Wohl [ist]1 [im]2 Busch und [Rasen]3
Kein Plätzchen so still und klein,
Wo nicht zusammen wir sassen, --
Ich sitze jetzt hier allein;

Wohl haben wir Kränze gewunden,
Wohl manchen duftigen Strauss
Aus Blumen des Walds gebunden, --
Dies Alles, Alles ist aus; 

Die Blätter sie sind gefallen,
Die Blumen sie sind verdorrt,
Sie war die Schönste von Allen,
Sie hielt nicht Treue, nicht Wort;

Ihr Nam' in die Birke geschnitten
Verwittert im Windeswehn,
Doch was ich gekämpft und gelitten,
Das will nicht und kann nicht vergehn.

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Rheinische Musik-Zeitung für Kunstfreunde und Künstler, 1. Jahrgang, Nro. 39 (29. März 1851), page 311

¹ Jensen, F. Jansen, Siebmann: "war", more changes may exist, not noted
² A. Horn, Sieber, Siebmann, Vagedes: "in", more changes may exist, not noted
³ F. Jansen: "Bau", more changes may exist, not noted

Text Authorship:

• by Gustav Pfarrius (1800 - 1884), "Sie war die Schönste von Allen" [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 August Horn (1825 - 1893), "Sie war die Schönste von Allen", op. 49, published 1882 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig, Kistner [sung text not yet checked]
• by Friedrich Gustav Jansen (1831 - 1910), "Sie war die Schönste von Allen", published 1873 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Adolf Jensen (1837 - 1879), "Sie war die Schönste von Allen", op. 1 (Sechs Lieder) no. 3, published 1858 [ voice and piano ], Breslau, Leuckart [sung text not yet checked]
• by Johann Jakob Nater (1826 - 1906), "Sie war die Schönste von Allen", op. 5 (Sechs deutsche Lieder) no. 1, published 1853 [ voice and piano ], Zürich, Fries [sung text not yet checked]
• by Ferdinand Sieber (1822 - 1895), "Wohl ist in Busch und Rasen", op. 39 (Vier Lieder für Bass) no. 3, published 1857 [ bass and piano ], Magdeburg, Heinrichshofen [sung text not yet checked]
• by Friedrich Siebmann , "Wohl war in Busch und Rasen", op. 45 (Sechs Lieder für Sopran oder Tenor) no. 3, published 1864 [ soprano or tenor and piano ], Leipzig, Hofmeister [sung text not yet checked]
• by H. Vagedes , "Sie war die Schönste von Allen", published 1869 [ low voice and piano? ], from Waldlieder für tiefere Stimme , no. 8, Köln, Schloss [sung text not yet checked]

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

• ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2011-07-16
Line count: 16
Word count: 88

In bush and [lawn]1 there [is]2 likely
No spot, so quiet and small,
Where we did not sit together, --
Now I sit here alone;

Indeed we wove wreaths,
Many a scented bouquet
Of the flowers of the forest, --
That all, all is over;

The leaves, they have fallen,
The flowers, they are withered,
She was the most beautiful one of all,
She did not keep faith, did not keep her word;

Her name, carved into the birch tree,
Becomes weather-worn in the blowing of the wind,
But that for which I battled and that which I suffered,
That does not wish to and cannot pass away.