Wenn ich nun gleich das weiße Blatt dir...
Language: German (Deutsch)
Our translations: ENG FRE
Wenn ich nun gleich das weiße Blatt dir schickte,
Anstatt daß ich's mit Lettern erst beschreibe,
Ausfülltest du's vielleicht zum Zeitvertreibe
Und sendetest's an mich, die Hochbeglückte.
Wenn ich den blauen Umschlag dann erblickte;
Neugierig schnell, wie es geziemt dem Weibe,
Riss' ich ihn auf, daß nichts verborgen bleibe;
Da läs' ich was mich mündlich sonst entzückte:
Lieb Kind! Mein artig Herz! Mein einzig Wesen!
Wie du so freundlich meine Sehnsucht stilltest
Mit süßem Wort und mich so ganz verwöhntest.
Sogar dein Lispeln glaubt ich auch zu lesen,
Womit du liebend meine Seele fülltest
Und mich auf ewig vor mir selbst verschöntest.
Available sung texts: (what is this?)
• J. Lang J. Lang sets lines 10-14
About the headline (FAQ)
Confirmed with Goethe's Gedichte, Erster Theil, Neue Auflage, Stuttgart und Tübingen: in der J.G. Cotta'schen Buchhandlung, 1829, page 259.
Text Authorship:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2021, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this page: Sharon Krebs
[Guest Editor] This text was added to the website: 2009-03-14
Line count: 14
Word count: 102
If I were now to send you at once the...
Language: English after the German (Deutsch)
If I were now to send you at once the white sheet of paper,
Instead of first writing words upon it myself,
Perhaps you would fill it [with words] as a diversion
And send it to me, the highly delighted woman.
When I would then espy the blue envelope,
With speedy curiosity, as it befits a woman,
I would rip it open, so that nothing would remain hidden [from me];
Then I would read what once enraptured me when you spoke it:
Dear child! My good heart! My sole being!
How you quenched my longing so graciously
With sweet words, and spoiled me so completely!
I fancied I could read even your whispers,
With which you lovingly filled my soul
And forevermore made me more beautiful in my own eyes.
About the headline (FAQ)
Translated titles
"Sie kann nicht enden" = "She cannot come to an end"
"Lieb Kind!" = "Dear child!"
Text Authorship:
- Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2009 by Sharon Krebs, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
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Based on:
This text was added to the website: 2009-03-14
Line count: 14
Word count: 130