LiederNet logo

CONTENTS

×
  • Home | Introduction
  • Composers (20,120)
  • Text Authors (19,527)
  • Go to a Random Text
  • What’s New
  • A Small Tour
  • FAQ & Links
  • Donors
  • DONATE

UTILITIES

  • Search Everything
  • Search by Surname
  • Search by Title or First Line
  • Search by Year
  • Search by Collection

CREDITS

  • Emily Ezust
  • Contributors (1,114)
  • Contact Information
  • Bibliography

  • Copyright Statement
  • Privacy Policy

Follow us on Facebook

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

Wie rasch du auch vorüberschrittest
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Our translations:  FRE
Wie rasch du auch vorüberschrittest,
Noch einmal schautest du zurück,
Der Mund, wie fragend, kühngeöffnet,
Stürmischer Hochmut in dem Blick.

O, daß ich nie zu fassen suchte
Das weiße flüchtige Gewand!
Die holde Spur der kleinen Füße,
O, daß ich nie sie wiederfand!

Verschwunden ist ja deine Wildheit,
Bist wie die Andern zahm und klar,
Und sanft und unerträglich gütig,
Und ach! nun liebst du mich sogar!

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

  • by Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856), no title, appears in Neue Gedichte, in Verschiedene, in Angélique, no. 2, first published 1881 [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 Richard Farber (b. 1945), "Wie rasch du auch vorüberschrittest", 2006, published 2006 [ baritone and piano ], from Angélique, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Don Forsythe (1932 - 2015), "Wie rasch du auch vorüberschrittest", 2007 [ high voice and piano ], from Verschiedene : vol. 1, Seraphine-Hortense, no. 17 [sung text not yet checked]

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

  • ENG English (Emma Lazarus) , "Wie rasch du auch vorüberschrittest", appears in Poems Selected from Heinrich Heine, ed. by Kate Freiligrath Kroeker, London: Walter Scott, Limited, pages 206-207, first published 1887
  • FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Comme tu passais rapidement devant moi", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2008-05-04
Line count: 12
Word count: 67

Wie rasch du auch vorüberschrittest
Language: English  after the German (Deutsch) 
Though thou wert fain to pass me quickly,
  Yet backward didst thou look by chance;
Thy wistful lips were frankly parted,
  Impetuous scorn was in thy glance.

Would that I ne'er had sought to hold thee,
  To touch thy fleeing gown's white train!
The dear mark of thy tiny footprints
  Would that I ne'er had found again:

For now thy rare wild charm has vanished,
  Like others thou art tame to see,
Intolerably kind and gentle --
  Alas! thou art in love with me!

Text Authorship:

  • by Emma Lazarus (1849 - 1887), "Wie rasch du auch vorüberschrittest", appears in Poems Selected from Heinrich Heine, ed. by Kate Freiligrath Kroeker, London: Walter Scott, Limited, pages 206-207, first published 1887 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Based on:

  • a text in German (Deutsch) by Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856), no title, appears in Neue Gedichte, in Verschiedene, in Angélique, no. 2, first published 1881
    • 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 page: Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2008-05-04
Line count: 12
Word count: 83

Gentle Reminder

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

Donate

We use cookies for internal analytics and to earn much-needed advertising revenue. (Did you know you can help support us by turning off ad-blockers?) To learn more, see our Privacy Policy. To learn how to opt out of cookies, please visit this site.

I acknowledge the use of cookies

Contact
Copyright
Privacy

Copyright © 2025 The LiederNet Archive

Site redesign by Shawn Thuris