesang!
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)
Confirmed with Gedichte von Johann Senn. Innsbruck, in der Wagner'schen Buchhandlung. 1838, page 15
Note: Schubert received Senn's poem in handwritten form. Senn issued it later in the book mentioned above, with the footnote In Musik gesetzt von Fr. Schubert.
1 Schubert: "Er klagt', er"
2 Schubert: "bedeutet"
Text Authorship:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
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) , copyright © 2019, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FIN Finnish (Suomi) (Aleksi Reunanen) , "Joutsenlaulu", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Chant du cygne", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
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: 13
Word count: 39
How do I lament it forth
Language: English after the German (Deutsch)
"How do I lament it forth,
This feeling of dying,
Which disintegratingly
Runs through my limbs?
How do I sing it forth,
This feeling of becoming,
Which redeemingly
Wafts, oh spirit, toward you?"
It lamented, it sang
Fearful of annihilation,
Glad of transfiguration,
Until life fled.
That [is]1 the swan’s singing!
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)
Translations of title(s):
"Schwanengesang" = "The singing of the swan"
"Schwanenlied" = "The song of the swan"
1 Schubert: "is the meaning of"
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.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
Based on:
This text was added to the website: 2017-05-02
Line count: 13
Word count: 51