Ach! der Gebirgssohn hängt mit kindlicher Lieb' an der Heimath;
[Und wie]1 den Alpen geraubt hinwelket die Blume, so welkt er
Ihr entrissen dahin! - Stets sieht er die trauliche Hütte,
Die ihn gebar, im hellen Grün umduftender Matten;
Sieht das dunkele Föhrengehölz, die ragende Felswand
Über ihm, und noch Berg' auf Berg' in erschütternder Hoheit
Aufgethürmt, und glühend im Rosenschimmer des Abends.
Immer schwebt es ihm vor, verdunkelt ist alles um ihn her.

Ängstlich horcht er; [ihn]2 deucht: er höre das Muhen der Kühe
[Von dem]3 nahen Gehölz, und hoch von den Alpen herunter
Glöcklein klingen; [ihn]2 deucht: er höre das Rufen der Hirten,
Oder [der Sennerinn Lied]4, die mit [überschlagender]5 Stimme,
Freudig zum Wiederhall aufjauchzt Melodien des Alplands.
Immer tönt es ihm nach; ihn fesselt der lachenden Ebnen
Anmuth nicht; er fliehet der Städt' einengende Mauern
Einsam, und schaut aufweinend vom Hügel die heimischen Berge;
Ach! [denn]6 es zieht ihn dahin mit unwiderstehlicher Sehnsucht!

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Tunisias. Ein Heldengedicht in zwölf Gesängen von Johann Ladislav Pyrker. Wien, 1820. Bey Carl Ferdinand Beck. Gedruckt bey Anton Strauß, pages 141-142; and with Tunisias. Ein Heldengedicht in zwölf Gesängen von Johann Ladislav Pyrker. Dritte, durchaus verbesserte, und mit Anmerkungen versehene Ausgabe. Wien, 1826. Bey Carl Ferdinand Beck. Gedruckt bey Anton Strauß, pages 141-142.

Note: These verses are an excerpt of a much longer poem in twelve cantos; they appear in Sechster Gesang, verses 607-623 (first edition, 1820).

¹ Pyrker (1826 edition), and Schubert: "Wie"
² Schubert: "ihm"
³ Schubert: "Vom"
⁴ Pyrker (1826 edition), and Schubert: "ein Lied der Sennerinn"
⁵ Pyrker (1826 edition), and Schubert: "umschlagender"
⁶ omitted by Pyrker (1826 edition), and by Schubert

Text Authorship:

• by Johann Ladislaus Pyrker (1772 - 1847), no title, first published 1820 [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 Franz Peter Schubert (1797 - 1828), "Das Heimweh", op. 79 (Zwei Lieder) no. 1, D 851 (1825), published 1827 [ voice, piano ], Tobias Haslinger, VN 5027, Wien [sung text checked 1 time]

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

• CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "L’enyorança", copyright © 2018, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• ENG English (Emily Ezust) , "Homesickness", copyright ©
• FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Le mal du pays", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

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

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 17
Word count: 163

Ah, the son of the mountains clings with childlike love to his homeland.
Just as an alpine flower withers when stolen from its mountain, so does he wilt
When torn away from his home! Always before him is the cosy hut
In which he was born, in the bright, fragrant, green meadows;
He sees the dark pinewoods, the towering rock walls 
Above him, and peak upon peak looming above with frightening height
And glowing with a rosy gleam in the evening.
The images float ever before him, obscuring everything else around him.
 
He listens fearfully; it seems to him that he can hear cattle mooing 
In the nearby groves, and the tinkling of bells from high up in the alps;
It seems to him that he can hear the shouts of shepherds
Or the songs of dairymaids, who with powerful voices
Yodel alpine melodies that echo joyously;
These sounds ever ring in his ear.
The grace of the laughing plains cannot attract him;
He flees the city's constrictive walls
Alone, and gazes tearfully from the foothills at his native mountains;
Ah, they fill him with such irresistible yearning!