Auf dem See in tausend Sterne
Hat die Sonne sich zersplittert,
Daß er blitzend nah und ferne
Wie ein Meer von Feuer zittert.
 
   So in meines Lebens Wellen
Sank dein [holdes]1 Bild hernieder,
Und aus tausend Wonnequellen
Springen immer neue Lieder.
 
   Willst du in dies Meer von Schimmer,
Holde Schifferin, dich wagen?
Komm, o komm! und laß es immer
Glüh'nd um dich zusammen schlagen!

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with C. Reinhold, Gedichte, Stuttgart: Carl Mäcken, 1853, page 41.

First published in the periodical Morgenblatt, November 10, 1840 (No. 269).

¹ Lang: "liebes". Lang set this text before it was published and the word was "liebes" on the copy of the poem that Köstlin gave her (Christian Reinhold Köstlin’s poetry manuscripts, Cod.hist. 4º 437, Fasz. 10a Nr. 1, poem [28], Württembergische Landesbibliothek, Stuttgart, Germany).

Text Authorship:

• by Christian Reinhold (1813 - 1856), no title, written 1840, appears in Gedichte, in Lieder und vermischte Gedichte, in Seelieder, no. 10, first published 1840 [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 Josephine Lang (1815 - 1880), "Auf dem See in tausend Sterne", op. 14 (Sechs deutsche Lieder) no. 6 (1841), published 1848 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig, Breitkopf und Härtel [sung text checked 1 time]

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

• CHI Chinese (中文) [singable] (Dr Huaixing Wang) , "湖上闪耀万千星星", copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , copyright © 2006, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 66

   On the lake the sun has fragmented itself
Into a thousand stars,
Such that, far and wide, the lake
Quivers like a sea of fire.
 
   Thus into the waves of my life
Your [lovely]1 image sank down,
And from a thousand wellsprings of joy
New songs constantly burst forth.
 
   Fair sailor-maiden, do you dare
To enter into this shimmering sea?
Come, oh come!  And let it always
Glowingly crash about you!