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Ach, [aus]1 dieses Thales Gründen, [Die]2 der kalte Nebel drückt, Könnt' ich doch den [Ausgang]3 finden, [Ach]4, wie fühlt' ich mich beglückt! Dort erblick' ich schöne Hügel, Ewig [jung]5 und ewig grün! Hätt' ich Schwingen, hätt' ich Flügel, Nach den Hügeln zög ich hin. Harmonieen hör' ich klingen, Töne süßer Himmelsruh, Und die leichten Winde bringen Mir der Düfte Balsam zu, Gold'ne Früchte seh ich glühen, Winkend zwischen [dunkelm]6 Laub, Und die Blumen, die dort blühen, Werden keines Winters Raub. [Ach]7 wie schön muß sich's ergehen Dort im ew'gen Sonnenschein, Und die Luft auf jenen Höhen [O]8 wie labend muß sie seyn! Doch [mir wehrt]9 des Stromes Toben, Der ergrimmt dazwischen braußt, Seine Wellen sind gehoben, Daß die Seele mir ergraußt. Einen Nachen seh ich schwanken, Aber ach! der Fährmann fehlt. Frisch hinein und ohne Wanken, Seine Segel sind beseelt. Du mußt glauben, du mußt wagen, Denn die Götter leihn kein Pfand, Nur ein Wunder kann dich tragen In das schöne Wunderland.
About the headline (FAQ)
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 23-24.
First published in Taschenbuch zum geselligen Vergnügen. Dreizehnter Jahrgang. 1803. Herausgegeben von W.G. Becker. Leipzig, bei Christian Adolph Hempel, pages 251-252. Here the second stanza is omitted.
1 Kreutzer: "in"; further changes may exist not shown above.2 Theimer: "Das"
3 Schubert (D.636, first version only): "Ausweg"
4 Hensel: "O"
5 Schiller (Taschenbuch 1803): "hell"
6 Theimer: "dunklen" (should be "dunklem"?)
7 Schubert (D.636, second version only): "O"; Theimer: "Doch"
8 Schiller (Taschenbuch 1803): "Ach"
9 Theimer: "wie währt" (typo?)
Text Authorship:
- by Friedrich von Schiller (1759 - 1805), "Sehnsucht", written 1802, first published 1802 [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 Gustav Bergmann (1837 - 1892), "Sehnsucht", op. 23 (Drei Gesänge) no. 2 [ SSMsA chorus and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Johann Friedrich Hugo, Freiherr von Dalberg (1760 - 1812), "Sehnsucht", op. 25 (15 Deutsche Lieder) no. 4 [ voice and piano ], Bonn, N. Simrock [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Johannes Feyhl (1833 - 1905), "Sehnsucht", op. 4 (Die sieben Schwaben) no. 1, note: the score gives the composer's name only as "Joh. Feyhl" [sung text checked 1 time]
- by F. C. (Ferdinand Carl) Füchs (1811 - 1848), "Sehnsucht", op. 5, published 1841 [ voice and piano ], Wien, Diabelli und Co. [sung text not yet checked]
- by Fanny Hensel (1805 - 1847), "Sehnsucht", H-U 117 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Ludwig Hess (1877 - 1944), "Sehnsucht", op. 28 (Fünf Lieder für 1 mittlere Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 1, published 1896 [ medium voice and piano ], Berlin, Verlag der freien musikal. Vereinigung [sung text not yet checked]
- by Franz Hünten (1793 - 1878), "Sehnsucht", published 1838 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Conradin Kreutzer (1780 - 1849), "Die Sehnsucht", op. 32 no. 2, KWV 9104 no. 2, published [1818], Augsburg, Gombart [sung text not yet checked]
- by Carl Ludwig Amand Mangold (1813 - 1889), "Sehnsucht", op. 33 (Drei Lieder für 4 Männerstimmen) no. 2, published 1894 [ vocal quartet for male voices ], Offenbach, André [sung text not yet checked]
- by Hermann Müller (1841 - 1907), "Sehnsucht", op. 48, published 1900 [ men's chorus ], Leipzig, Spitzner [sung text not yet checked]
- by Ferdinand Ries (1784 - 1838), "Sehnsucht", op. 35 no. 4, published 1811 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Franz Peter Schubert (1797 - 1828), "Sehnsucht", D 52 (1813), published 1868 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Franz Peter Schubert (1797 - 1828), "Sehnsucht", op. 39, D 636 (1821), published 1826 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by (Philipp) Friedrich Silcher (1789 - 1860), "Sehnsucht", published 1846 [ soprano or tenor and piano ], from [Zwölf] Melodien aus Beethoven's Sonaten und Sinfonien zu Liedern für Sopran (oder Tenor), no. 3, Stuttgart, Zumsteeg [sung text not yet checked]
- by (Karl Gottfried) Wilhelm Taubert (1811 - 1891), "Sehnsucht", op. 144 no. 1, published 1864 [ mezzo-soprano or baritone and piano ], from Dichtungen von Fr. von Schiller, für eine Singstimme und zwei Singstimmen mit Pianoforte, no. 1, Berlin, Trautwein [sung text not yet checked]
- by Emil V. Theimer , "Sehnsucht", op. 3 (3 Lieder für eine Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 1, published 1851 [ voice and piano ], Mainz, Schott [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Bernhard Anselm Weber (1764 - 1821), "Sehnsucht", published 1808 [ voice and piano ], in Almanach fürs Theater (Iffland), 1808 [sung text not yet checked]
- by August Heinrich von Weyrauch (1788 - 1865), "Sehnsucht" [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "Verlangen", copyright © 2007, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Emily Ezust) , no title, copyright ©
- FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Nostalgie", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Amelia Maria Imbarrato) , "Nostalgia", copyright © 2005, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Richard Morris , Peter Rastl [Guest Editor] , Johann Winkler
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 32
Word count: 162
Ah, from this valley's depths that cold mists are pressing, if I could only find a way out, ah, how lucky I would feel! Over there I glimpse pretty hills, ever young and ever green! If I had pinions, if I had wings, I would soar over to those hills. Harmonies I hear tinkling, tones of sweet, heavenly peace; and light winds bring to me the scent of balsam. Golden fruit I see glowing, beckoning between dark leaves; and the flowers that bloom there, will never become Winter's prey. Ah, how fine it must be to wander there in eternal sunshine, and the air on those heights -- O how refreshing it must be! Yet I am stymied by the charging river, that roars between us in rage; its waves are so high that my soul is horrified. I see a small boat rocking there, but ah! the ferryman is missing. Go briskly to it and without hesitation: his sails are ready. You must believe, you must dare it, for the Gods make no pledges. Only a miracle can carry you into that fair land of wonder.
About the headline (FAQ)
Translation of title "Sehnsucht" = "Longing"
Text 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.
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Based on:
- a text in German (Deutsch) by Friedrich von Schiller (1759 - 1805), "Sehnsucht", written 1802, first published 1802
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 32
Word count: 186