I can't grasp it, nor believe it | I can't grasp it, nor believe it

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 Adelbert von Chamisso (1781 - 1838)

Translation © by Daniel Platt

Ich kann's nicht fassen, nicht glauben

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: CAT CHI DAN DUT ENG ENG ENG FRE HEB ITA NOR RUS

Ich kann's nicht fassen, nicht glauben,
  Es hat ein Traum mich berückt;
Wie hätt' er doch unter allen
  Mich Arme erhöht und beglückt?

Mir war's, er habe gesprochen:
  Ich bin auf ewig dein --
Mir war's -- ich träume noch immer,
  Es kann ja nimmer so sein.

O laß im Traume mich sterben,
  Gewieget an seiner Brust,
Den [seligsten]¹ Tod mich schlürfen
  In Thränen unendlicher Lust.

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• R. Schumann

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Gedichte von Adelbert von Chamisso, Neunzehnte Auflage (19th edition), Berlin, Weidmannsche Buchhandlung, 1869, page 11.

Note: modernized spelling would change "Thränen" to "Tränen"
¹ Austin, Wiseneder, and some editions of Schumann: "seligen"

Text Authorship:

by Adelbert von Chamisso (1781 - 1838), no title, appears in Lieder und lyrisch epische Gedichte, in Frauen-Liebe und Leben, no. 3 [author's text checked 2 times 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 Adolf Ander , "Frauenliebe und Leben", op. 2 (>>1873) [ voice and piano ], Wien, C.A. Spina Hamburg, Aug. Cranz [sung text checked 1 time]
by Elizabeth R. Austin (b. 1938), "Ich kann's nicht fassen, nicht glauben", 1999 [ mezzo-soprano or soprano and piano ], from Frauenliebe und -leben, no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]
by John Böie (1822 - 1900), "Ich kann's nicht fassen", op. 10 (Sechs Lieder) no. 3, published 1847 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig, Whistling [sung text not yet checked]
by Franz Paul Lachner (1803 - 1890), "Ihr Traum", op. 27 (Vier Lieder) no. 3, published 1840 [ violoncello, voice, and piano ], Wien, Diabelli und Co. [sung text checked 1 time]
by Julius Lammers (1829 - 1888), "Mein", op. 8 (Fünf Lieder und Gesänge für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 5, published 1877 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig, Kahnt [sung text not yet checked]
by Lorenz Lehmann (1807 - 1852), "Ich kann's nicht fassen", op. 34 no. 1, published 1837 [ voice and piano ], from Vier Lieder von A. von Chamisso, no. 1, Berlin, Stackebrandt [sung text not yet checked]
by Carl Loewe (1796 - 1869), "Ich kann's nicht fassen, nicht glauben", op. 60 no. 3 (1836), from Frauenliebe, Liederkranz von Chamisso, no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Heinrich August Marschner (1795 - 1861), "Ich kann's nicht fassen", op. 156 (Vier Gesänge für Sopran (oder Tenor) mit Pianoforte) no. 2, published 1852 [ soprano or tenor and piano ], Hamburg, Böhme [sung text not yet checked]
by Karl Gottlieb Reissiger (1798 - 1859), "Erwählt", op. 104 (7 Gesänge und Lieder für Alt (oder Bassstimme) mit Begleitung des Pianoforte, 24ste Liedersammlung) no. 2, published 1835 [ alto or bass and piano ], Dresden, Paul [sung text not yet checked]
by Robert Schumann (1810 - 1856), "Ich kann's nicht fassen, nicht glauben", op. 42 no. 3 (1840), published 1843 [ voice and piano ], from Frauenliebe und -Leben, no. 3, Leipzig, Whistling [sung text checked 1 time]
by Emil Sulzbach (1885 - 1932), "Ich kann's nicht fassen", op. 23 (Zwei Lieder für 1 mittlere Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 2, published 1894 [ medium voice and piano ], Frankfurt a/M., Henkel [sung text not yet checked]
by Paul Umlauft (1853 - 1934), "Ich kann's nicht fassen ", op. 6 (Fünf Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 3, published 1881 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig, Siegel [sung text not yet checked]
by Caroline Wiseneder (1807 - 1868), "Ich kann's nicht fassen, nicht glauben", c1839-40 [sung text checked 1 time]

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

ENG English (Daniel Platt) , "I can't grasp it, nor believe it", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 65

I can't grasp it, nor believe it

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

I can't grasp it, nor believe it, 
a dream has bewitched me, 
how should he, among all the others, 
lift up and make happy poor me? 

It seemed to me, as if he spoke, 
"I am thine eternally", 
It seemed - I dream on and on, 
It could never be so. 

O let me die in this dream, 
cradled on his breast, 
let the most blessed death drink me up 
in tears of infinite bliss.

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © by Daniel Platt, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., please ask the copyright-holder(s) directly.
Daniel Platt. Contact: abelard2 (AT) aol (DOT) com

If the copyright-holder(s) are unreachable for three business days, please write to: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

a text in German (Deutsch) by Adelbert von Chamisso (1781 - 1838), no title, appears in Lieder und lyrisch epische Gedichte, in Frauen-Liebe und Leben, no. 3
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 74