Attention! Some of this material is not in the public domain.
It is illegal to copy and distribute our copyright-protected material without permission. It is also illegal to reprint copyright texts or translations without the name of the author or translator.
To inquire about permissions and rates, contact Emily Ezust at
If you wish to reprint translations, please make sure you include the names of the translators in your email. They are below each translation.
Note: You must use the copyright symbol © when you reprint copyright-protected material.
Was schaust du mich so freundlich an, O Bild aus weiter Ferne, Und winkest dem verbannten Mann? Er käme gar zu gerne. Die ganze Jugend tut sich auf, Wenn ich an dich gedenke, Als ob ich noch den alten Lauf Nach deinem Hause lenke. Gleich einem, der ins tiefe Meer Die Blicke läßt versinken, Nicht sieht, nicht hört, ob um ihn her Viel tausend Schätze winken. Gleich einem, der am Firmament Nach fernem Sterne blicket, Nur diesen kennt, nur diesen nennt Und sich an ihm entzücket: Ist all mein Sehnen, all mein Mut In dir, o Bild, gegründet, Und immer noch von gleicher Glut, Von gleicher Lust entzündet.
About the headline (FAQ)
Authorship
- by (Gottlob Ferdinand) Max(imilian) Gottfried von Schenkendorf (1783 - 1817), "An ein Bild, das Portrait seiner Gattin", 1816, from Gedichte, first published 1837 [author's text not yet checked 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 Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897), "An ein Bild", op. 63 (Neun Lieder und Gesänge) no. 3 (1874), published 1875 [voice and piano], Leipzig, Peters [text verified 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Emily Ezust) , title 1: "To a portrait", copyright ©
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , title 1: "À une image", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , title unknown, copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 20
Word count: 108
Why do you look at me so kindly, O portrait from a far-off place, And why do you beckon to the banished man? He would come only too gladly. My entire youth returns When I think of you, As if I were again on the old path Toward your house. Like one who into the deep sea Lets his gaze sink, Neither seeing nor hearing if around him Many thousands of treasures beckon; Like one who toward the heavens Gazes after a distant star, Recognizing only one, naming only one, And delighting in it: So is all my yearning - all my courage Gathered from you, o portrait; And even now ignites with the same passion, With the same joy.
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 (Gottlob Ferdinand) Max(imilian) Gottfried von Schenkendorf (1783 - 1817), "An ein Bild, das Portrait seiner Gattin", 1816, from Gedichte, first published 1837
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 20
Word count: 120