Longing | What fills you with anxious longing

Attention! Some of this material is not in the public domain.

It is illegal to copy and distribute our copyright-protected material without permission. It is also illegal to reprint copyright texts or translations without the name of the author or translator.

To inquire about permissions and rates, contact Emily Ezust at licenses@email.lieder.example.net

If you wish to reprint translations, please make sure you include the names of the translators in your email. They are below each translation.

Note: You must use the copyright symbol © when you reprint copyright-protected material.

by Josephine Stieler née von Miller (1809 - 1890)

Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Sehnen

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG ITA

Was erfüllt mit bangem Sehnen,
Rastlos dich, du armes Herz[?]
Was begehren diese Tränen,
Was erregt so heissen Schmerz?
Ach! ich kann mich nicht mehr freuen,
Wie auch pranget die Natur.
Mag der Frühling sich erneuen,
Mir erneu't der Schmerz sich nur!

Dieses Klopfen, dieses Brennen,
Wohl fühl' ich, dass mich's verzehrt,
Ach! und kann es doch nicht nennen,
Was das Herz so heiss begehrt.
Möcht' mich in den Fluten wiegen,
Möchte mit den Wolken zieh'n,
Mit den Vögeln möcht' ich fliegen,
Und weiss selber nicht wohin.

Aus der Freude Kreis alleine
Flieh' ich dann mit meinem Schmerz.
Niemand weiss warum ich weine,
Mich vermisst kein liebend Herz!
Nimm mich denn, o kühle Erde,
In die Mutterarme du,
Dass dem armen Herzen werde
Endlich die ersehnte Ruh'!

Text Authorship:

by Josephine Stieler née von Miller (1809 - 1890) [author's text not yet checked 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), "Sehnen", op. 15 (Sechs deutsche Lieder) no. 6 (1836), published 1848 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig, Breitkopf und Härtel [sung text checked 1 time]

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

ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "Longing", copyright © 2006, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Desiderio", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2006-12-05
Line count: 24
Word count: 127

Longing

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

What fills you with anxious longing
So restlessly, you poor heart[?]
What do these tears desire,
What arouses such intense pain?
Ah! I can no longer be happy,
No matter how nature revels in her glory.
Spring may renew itself,
But for me, all that is renewed is my pain!

This beating, this burning,
I feel all too well that it consumes me,
Ah! and yet I cannot say
What my heart desires so burningly.
I would like to rock myself in the floodwaters,
I would like to soar with the clouds,
I would like to fly with the birds,
Yet I know not where I wish to go.

From the circle of happiness
I flee with my pain.
No one knows why I am crying,
No loving heart misses me!
Oh cool earth, take me then
Into your maternal arms,
So that my poor heart can
Finally find the yearned-for rest!

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2006 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.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

a text in German (Deutsch) by Josephine Stieler née von Miller (1809 - 1890)
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2006-12-05
Line count: 24
Word count: 152