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An der Quelle saß der Knabe, Blumen wand er sich zum Kranz, Und er sah sie fortgerissen Treiben in der Wellen Tanz. Und so fliehen meine Tage Wie die Quelle rastlos hin! Und so [bleichet]1 meine Jugend, Wie die Kränze schnell verblühn! Fraget nicht, warum ich traure In des Lebens Blüthenzeit! Alles freuet sich und hoffet, Wenn der Frühling sich erneut. Aber [diese]2 tausend Stimmen Der erwachenden Natur Wecken in dem tiefen Busen Mir den schweren Kummer nur. Was soll mir die Freude frommen, Die der schöne Lenz mir beut? Eine nur ists, die ich suche, Sie ist nah und ewig weit. Sehnend breit ich meine Arme Nach dem theuren Schattenbild, Ach ich kann es nicht erreichen, Und das Herz [bleibt]3 ungestillt! Komm herab, du schöne Holde, Und verlaß dein stolzes Schloß! Blumen, die der Lenz geboren, Streu ich dir in deinen Schoß. Horch, der Hain erschallt von Liedern Und die Quelle rieselt klar! Raum ist in der kleinsten Hütte Für ein glücklich liebend Paar.
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View original text (without footnotes)Confirmed with Gedichte von Friederich Schiller, Zweiter Theil, Zweite, verbesserte und vermehrte Auflage, Leipzig, 1805, bei Siegfried Lebrecht Crusius, pages 338-340; and with Taschenbuch für Damen auf das Jahr 1805. Herausgegeben von Huber, Lafontaine, Pfeffel und anderen. Tübingen in der J. G. Cotta'schen Buchhandlung, pages 1-2.
1 Schiller (Taschenbuch für Damen): "welket"2 omitted by Schubert (only in D. 30)
3 Schubert (only in D. 30): "ist"
Authorship:
- by Friedrich von Schiller (1759 - 1805), "Der Jüngling am Bache", written 1803, first published 1805 [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 Ludwig Abeille (1761 - 1838), "Der Jüngling am Bache" [ voice and piano ], Leipzig, Breitkopf und Härtel ; missing [sung text not yet checked]
- by Franz Danzi (1763 - 1826), "Der Jüngling am Bache", op. 46 (Balladen und Romanzen mit Begleitung des Pianoforte) no. 3, P 185 no. 3 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Joh. W. Merkens van Gendt , "Der Jüngling am Bache", op. 18 (Drei Gedichte von Schiller, 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 3, published 1874 [ voice and piano ], Haag, Boshart [sung text not yet checked]
- by Friedrich Adrian Götzloff (d. 1836), "Der Jüngling am Bache", published c1806 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Jakob Adolf Hägg (1850 - 1928), "An der Quelle saß der Knabe", op. 31 (Sieben Lieder für eine Singstimme mit Begleitung des Pianoforte) no. 2 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Heinrich Proch (1809 - 1878), "Der Jüngling am Bache", op. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Johann Friedrich Reichardt (1752 - 1814), "Der Jüngling am Bache" [sung text not yet checked]
- by Franz Peter Schubert (1797 - 1828), "Der Jüngling am Bache", D 30 (1812), published 1895 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Franz Peter Schubert (1797 - 1828), "Der Jüngling am Bache", D 192 (1815), published 1887 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Franz Peter Schubert (1797 - 1828), "Der Jüngling am Bache", op. 87 (Drei Lieder) no. 3, D 638 (1819), published 1827 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by August Heinrich von Weyrauch (1788 - 1865), "Der Jüngling am Bache" [sung text not yet checked]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in Russian (Русский), a translation by Vasily Andreyevich Zhukovsky (1783 - 1852) , "Жалоба", first published 1811 [an adaptation] ; composed by Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Aliabev.
- Also set in Russian (Русский), a translation by Konstantin Mikhailovich Fofanov (1862 - 1911) , "Юноша у ручья" ; composed by Sergey Aleksandrovich Trailin.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "El jovencell al rierol", copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "De jongeman bij de beek", copyright © 2006, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Emily Ezust) , "The youth by the stream", copyright ©
- FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "L'adolescent près du ruisseau", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Amelia Maria Imbarrato) , "Il giovanetto al ruscello", copyright © 2005, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this text: Richard Morris , Peter Rastl [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 32
Word count: 165
At the stream sat a boy, winding flowers for a wreath, and he saw them torn away, driven in the dance of the waves. And so fly my days like the restles stream! And so fades my youth, Like the wreaths that quickly wilt. Don't ask me why I'm sad In the flower of my youth! Everything is joyful and all is full of hope when Spring renews itself. And yet the thousands of voices of Nature awakening arouse in the depths of my heart only a heavy, troubling sorrow. What should I to do with the pure joy that fair Spring offers me? There is only one which I seek And she is near yet eternally far. Longingly I reach my arms toward that dear shadowed figure, Oh! I can not reach it, And my heart is unruly! Come here, you beautiful lady, and leave your proud castle! Flowers that Spring creates, I strew into your lap; Listen, the grove resounds with songs, And the stream trickles clearly! There is room in the smallest hut For a happy, loving pair."
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 von Schiller (1759 - 1805), "Der Jüngling am Bache", written 1803, first published 1805
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 32
Word count: 181