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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.
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Text 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
Score: IMSLP [external link] [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2022, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Emily Ezust) , "To a portrait", copyright ©
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "À une image", copyright © 2013, (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.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © by Emily Ezust, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf.
Based on:
- 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: 119