Ich war erst [sechszehn]1 Sommer alt,
  Unschuldig und nichts weiter,
Und kannte nichts als unsern Wald,
  Als Blumen, Gras und Kräuter.

Da kam ein fremder Jüngling her;
  Ich hatt' ihn nicht verschrieben,
Und wußte nicht [wo hin noch her]2;
  Der kam und sprach von Lieben.

Er hatte schönes langes Haar
  Um seinen Nacken wehen;
[Und einen Nacken, als das]3 war,
  Hab ich noch nie gesehen.

Sein Auge, himmelblau und klar!
  Schien freundlich was zu flehen;
So blau und freundlich, als das war,
  Hab ich noch kein's gesehen.

Und sein Gesicht, [wie]4 Milch und Blut!
  Ich hab's nie so gesehen;
Auch, was er sagte, war sehr gut,
  Nur konnt' ichs nicht verstehen.

Er gieng mir allenthalben nach,
  Und drückte mir die Hände,
Und sagte immer O und Ach,
  Und küßte sie behende.

Ich sah' ihn einmahl freundlich an,
  Und fragte, was er meynte;
Da fiel der junge schöne Mann
  Mir um den Hals, und weinte.

Das hatte Niemand noch gethan;
  Doch [war's mir]5 nicht zuwieder,
Und meine beyden Augen sahn
  In [meinen]6 Busen nieder.

Ich sagt' ihm nicht ein [einzig]7 Wort,
  Als ob ichs übel nähme,
Kein einzigs, und - er flohe fort;
  Wenn er doch wieder käme!

J. Kraus sets stanzas 1-2, 4-5, 7-9

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with ASMUS omnia sua SECUM portans, oder Sämmtliche Werke des Wandsbecker Bothen, I. und II. Theil. Beym Verfasser, und in Commißion bey Fr. Perthes in Hamburg. [1774], pages 54-56; with ASMUS omnia sua SECUM portans, oder Sämmtliche Werke des Wandsbecker Bothen, Erster und zweiter Theil. Wandsbeck, 1774. Beym Verfasser, pages 34-35.

First published 1771 in a slightly different form in Göttinger Musenalmanach, see below.

See also Bürger's poem Robert, which refers to this poem.

¹ Claudius (Wandsbeck 1774 edition), Kalliwoda, and Schubert: "sechzehn"
² Schubert: "wohin, woher"
³ Kalliwoda: "So ein Nacken, als der"; Zumsteeg: "So einen Nacken, als der"
⁴ Schubert: "war"
⁵ Kalliwoda: "war mir's"
⁶ Claudius (Carlsruhe, 1784 edition): "meinem"
⁷ Schubert: "einzigs"

Text Authorship:

• by Matthias Claudius (1740 - 1815), "Phidile", first published 1771 [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 Johann Wenzeslaus Kalliwoda (1801 - 1866), "Phidile" [ voice and piano ], from 11 Lieder, no. 2, note: Kalliwoda forms three stanzas from the nine by joining stanzas 1-3, 4-6, and 7-9 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Joseph Martin Kraus (1756 - 1792), "Phidile", VB 84 (1783), stanzas 1-2,4-5,7-9 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Othmar Schoeck (1886 - 1957), "Phidile", op. 52 no. 2 (1937) [ voice and piano ], from Wandsbecker Liederbuch: Liederfolge nach Gedichten von Matthias Claudius, no. 2, Wien: Universal Edition [sung text not yet checked]
• by Franz Peter Schubert (1797 - 1828), "Phidile", D 500 (1816), published 1895 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Josef Antonín Štěpán (1726 - 1797), "Phidile", published 1778-9 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Johann Rudolf Zumsteeg (1760 - 1802), "Phidile", published 1805, from Kleine Balladen und Lieder, Heft VII, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]

Another version of this text exists in the database.

• Go to the text. [ view differences ]
  

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

• Also set in Russian (Русский), a translation by Anton Antonovich Delvig (1798 - 1831) , "Первая встреча", written 1814 [an adaptation] ; composed by Aleksandr Sergeyevich Dargomyzhsky.
  • Go to the text.
    

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

• CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "Phidile", copyright © 2018, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "Phidile", copyright © 2007, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• ENG English (Malcolm Wren) , "Phidile", copyright © 2018, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Phidile", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Richard Morris , Peter Rastl [Guest Editor] , Johann Winkler

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 36
Word count: 203

I was just sixteen summers old,
Nothing but innocent,
And I knew nothing but our wood,
Nothing but our flowers, trees and herbs.

Then along came a young man, a stranger;
I had not summoned him,
And I did not know where he might be from;
Along he came and spoke of love.

He had beautiful long hair
Flowing around his neck;
And a neck like that 
Is something I have never seen before.

His eyes, sky blue and clear!
They appeared to be asking for something in a friendly way,
Such blue and friendly eyes as that,
I have never seen any like that.

And his face, like milk and blood!
I have never seen anything like it;
Also, what he said was very good,
Except I couldn't understand it.

He followed me everywhere,
And he pressed my hands,
And kept saying 'oh' and 'ah',
And quickly kissed them.

I gave him a single friendly glance
And asked what his intentions were;
Then the beautiful young man fell
Around my neck and started crying.

Nobody had ever done that before;
But I didn't object to it,
And both my eyes looked
Down into my bosom.

I didn't say a single word to him
That might have given him the idea I had taken it badly,
Not a single word, and he fled away;
If only he would come back!