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Der Frost hat mir bereifet Des Hauses Dach; Doch warm [ist mir's]1 geblieben Im Wohngemach. Der Winter hat die Scheitel Mir weiß gedeckt. Doch fließt das Blut, das rothe, Durch's Herzgemach. Der Jugendflor der Wangen, Die Rosen sind Gegangen, all' gegangen Einander nach. Wo sind sie hingegangen? In's Herz hinab. Da blühn sie nach Verlangen, Wie vor so nach. Sind alle Freudenströme Der Welt versiegt? Noch fließt mir durch den Busen Ein stiller Bach. Sind alle Nachtigallen Der Flur verstummt? Noch ist bei mir im Stillen Hier eine wach. Sie singet: Herr des Hauses! Verschleuß dein Thor, Daß nicht die Welt, die kalte, Dring in's Gemach. Schleuß aus den rauhen Odem Der Wirklichkeit, Und nur dem Duft der Träume Gib Dach und Fach. Ich habe Wein und Rosen In jedem Lied, Und habe solcher Lieder Noch tausendfach. Vom Abend bis zum Morgen Und Nächte durch Will ich dir singen Jugend Und [Liebesach]2.
F. Schubert sets stanzas 1-8
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)Confirmed with Oestliche Rosen von Friedrich Rückert. Drei Lesen. Leipzig: F. A. Brockhaus. 1822, pages 272-274; and with Gesammelte Gedichte von Friedrich Rückert. Vierter Band. Erlangen, Verlag von Carl Heyder. 1837, pages 177-178.
Note: The poem was first published 1822 in Rückert's Oestliche Rosen where all the poems have no titles. In subsequent editions (Erlangen, 1837: Gesammelte Gedichte, Frankfurt a. M., 1868: Gesammelte Poetische Werke) this poem got the title Vom künftigen Alter and is printed in a different format: each two lines of the original poem have been combined into one single line, and the separation into stanzas has been abandoned.
1 Schubert: "ist's mir"2 Strauss: "Liebesweh"
Authorship:
- by Friedrich Rückert (1788 - 1866), "Vom künftigen Alter", appears in Östliche Rosen, in 2. Zweite Lese, first published 1822 [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 Alexander Ritter (1833 - 1896), "Im Alter", op. 12 (Drei Gedichte für 1 Singstimme mit Pianofortebleitung) no. 3, published 1886 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig, Kistner [sung text not yet checked]
- by Franz Peter Schubert (1797 - 1828), "Greisengesang", op. 60 (Zwei Lieder) no. 1, D 778 (1823), published 1826, stanzas 1-8 [ bass, piano ], Cappi und Czerny, VN 195, Wien [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Richard Georg Strauss (1864 - 1949), "Vom künftigen Alter", op. 87 no. 1 [ bass, piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2018, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , copyright © 2007, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Emily Ezust) , no title, copyright ©
- FIN Finnish (Suomi) (Erkki Pullinen) , copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Melanie Trumbull , Peter Rastl [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 40
Word count: 152
Frost has covered the roof of my house; but I have stayed warm in the living room. Winter has covered in white the crown of my head; yet blood flows - red blood - through my heart's chamber. The youthful blossom of my cheeks - the roses are gone, all gone, one after another - Where have they gone? into my heart: there they bloom as they desire, just as they did before. Have all the joyous streams in the world dried up? Yet a quiet brook still flows through my breast. Have all the nightingales in the meadow been silenced? Yet here with me in the silence, one is awake. It sings: "Lord of the house! lock your gate, so that the cold world does not come into your chamber. Shut out the raw breath of reality, and give roof and room only to the fragrance of dreams!" I have wine and roses in every song, and have yet a thousand more such songs. From evening till morning and all through the night I will sing to you of youth and love's pain.
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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.
Based on:
- a text in German (Deutsch) by Friedrich Rückert (1788 - 1866), "Vom künftigen Alter", appears in Östliche Rosen, in 2. Zweite Lese, first published 1822
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 40
Word count: 184