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Nimm die letzten Abschiedsküsse, Und die wehenden, die Grüße, Die ich noch ans Ufer sende Eh' Dein Fuß sich scheidend wende! Schon wird von des Stromes Wogen Rasch der Nachen fortgezogen, Doch den [thränendunklen]1 Blick Zieht die Sehnsucht stets zurück! Und so trägt mich denn die Welle Fort mit unerflehter Schnelle. Ach, schon ist die Flur verschwunden Wo ich selig Sie gefunden! Ewig hin, ihr Wonnetage! Hoffnungsleer verhallt die Klage Um das schöne Heimathland, Wo ich ihre Liebe fand. Sieh, wie flieht der Strand vorüber, Und wie drängt es mich hinüber, Zieht mit unnennbaren Banden, An der Hütte dort zu landen, In der Laube dort zu weilen; Doch des Stromes Wellen eilen Weiter, ohne Rast und Ruh, Führen mich dem Weltmeer zu! Ach, vor jener dunklen Wüste, Fern von jeder heitern Küste, Wo kein Eiland zu erschauen, O, wie faßt mich zitternd Grauen! Wehmuthsthränen sanft zu bringen, Kann kein Lied vom Ufer dringen; Nur der Sturm weht kalt daher Durch das grau gehob'ne Meer! Kann des Auges sehnend Schweifen Keine Ufer mehr ergreifen, Nun so [blick']2 ich zu den Sternen [Dort]3 in jenen heil'gen Fernen! Ach bei ihrem milden Scheine Nannt' ich sie zuerst die Meine; Dort vielleicht, o tröstend Glück! Dort begegn' ich ihrem Blick.
Confirmed with Gedichte von Ludwig Rellstab. Erstes Bändchen. Berlin, bei Friedrich Laue. 1827, pages 120-121; and with Mitternachtblatt für gebildete Stände. Herausgegeben von Müllner. 1826, Zweiter Band. Braunschweig, bei Friedrich Vieweg. No. 92. Braunschweig, am 2. August 1826, page 368.
1 Rellstab (Mitternachtblatt): "thränend dunklen"2 Schubert: "schau'"
3 Schubert: "Auf"
Authorship
- by Ludwig Rellstab (1799 - 1860), "Auf dem Strom" [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), "Auf dem Strom", op. posth. 119, D 943 (1828) [ voice, horn, piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "En el corrent de les aigües", copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- CHI Chinese (中文) (Liu Xin (刘昕)) , "河上", copyright © 2020, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "Op de rivier", copyright © 2006, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Emily Ezust) , "On the river", copyright ©
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Sur la rivière", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Sulla corrente", copyright © 2004, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Peter Rastl [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 40
Word count: 206
Take the last parting kiss, and the wavy greeting that I'm still sending ashore before you turn your feet and leave! Already the waves of the stream are pulling briskly at my boat, yet my tear-dimmed gaze keeps being tugged back by longing! And so the waves bear me forward with unsympathetic speed. Ah, the fields have already disappeared where I once discovered her! Blissful days, you are eternally past! Hopelessly my lament echoes around my fair homeland, where I found her love. See how the shore dashes past; yet how drawn I am to cross: I'm pulled by unnameable bonds to land there by that little hut and to linger there beneath the foliage; but the waves of the river hurry me onward without rest, leading me out to the sea! Ah, before that dark wasteland far from every smiling coast, where no island can be seen - oh how I'm gripped with trembling horror! Gently bringing tears of grief, songs from the shore can no longer reach me; only a storm, blowing coldly from there, can cross the grey, heaving sea! If my longing eyes, surveying the shore, can no longer glimpse it, then I will gaze upward to the stars into that sacred distance! Ah, beneath their placid light I once called her mine; there perhaps, o comforting future! there perhaps I shall meet her gaze.
Authorship
- Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © by Emily Ezust
Emily Ezust permits her translations to be reproduced without prior permission for printed (not online) programs to free-admission concerts only, provided the following credit is given:
Translation copyright © by Emily Ezust,
from the LiederNet Archive -- https://www.lieder.net/For any other purpose, please write to the e-mail address below to request permission and discuss possible fees.
- a text in German (Deutsch) by Ludwig Rellstab (1799 - 1860), "Auf dem Strom"
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 40
Word count: 229