Rasch wie die Pfeile zieh'n sie dahin,
Ach! Dass du wüsstest, wie weit und wohin[!]
Flögest so gerne von hinnen!
Leicht wie der Vogel im luftigen Raum,
Flögest du dort in der Wolke Saum,
Leben und Licht zu gewinnen!

Note: the text is misattributed to C. Köstlin on the score, but is likely by Lang's son Felix.

Text Authorship:

• sometimes misattributed to Christian Reinhold (1813 - 1856)
• by Felix Reinhold Köstlin (1842 - 1867) [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 Dorothea Hofmann (b. 1961), "Die Wolken", first performed 2022 [ voice and piano ], from Leicht wie ein Vogel . . ., no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Josephine Lang (1815 - 1880), "Die Wolken", op. 25 (Sechs Lieder) no. 5, published 1860 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig: Friedrich Kistner [sung text checked 1 time]

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

• ENG English (Sharon Krebs) (Harald Krebs) , "The clouds", copyright © 2006, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Les nuages", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Le nuvole", 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: 2006-12-11
Line count: 6
Word count: 39