Des Menschen Seele
Gleicht dem Wasser:
Vom Himmel kommt es,
Zum Himmel steigt es,
Und wieder nieder
Zur Erde muß es,
Ewig wechselnd.

Strömt von der hohen,
Steilen Felswand
Der reine Strahl,
Dann stäubt er lieblich
In Wolkenwellen
Zum glatten Fels,
Und leicht empfangen,
Wallt [er verschleiernd]1,
[Leisrauschend]2,
Zur Tiefe nieder.

Ragen Klippen
Dem [Sturz']3 entgegen,
Schäumt er unmuthig
Stufenweise
[Zum]4 Abgrund.

Im flachen [Bette]5
[Schleicht]6 er das Wiesenthal hin,
Und in dem glatten See
Weiden ihr Antlitz
Alle Gestirne. 

Wind ist der Welle
Lieblicher [Buhler]7;
Wind mischt [vom]8 Grund aus
Schäumende [Wogen]9.

Seele des Menschen,
Wie [gleichst]10 du dem Wasser!
Schicksal des Menschen,
Wie gleichst du dem Wind!

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Goethe's Werke. Vollständige Ausgabe letzter Hand. Zweyter Band. Stuttgart und Tübingen, in der J.G.Cotta'schen Buchhandlung. 1827, pages 58-59; and with Goethe's Schriften, Achter Band, Leipzig, bey Georg Joachim Göschen, 1789, pages 187-188.

¹ Schubert (D. 538): "verschleiernd"; and "er verrauschend" in the repetition
² Schubert (D. 484): "Leisrauschend dann"
³ Goethe (1789 edition): "Sturze"
⁴ Schubert (D. 484): "Zu dem"
⁵ Schubert (D. 538 and 714): "Beete"
⁶ Schubert (D. 484): "Schleichet"
⁷ Schubert (Alte Gesamtausgabe): "Buhle"
⁸ Schubert (D. 484 and 538): "von"
⁹ Schubert (D. 714, Alte Gesamtausgabe): "Wellen"
¹⁰ Schubert (D. 484): "gleich"

Authorship:

• by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832), "Gesang der Geister über den Wassern", written 1779, first published 1789 [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 Danielle Baas (b. 1958), "Gesang der Geister über den Wassern", op. 48a (1998) [ soprano and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Wilhelm Reinhard Berger (1861 - 1911), "Gesang der Geister über den Wassern ", op. 55, published 1893 [ four-part mixed chorus and orchestra ], Berlin, Plothow [sung text not yet checked]
• by Michael Gees (b. 1953), "Gesang der Geister über den Wassern", op. 7 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Ferdinand von Hiller (1811 - 1885), "Gesang der Geister über dem Wasser", op. 36, published 1847 [ chorus and orchestra ], Berlin, Guttentag [sung text not yet checked]
• by Carl Loewe (1796 - 1869), "Gesang der Geister über den Wassern", op. 88 (1840) [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Dietrich Manicke (b. 1923), "Gesang der Geister über den Wassern", 1994, from Drei Gesänge nach Texten von Goethe und Conrad Ferdinand Meyer, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Antonio Müller-Herrneck , "Gesang der Geister über dem Wasser", published 1899 [ alto and piano ], from Acht Lieder für Alt-Stimme mit Pianofortebegleitung, no. 1, Frankfurt a/M., Steyl & Thomas [sung text not yet checked]
• by Johannes Schild (b. 1960), "Gesang der Geister über den Wassern", 1997 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Franz Peter Schubert (1797 - 1828), "Gesang der Geister über den Wassern", D 484 (1816), published 1895 [ voice, piano ], first setting; fragment, completed by Reinhard van Hoorickx [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Franz Peter Schubert (1797 - 1828), "Gesang der Geister über den Wassern", D 538 (1817), published 1891 [ ttbb quartet ], second setting [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Franz Peter Schubert (1797 - 1828), "Gesang der Geister über den Wassern", D 705 (1820), published 1897 [ ttbb quartet with piano ], third setting; fragment, completed (up to stanza 4) by Eugene Asti [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Franz Peter Schubert (1797 - 1828), "Gesang der Geister über den Wassern", op. posth. 167, D 714 (1820), published 1858 [ men's chorus with strings ], fourth setting [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Franz Peter Schubert (1797 - 1828), "Gesang der Geister über den Wassern", D 704, note: D. 704 has been removed and included as the first version in D. 714 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Eduard Steuermann (1892 - 1964), "Gesang der Geister über den Wassern", 1931 [sung text not yet checked]

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

• CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2019, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "Gezang der geesten over de wateren", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• ENG English (Shawn Thuris) , "Song of the spirits over the waters", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Chant des esprits sur les eaux", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Canto degli spiriti sopra le acque", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• NOR Norwegian (Bokmål) (Marianne Beate Kielland) , copyright © 2023, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this text: Martin-Beatus Meier , Peter Rastl [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 35
Word count: 109

L'anima degli uomini
È simile all'acqua:
dal cielo proviene
al cielo ascende
e ancora di nuovo
ritorna alla terra
in eterna vicenda.
 
Sgorga dall'alto,
erto dirupo,
il puro zampillo,
si frantuma leggiadro
in nuvole cangianti
sulla liscia roccia,
e dolcemente accolto
fluttua nascosto
e con lieve sussurro
giù nel profondo.
 
Rocce si levano
Contro la cascata,
che spumeggia furiosa
di roccia in roccia
verso l'abisso.
 
Scorre in piano letto
Lentamente lungo la valle,
e sulla liscia superficie del lago
nutrono il loro riflesso
tutte le stelle.
 
Il vento è dell'onda 
Amante leggiadro;
e dal fondo rimescola
onde spumose.
 
Anima dell'uomo
come somigli all'acqua!
Destino dell'uomo
come somigli al vento!