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Mein Herz, ich will dich fragen, Was ist denn Liebe, sag'?-- "Zwei Seelen und ein Gedanke, Zwei Herzen und ein Schlag!" Und sprich: woher kommt Liebe?-- "Sie kommt, und sie ist da!" Und sprich: wie schwindet Liebe?-- "Die war's nicht, der's geschah!" Und [was ist reine Liebe?]1-- "Die ihrer selbst vergißt!" Und wann ist Lieb' am tiefsten?-- "Wenn sie am stillsten ist!" Und wann ist Lieb' am reichsten?-- "Das ist sie, wenn sie gibt!" Und sprich, wie redet Liebe?-- "[Sie]2 redet nicht, sie liebt!"
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)Confirmed with Gedichte von Friedrich Halm, Stuttgart und Tübingen: J.G. Cotta’scher Verlag, 1850, page 165
1 Lazarus, Loewe, Wallnöfer: "wann ist Lieb' am reinsten?"2 Loewe: "Die"
Authorship:
- by Eligius Franz Joseph, Freiherr von Münch-Bellinghausen (1806 - 1871), as Friedrich Halm, no title [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 Otto Dorn (1848 - 1931), "Mein Herz, ich will dich fragen", op. 34 (Drei Lieder für mittlere Stimme mit Pianoforte) no. 3, published 1894 [ medium voice and piano ], Magdeburg, Wernthal [sung text not yet checked]
- by Henriette Fahrbach (1851 - 1923), "Was ist denn Liebe", published 1873 [ voice and piano ], from Drei Lieder für Singstimme mit Pianoforte, no. 3, Wien, Spina [sung text not yet checked]
- by Otto Ladendorff , "Mein Herz ich will dich fragen", op. 1 (Zehn Lieder für 1 mittlere Singstimme mit Pianoforte), Heft 1 no. 5, published 1882 [ medium voice and piano ], Berlin, Annecke [sung text not yet checked]
- by Gustav Lazarus (1861 - 1920), "Mein Herz, ich will dich fragen", op. 40 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Carl Loewe (1796 - 1869), "Mein Herz, ich will dich fragen", op. 86 (1842) [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Heinrich Reinhardt (1865 - 1922), "Mein Herz ich will dich fragen", op. 26, published 1890 [ voice and piano ], Hamburg, Cranz [sung text not yet checked]
- by L. Stein , "Frage", op. 1 (Fünf Lieder für 1 mittlere Stimme mit Pianoforte) no. 2, published 1895 [ medium voice and piano ], Berlin, Bote & Bock [sung text not yet checked]
- by Julius Stern (1820 - 1883), "Lied der Parthenia aus dem Sohn der Wildniss", op. 6a, published 1842 [ voice and piano ], Berlin, Schlesinger [sung text not yet checked]
- by Adolf Wallnöfer (1854 - 1946), "Frage und Antwort", op. 97 (Duette für hohe und tiefe stimmen) no. 4 [ vocal duet with piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this text: Andrew Shackleton , Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor] , Johann Winkler
This text was added to the website: 2005-07-28
Line count: 16
Word count: 84
My heart, I wish to ask you, What, then, is love, tell me?-- "Two souls and a single thought, Two hearts and a single heartbeat!" And tell me: where does love come from?-- "It comes and it is there!" And tell me: how does love vanish?-- "It was not love if that happened!" And [what is pure love? -- "That which]1 forgets itself!" And when is love at its most profound?-- "When it is at its quietest!" And when is love at its richest?-- "Love is that when it gives!" And say, how does love speak?-- "It does not speak, it loves!"
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)Translated titles:
"Mein Herz ich will dich fragen" = "My heart, I wish to ask you"
"Was ist denn Liebe" = "What, then, is love"
"Frage" = "Question"
Authorship:
- Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2016 by Sharon Krebs, (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.
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Based on:
- a text in German (Deutsch) by Eligius Franz Joseph, Freiherr von Münch-Bellinghausen (1806 - 1871), as Friedrich Halm, no title
This text was added to the website: 2016-09-29
Line count: 16
Word count: 101