Wenn mich einsam Lüfte fächeln,
Muß ich lächeln,
Wie ich kindisch tändelnd kose
Mit der Rose.
Wären nicht die neuen Schmerzen,
Möcht' ich scherzen;
Könnt' ich, was ich ahnde, sagen,
Würd' ich klagen,
Und euch bange hoffend fragen:
Was verkünden meine Loose?
Tändl' ich gleich mit Scherz und Rose,
Muß ich lächelnd dennoch klagen.
Confirmed with Poetisches Taschenbuch für das Jahr 1806 von Friedrich Schlegel. Berlin. Bei Johann Friedrich Unger. 1806, page 398; with Friedrich Schlegel's sämmtliche Werke. Erster Band. Gedichte. Berlin, bei Julius Eduard Hitzig, 1809, page 88; and with Friedrich Schlegel's sämmtliche Werke. Achter Band. Wien, bey Jakob Mayer und Compagnie. 1823, page 204.
Note: Schlegel published the poem in the first edition (1806) with the title Blanka, in subsequent editions he included the poem with the changed title Das Mädchen into his cycle Stimmen der Liebe in the subsection Ansichten.
Text Authorship:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "Blanca", copyright © 2018, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "Blanka", copyright © 2006, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Emily Ezust) , "Blanka", copyright ©
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Blanca", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Antonio Zencovich) , "Bianca", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Richard Morris , Peter Rastl
[Guest Editor] This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 54
When I am lonely and breezes fan me,
I must smile
as I did when I loitered childlike
and caressed the roses.
Were it not for new griefs,
I would laugh and joke;
If I could say what I feel,
I would lament
and ask with anxious hope:
what does the future hold?
For if I tarry with jokes and roses,
I must then lament with a smile.