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by Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856)
Translation by Emma Lazarus (1849 - 1887)

Das ist der alte Märchenwald!
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Das ist der alte Märchenwald!
Es duftet die Lindenblüte!
Der wunderbare Mondenglanz
Bezaubert mein Gemüte. 

Ich ging fürbaß, und wie ich ging,
Erklang es in der Höhe.
Das ist die Nachtigall, sie singt
Von Lieb' und Liebeswehe.

Sie singt von Lieb' und Liebesweh,
Von Tränen und von Lachen,
Sie jubelt so traurig, sie schluchzet so froh,
Vergessene Träume erwachen. --

Ich ging fürbaß, und wie ich ging,
Da sah ich vor mir liegen,
Auf freiem Platz, ein großes Schloß,
Die Giebel hoch aufstiegen.

Verschlossene Fenster, überall
Ein Schweigen und ein Trauern;
Es schien, als wohne der stille Tod
In diesen öden Mauern.

Dort vor dem Tor lag eine Sphinx,
Ein Zwitter von Schrecken und Lüsten,
Der Leib und die Tatze wie ein Löw',
Ein Weib an Haupt und Brüsten.

Ein schönes Weib! Der weiße Blick,
Er sprach von wildem Begehren;
Die stummen Lippen wölbten sich
Und lächelten stilles Gewähren.

Die Nachtigall, sie sang so süß --
Ich konnt nicht widerstehen --
Und als ich küßte das holde Gesicht,
Da war's um mich geschehen.

Lebendig ward das Marmorbild,
der Stein begann zu ächzen --
Sie trank meiner Küsse lodernde Glut
Mit Dürsten und mit Lechzen.

Sie trank mir fast den Odem aus --
Und endlich, wollustheischend,
Umschlang sie mich, meinen armen Leib
Mit den Löwentatzen zerfleischend.

Entzückende Marter und wonniges Weh!
Der Schmerz wie die Lust unermeßlich!
Derweilen des Mundes Kuß mich beglückt,
Verwunden die Tatzen mich gräßlich.

Die Nachtigall sang: "O schöne Sphinx!
O Liebe! was soll es bedeuten,
Daß du vermischest mit Todesqual
All deine Seligkeiten?

O schöne Sphinx! O löse mir
Das Rätsel, das wunderbare!
Ich hab darüber nachgedacht
Schon manche tausend Jahre."

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

•   H. von Herzogenberg 

H. von Herzogenberg sets stanzas 1-3
A. Gretchaninov sets stanza 2

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

  • by Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856), "Vorrede zur dritten Auflage", appears in Buch der Lieder [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 Aleksandr Tikhonovich Gretchaninov (1864 - 1956), "Waldwärts geh' ich stumm", op. 51 (Poème dramatique: sieben Lieder nach Heinrich Heine und Vl. Soloviev) no. 3, published 1911, stanza 2 [ voice and piano ], also set in Russian (Русский) [sung text not yet checked]
  • by (Leopold) Heinrich (Picot de Peccaduc), Freiherr von Herzogenberg (1843 - 1900), "Das ist der alte Märchenwald!", op. 69 (Vier Gesänge für 1 hohe Stimme mit Pianoforte) no. 1, published 1891, stanzas 1-3 [ high voice and piano ], Leipzig, Rieter-Biedermann [sung text checked 1 time]
  • by Friedrich Jaecker (b. 1950), "Sphinx" [ soprano, alto flute, viola ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Michael Proksch , "Walzer", published 1997 [ speaker and piano ], from Genialer Künstlerschweiß, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

  • Also set in Russian (Русский), a translation by Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Blok (1880 - 1921) ; composed by Rostislav Grigor'yevich Boyko, Edison Vasilyevich Denisov.
      • Go to the text.
  • Also set in Russian (Русский), a translation by Mikhail Larionovich Mikhailov (1829 - 1865) , no title, written 1858, first published 1859 ; composed by Aleksandr Tikhonovich Gretchaninov.
      • Go to the text.

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

  • ENG English (Emma Lazarus) , "The sphinx", appears in Poems and Ballads of Heinrich Heine, first published 1881


Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2008-01-19
Line count: 52
Word count: 270

The sphinx
Language: English  after the German (Deutsch) 
This is the old enchanted wood,
   Sweet lime trees scent the wind
The glamor of the moon has cast
   A spell upon my mind.

Onward I walk, and, as I walk --
   Hark to that high, soft strain!
That is the nightingale, she sings,
   Of love and of love's pain.

She sings of love and of love's pain,
   Of laughter and of tears.
So plaintive his carol, so joyous her sobs,
   I dream of forgotten years.

Onward I walk, and as I walk,
   There stands before mine eyes
A castle proud on an open lawn,
   Whose gables high uprise.

With casements closed, and everywhere
   Sad silence in court and halls,
It seemed as though mute death abode
   Within those barren walls.

Before the doorway crouched a sphinx,
   Half horror and half grace;
With a lion's body,a lion's claws,
   And a woman's breast and face.

A woman fair! The marble glance
   Spake wild desire and guile.
The silent lips were proudly curled
   In a a confident, glad smile.

The nightingale, she sang so sweet,
   I yielded to her tone.
I touched, I kissed the lovely face,
   And lo, I was undone!

The marble image stirred with life,
   The stone began to move;
She drank my fiery kisses' glow
   With panting thirsty love.

She well nigh drank my breath away;
   And, lustful still for more,
Embraced me, and my shrinking flesh
   With lion claws she tore.

Oh, rapturous martyrdom! ravishing pain!
   Oh, infinite anguish and bliss!
With her horrible talons she wounded me,
   While she thrilled my soul with a kiss.

The nightingale sang: "Oh beautiful sphinx,
   Oh love! what meaneth this?
That thou minglest still the pangs of death
   With thy most peculiar bliss?

Thou beautiful Sphinx, oh solve for me
   This riddle of joy and tears!
I have pondered it over again and again,
   How many thousand years!"

Text Authorship:

  • by Emma Lazarus (1849 - 1887), "The sphinx", appears in Poems and Ballads of Heinrich Heine, first published 1881 [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]

Based on:

  • a text in German (Deutsch) by Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856), "Vorrede zur dritten Auflage", appears in Buch der Lieder
    • Go to the text page.

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

    [ None yet in the database ]


Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2008-04-12
Line count: 52
Word count: 307

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This website began in 1995 as a personal project by Emily Ezust, who has been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your help is greatly appreciated!
–Emily Ezust, Founder

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