Im Walde blüht der Seidelbast,
Im [Graben]1 liegt [noch]2 Schnee;
Das du mir heut' geschrieben hast,
Das Brieflein tat mir weh.

[Jetzt]3 schneid' ich einen Stab im Holz;
Ich weiß ein ander Land,
Da sind die [Jungfern]4 nicht so stolz
[Dem Lieben]5 abgewandt.

Im Walde blüht der Seidelbast,
Kein Brieflein tut mir weh,
Und das du mir geschrieben hast,
Schwimmt draußen auf dem See, 
Schwimmt draußen auf dem Bodensee, 
Ja draußen auf dem See.

F. Steiner sets lines 1-4, 9-12

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View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Hermann Hesse, Sämtliche Werke, herausgegeben von Volker Michels, Band 10 Die Gedichte, bearbeitet von Peter Huber, Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp Verlag, 2002, page 143.

¹ Frommlet: "Garten"
² Brugk: "der"
³ Löffler: "Nun"
⁴ Brugk: "Mädchen"
⁵ Hess: "Der Liebe"

Authorship:

• by Hermann Hesse (1877 - 1962), "Wanderschaft", written 1908, appears in Unterwegs, first published 1911 [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 Franz Bauer , "Wanderschaft", 1943-8 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Franz Biebl (1906 - 2001), "Wanderschaft", published 1979 [ four-part mixed chorus a cappella ], from Wanderschaft - Kleine Wanderlieder-Folge, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Laci Boldemann (1921 - 1969), "Wanderschaft", op. 9 no. 1, published 1951 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Cesar Bresgen (1913 - 1988), "Wanderschaft", published 1959 [ chorus ] [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Hans Melchior Brugk (1909 - 1999), "Wanderschaft", published 1960 [ four-part men's chorus ] [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Heinrich Döhler , "Wanderschaft" [ alto and piano ], from Fünf Lieder für Alt nach Gedichten von Hermann Hesse, no. 5 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Hermann Christian Georg Erdlen (1893 - 1973), "Wanderschaft", published 1959 [ four-part men's chorus a cappella ], from Sonne leuchte mir ins Herz - Drei Hermann-Hesse-Lieder, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Franz Frommlet (1901 - 1982), "Wanderschaft", published 1957 [ four-part men's chorus a cappella ] [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Ferdinand Gerhardt, jun. (1888 - 1985), "Wanderschaft" [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Karl Gerstberger (1892 - 1955), "Wanderschaft", op. 1 (Fünf Lieder nach den Worten verschiedener Dichter) no. 4, published 1935 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Julius Gessinger (1899 - 1986), "Wanderschaft", op. 51 (Vier Hesse-Lieder) no. 2 (1951) [ baritone and piano or string quartet ] [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Albert Gorter (1862 - 1936), "Wanderschaft", op. 25 (Fünf Lieder nach Gedichten von Hermann Hesse) no. 1 (1959) [ baritone and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Robert Gund (1865 - 1927), "Wanderschaft", op. 36 (5 Lieder) no. 3, published 1914 [ medium voice and piano ], under the name Robert Gound, in Das Moderne Lied - eine Sammlung von 50 Gesängen für mittlere Stimme [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Esther Gutknecht , "Wanderschaft", 1944 [ voice and piano ], from Vier Lieder, no. 4 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Willy Hess (1906 - 1997), "Wanderschaft", op. 42 (Sieben Lieder = Seven songs) no. 5, published 1974 [ voice and piano ], Zürich : Amadeus Verlag, also set in English [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Kurt Hessenberg (1908 - 1994), "Wanderschaft", op. 80 (Acht Lieder) no. 1 (<<1966) [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Artur Hoffmann (1864 - 1931), "Wanderschaft" [ voice and piano ], from Drei Lieder nach Gedichten von Hermann Hesse, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Alexander Kömpel , "Wanderschaft" [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Walter Kretschmar (1902 - 1977), "Wanderschaft" [ voice and lute ], from Der Übermütige singt! Heitere Lieder zur Laute, no. 6 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Hans Lang (1897 - 1968), "Wanderschaft ", published 1959 [ four-part men's chorus a cappella ] [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Heinz Lau (1925 - 1975), "Wanderschaft", 1952 [ unaccompanied voice ] [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Heinz Lau (1925 - 1975), "Im Walde blüht der Seidelbast" [ SAT chorus a cappella ] [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Kurt Lissmann (1902 - 1983), "Der Seidelbast", published 1958 [ four-part men's chorus a cappella ] [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Otto Löffler (1871 - 1949), "Wanderschaft ", op. 69, published c1910 [ four-part men's chorus a cappella ] [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Otto Mayer (1891 - ?), "Wanderschaft ", 1958 [ tenor and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Heinrich Pestalozzi (1878 - 1940), "Wanderschaft ", op. 37 (Lieder und Gesänge) no. 6 (1924), published <<1934 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
• by August Reuss (1871 - 1935), "Wanderschaft", op. 36 (Acht Lieder) no. 3, published <<1920 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Max Scheunemann (1881 - 1965), "Wanderschaft ", op. 15 no. 2, published 1926 [ four-part men's chorus a cappella ] [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Heino Schubert (b. 1928), "Wanderschaft", published 1958 [ three-part mixed chorus a cappella ] [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Frank Steiner , "Wanderschaft ", lines 1-4,9-12 [ voice and piano ], from Der Blütenzweig - Fünf Gedichte von Hermann Hesse, no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Alexander Lang Steinert (1900 - 1982), "Wanderschaft ", 1956 [ voice and piano ], from Zwei Vertonungen von Hesse-Gedichten, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Bruno Stürmer (1892 - 1958), "Wanderschaft ", 1934, published 1935 [ three-part men's chorus a cappella ] [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Peter Suitner (b. 1928), "Wanderschaft ", op. 92d [ voice and piano ], two versions [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Hans Süssmuth (1892 - 1943), "Wanderschaft", op. 26b, published 1928 [ four-part mixed chorus a cappella ], from Gemischte Chöre, no. 13 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Hans Richard (Hannes Ruch) Weinhöppel (1867 - 1928), "Wanderschaft" [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Paul Zoll (1907 - 1978), "Wanderschaft ", published 1959 [ four-part men's chorus a cappella ] [sung text checked 1 time]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

• Also set in English, a translation by Maureen Oberli-Turner ; composed by Willy Hess.
  • Go to the text.
    

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

• ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , copyright © 2018, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Randonnée", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Peter Donderwinkel , Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 14
Word count: 74

The hawthorn blossoms in the woods,
snow lies still in the ditch.
The letter you wrote me today,
fills me with deep dismay.

I’ll cut me now a stick and go,
to somewhere far away,
where pretty maids are not so proud,
to turn my love away.

The hawthorn blossoms in the woods,
I know no more dismay.
The letter which you wrote to me,
floats far out on the lake,
floats far out on the Constance lake,
yes, far out on the lake.