The lake smiles, so inviting to bathe | The lake smiles, so inviting to bathe

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 licenses@email.lieder.example.net

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.

by Friedrich von Schiller (1759 - 1805)

Translation © by John H. Campbell

Es lächelt der See, er ladet zum Bade

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: CAT ENG ENG FRE SPA

Es lächelt der See, er ladet zum Bade,
Der Knabe [schlief ein am]¹ grünen Gestade,
  Da hört er ein Klingen, 
  Wie Flöten so süß,
  Wie Stimmen der Engel
  Im Paradies.

Und wie er erwachet in seliger Lust,
Da [spielen]² die Wasser ihm um die Brust,
  Und es ruft aus den Tiefen:
  Lieb' Knabe, bist mein!
  Ich locke den Schläfer, 
  Ich zieh ihn [herein]³.

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• F. Curschmann • H. Marschner

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)
¹ Marschner: "schlief am"
² Curschmann: "spülen"
³ Marschner: "hinein"

Text Authorship:

by Friedrich von Schiller (1759 - 1805), no title, appears in Wilhelm Tell, Act I, Scene 1, Fischerknabe (singt im Kahn: Melodie des Kuhreihens) [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 (Karl) Friedrich Curschmann (1805 - 1841), "Es lächelt der See", op. 2 (Vier [later Fünf] Gedichte für Tenor (oder Sopran)) no. 4, published 1854 [ tenor or soprano and piano ], Berlin, Schlesinger [sung text checked 1 time]
by Leopold Damrosch (1832 - 1885), "Lied des Fischerknaben", from Three Songs without Opus-number, by various authors, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
by Friedrich Adrian Götzloff (d. 1836), "Idyllische Einleitung aus Wilhelm Tell", c1806 [sung text not yet checked]
by Eugen Hildach (1849 - 1924), "Es lächelt der See", op. 1 (Drei Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 3, published 1876 [ voice and piano ], Görlitz, Fries [sung text not yet checked]
by Hans Heinrich XIV, Graf Bolko von Hochberg (1843 - 1926), "Der Fischerknabe", op. 29 no. 1, published 1895 [ voice and piano ], from Drei Gesänge aus Schiller's Wilhelm Tell für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte, no. 1, Berlin, Raabe & Plothow [sung text not yet checked]
by Robert Kahn (1865 - 1951), "Lied des Fischerknaben", op. 51 (Drei Lieder nach Friedrich Schiller) no. 1 (1905), published 1905 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Bernhard (Joseph) Klein (1793 - 1832), "Es lächelt der See", published c1824 [ vocal quartet for 2 sopranos, tenor, and bass ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Lenhuk , "Es lächelt der See", published <<1815 [ voice and piano ], from Zwölf Gedichte von Goethe und Schiller, no. 5 [sung text not yet checked]
by Franz (Ferenc) Liszt (1811 - 1886), "Der Fischerknabe", S. 292, from Drei Lieder aus Schillers Wilhelm Tell, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Edward Alexander MacDowell (1860 - 1908), "Der Fischerknabe", op. 27 (Drei Lieder für vierstimmigen Männerchor (Three part-songs for men's chorus)) no. 3, published 1890 [ four-part men's chorus ], Leipzig, A.P. Schmidt, also set in English [sung text not yet checked]
by Heinrich August Marschner (1795 - 1861), "Ein Fischerknabe auf der See", op. 5 (12 Lieder mit Begleitung der Guitarre) no. 8 [ voice and guitar ] [sung text checked 1 time]
by Arnold Mendelssohn (1855 - 1933), "Lied des Fischerknaben" [sung text not yet checked]
by August Püringer , "Lied des Fischerknaben", op. 2 (5 Gedichte für 1 Singstimme mit Pianofortebegleitung) no. 1, published 1899 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig, Fritzsch [sung text not yet checked]
by (Joseph) Joachim Raff (1822 - 1882), "Fischerlied", op. 195 (Zehn Gesänge für Männerchor) no. 1 (1860-70), published 1876 [ men's chorus ], Leipzig, Kahnt [sung text not yet checked]
by (Karl Gottfried) Wilhelm Taubert (1811 - 1891), "Fischerknabe", op. 144 no. 4, published 1864 [ tenor or soprano or alto and piano ], from Dichtungen von Fr. von Schiller, für eine Singstimme und zwei Singstimmen mit Pianoforte, no. 4, Berlin, Trautwein [sung text not yet checked]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

Also set in English, a translation by Edward Alexander MacDowell (1860 - 1908) ; composed by Edward Alexander MacDowell.
- Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
Also set in Russian (Русский), a translation by Fyodor Ivanovich Tyutchev (1803 - 1873) , "Из Шиллера" ; composed by Aleksandr Tikhonovich Gretchaninov, Mikhail Nikolayevich Ofrosimov, Vladimir Ivanovich Pol, Sergei Ivanovich Taneyev.
- Go to the text.

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

ENG English (John H. Campbell) , "The lake smiles, so inviting to bathe", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English [singable] (Charles Fonteyn Manney) , "The fisherboy", first published 1911

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Johann Winkler

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 67

The lake smiles, so inviting to bathe

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

The lake smiles, so inviting to bathe,
the boy slept on the green bank,
then, he hears a tinkling,
as of sweet flutes,
like the voices of angels
in paradise.

And as he awakens in blissful desire,
the waters now play against his breast,
and a call from the depths:
Dear boy, you are mine!
I lure the sleeper,
I draw him down.

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © by John H. Campbell, (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. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

a text in German (Deutsch) by Friedrich von Schiller (1759 - 1805), no title, appears in Wilhelm Tell, Act I, Scene 1, Fischerknabe (singt im Kahn: Melodie des Kuhreihens)
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 63