Ich weiß nicht, was [soll es]1 bedeuten,
Daß ich so traurig bin;
Ein Märchen aus [alten]2 Zeiten,
Das [kommt]3 mir nicht aus dem Sinn.

  Die Luft ist kühl und es dunkelt,
Und ruhig [fließt]4 der Rhein;
[Der Gipfel des Berges]5 funkelt
Im Abendsonnenschein.

  Die schönste Jungfrau sitzet
Dort oben wunderbar,
Ihr goldnes Geschmeide blitzet
Sie kämmt [ihr goldenes]6 Haar.

  Sie kämmt es mit [goldenem]7 Kamme
Und singt ein Lied dabei;
Das hat eine wundersame,
[Gewaltige]8 Melodei.

  Den Schiffer im kleinen [Schiffe]9
Ergreift es mit wildem Weh;
Er [schaut]10 nicht die Felsenriffe,
Er [schaut nur hinauf]11 in die Höh'.

  Ich glaube, [die Wellen verschlingen
Am Ende]12 Schiffer und Kahn;
Und das hat mit ihrem Singen
Die [Lorelei]13 gethan.

R. Schonthal sets stanza 1

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with: Heinrich Heine’s sämtliche Werke in vier Bänden, herausgegeben von Otto F. Lachmann, Erster Band, Leipzig: Druck und Verlag von Philipp Reclam jun, [1887], pages 116-117.

¹ Bronsart, Liszt,: "soll's"
² Fibich: "uralten"
³ Fibich: "geht"
⁴ Bürde: "fliesset"
⁵ Fibich: "Des Berges Gipfel"
⁶ Bronsart, Kinkel: "ihr goldnes"; Bürde: "das gold'ne"; C. Schumann: "ihr gold'nes"
⁷ Bronsart: "goldnem"; Liszt, C. Schumann: "gold'nem"
⁸ Bronsart, Kinkel, Liszt: "Gewalt'ge"
⁹ Bürde: "Kahne"
¹⁰ Fibich: "sieht"
¹¹ Fibich: "sieht nur nach ihr"
¹² Kinkel: "am Ende verschlingen / Die Wellen"
¹³ Bürde: "Loreley"

Authorship:

• by Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856), no title, appears in Buch der Lieder, in Die Heimkehr, no. 2 [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 Konstantin Julius Becker (1811 - 1859), "Lorelei", op. 19 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Jakob Blied (1844 - 1884), "Ich weiß nicht, was soll es bedeuten", from Lieder, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Ingeborg (Starck) Bronsart von Schellendorf (1840 - 1913), "Die Loreley", published 1865 [ voice and piano ], Mainz: Bei B. Schott’s Söhnen [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Christian Bruhn (b. 1934), "Ich weiß nicht, was soll es bedeuten" [ voice and orchestra ], from Heine-Lieder, no. 10 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Carl Debrois van Bruyck (1828 - 1902), "Die Loreley", op. 15 (Drei Gesänge) no. 2 [ mezzo-soprano and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Jeannette Antonie Bürde, née Milder (c1799 - 1875), "Die Loreley", op. 7 (Drei Gesänge) no. 3, published c1850 [ soprano or tenor and piano ], Magdeburg: Verlag der Heinrichshofen'schen Musikalien-Handlung [sung text checked 1 time]
• by G. Burwig , "Loreley" [ voice, speaker, and piano ], note: indicates "parodistisch-musikalisch glossirt" [sung text not yet checked]
• by John Driscoll (b. 1977), "Die Lorelei" [sung text not yet checked]
• by Louis Ehlert (1825 - 1884), "Die Loreley von Heinrich Heine", op. 6 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Richard Farber (b. 1945), "Die Lorelei", 2010 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Zdenko Antonín Václav Fibich (1850 - 1900), "Loreley", op. 7 (Vier Balladen für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte = Čtyři balady) no. 3, H. 181 no. 3 (1872), published 1874 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig, Lichtenberger [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Edmund von Freyhold (1878 - 1944), "Loreley", 1906 [ voice and piano ], from Gesungene Gedichte mit Klavierbegleitung: Sechs Lieder, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Niels Wilhelm Gade (1817 - 1890), "Die Loreley", from Lieder und Gesänge (Volksausgabe, Heft 7, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Ferdinand Gleich (1816 - 1898), "Die Loreley", from Drei Romanzen, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Ulf A. Grahn , "Die Lorelei", published 1985, first performed 1986 [ alto, violin, violoncello, piano ], from Three German Folksongs, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
• by J. Grill , "Die Loreley", published 1840, from Vier Romanzen, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Christian Friedrich Grimmer (1798 - 1850), "Loreley", from Lieder, no. 18 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Gustav Adolf Heinze (1820 - 1904), "Die Loreley", op. 25 (Vier Lieder für Tenor (oder Mezzo-Sopran) mit Pianofortebegleitung) no. 4, published 1887 [ tenor or mezzo-soprano and piano ], Amsterdam, Wahlberg [sung text not yet checked]
• by Richard Heinze (1845 - 1893), "Durch die Zeitung oder Das Rendezvous : Komisches Duett", op. 112 [ duet for soprano and tenor with piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Ferdinand von Hiller (1811 - 1885), "Lorelei", op. 116 (Acht Gedichte von H. Heine für S., A., T. und B.), Heft 1 no. 1, published 1865 [ SATB chorus ], Bremen, Cranz [sung text not yet checked]
• by Peter Janssens (b. 1934), "Ich weiß nicht, was soll es bedeuten: aus Die Heimkehr", published 1976, from Heinrich Heine Song Buch, no. 9 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Moritz Kässmayer (1831 - 1884), "Licht und Schatten: Potpourri", op. 19, published 1871 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Al. Kern , "Loreley", op. 4 (Drei Gedichte) no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Hermann Kestner (1810 - 1890), "Loreley" [sung text not yet checked]
• by Wilhelm Killmayer (1927 - 2017), "Die Loreley", 1994-5, published c1998 [ tenor and piano ], from Ein Liederbuch nach Gedichten von Heinrich Heine, Abteilung IV, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Johanna Kinkel, née Mockel (1810 - 1858), "Die Lorelei", op. 7 (Sechs Lieder) no. 4, published [1838] [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Joseph Klein (1802 - 1862), "Loreley: Ballade von H. Heine" [sung text not yet checked]
• by E. Klitzsch , "Ich weiß nicht, was soll es bedeuten", op. 1 (Lieder) no. 6 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Friedrich Wilhelm Kücken (1810 - 1882), "Die Loreley", op. 3 [ bass and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Franz Paul Lachner (1803 - 1890), "Die Lore Ley", op. 35 (Zwölf deutsche Gesänge), Heft 2 no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Franz (Ferenc) Liszt (1811 - 1886), "Loreley", S. 273 no. 1 (1841), published 1843 [ voice and piano ], note: first version [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Franz (Ferenc) Liszt (1811 - 1886), "Die Loreley", S. 273 no. 2 (1854-6), published 1856 [ voice and piano ], note: second version [sung text checked 1 time]
• by O. Lübbert , "Ich weiß nicht, was soll es bedeuten", op. 5 (Lieder) no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Hermann von Maltzan , "Loreley", op. 12 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Carl Ludwig Amand Mangold (1813 - 1889), "Ich weiß nicht, was soll es bedeuten", op. 74 (Sechs Lieder) no. 5 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Alfred Michow , "Loreley (Was geht das mich an?)" [ speaker and voice (with piano?) ], parody [sung text not yet checked]
• by Carl Friedrich Wilhelm Müller (b. 1835), "Ich weiß nicht, was soll es bedeuten", op. 1 (Lieder) no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Emil Naumann (1827 - 1888), "Loreley", subtitle: "Ballade", op. 3, published 1878 [ voice and piano ], Berlin, Bote & Bock [sung text not yet checked]
• by J. W. Nedelmann , "Ich weiß nicht, was soll es bedeuten" [sung text not yet checked]
• by Carl Oberthür (1819 - 1895), "Die Loreley", op. 72 (Drei deutsche Lieder) no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
• by W. Prischpiczek , "Böhmische Loreley (I was net was sull's bedeuten)" [sung text not yet checked]
• by Heinrich Proch (1809 - 1878), "Die Lorelei", op. 222, published 1876 [ voice and piano ], Wien, Schreiber [sung text not yet checked]
• by (Joseph) Joachim Raff (1822 - 1882), "Loreley", op. 98 no. 26 (1855-63), from Sanges-Frühling, no. 26 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Otto Reutter (1870 - 1931), "Die Loreley: eine Dialekt-Studie in Form eines Potpourris" [ voice and piano ], from Original-Vorträge mit Pianoforte, no. 137, Leipzig, Otto Teich ; note: parody? [sung text not yet checked]
• by Georg Rösser , "Ich weiß nicht, was soll es bedeuten", subtitle: "Couplet" [sung text not yet checked]
• by Karl Friedrich Rungenhagen (1778 - 1851), "Loreley", op. 38 (Sechs Lieder) no. 4 [ low voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Louis Schlottmann (1826 - 1905), "Die Lore-Ley", op. 1 ([Zwei] Lieder und Gesänge für eine Singstimme mit Pianoforte ) no. 1, published 1845 [ voice and piano ], Berlin, Guttentag [sung text not yet checked]
• by Ruth Schonthal (1924 - 2006), "Ich weiß nicht, was soll es bedeuten", 1990-1, published c1997, stanza 1 [ soprano, flute, 2 clarinets, 2 percussion, violoncello, piano, and synthesizer ], from Collagen, no. 1, note: also uses parts of a text from Des Knaben Wunderhorn [sung text not yet checked]
• by Ferdinand Schultz, Dr. , "Die Loreley", published 1866 [ voice and piano ], from Gesänge, no. 4, Berlin, Trautwein [sung text not yet checked]
• by Friedrich August Schulz (1810 - 1893), "Die Loreley", op. 45 (Myrthenkränzchen : Sammlung von Jugendliedern), Heft 2 no. 2, published 1862 [ voice and piano ], Hannover, Bachmann [sung text not yet checked]
• by Clara Schumann, née Wieck (1819 - 1896), "Lorelei" [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
• by (Philipp) Friedrich Silcher (1789 - 1860), "Die Loreley", published 1838 [ voice and piano ], confirmed with a concert programme booklet [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Rudi Spring (b. 1962), "Ich weiß nicht, was soll es bedeuten", op. 17 no. 2 (1996), published 2002 [ tenor and piano ], from Vier Lieder nach Gedichten von Heinrich Heine, no. 2, München (Munich), Verlag vierdreiunddreissig [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Wilhelm Steifensand (1820 - 1882), "Loreley: Ballade", op. 9, published 1852 [ voice and piano ], Cöln, Schloss [sung text not yet checked]
• by Emil Steinkühler (1821 - 1872), "Lorelei: von Heine", op. 15 [ tenor and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Julius Stern (1820 - 1883), "Die Loreley", op. 1 (Fünf Gesänge) no. 5, published 1840 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig, Klemm [sung text not yet checked]
• by Reinhold Stöckhardt (1831 - 1901), "Loreley", op. 1 (Liederkranz), Heft 1 no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
• by (Eugen Felix) Richard Thiele (1847 - 1903), "Parodie auf die Loreley", op. 62 [ speaker and piano ], from Melodramatische Parodien klassischer Gedichte, no. 7 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Otto Tiehsen (1817 - 1849), "Loreley", op. 2 (Fünf Gesänge von Heine und Müller) no. 4, published 1839 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Albert Karl Tottmann (1837 - 1917), "Loreley", op. 14 [ voice, violin, and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Walter Trautner (b. 1903), "Die Loreley", op. 37 (Lieder) no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Anton Urspruch (1850 - 1907), "Ich weiß nicht, was soll es bedeuten", op. 6 (Liebeslieder nach Texten von Heinrich Heine), Heft 4 no. 3, published 1876 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Johann Vesque von Püttlingen (1803 - 1883), "Loreley", op. 39 (Sechs Gedichte von Heine) no. 1, from Die Heimkehr : 88 Gedichte aus H. Heine's Reisebildern, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Th. Werner , "Ich weiß nicht, was soll es bedeuten", op. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Paul Widemann , "Die Loreley", op. 2 no. 3, published 1878 [ tenor and piano ], from In Majas Zauber : Drei Gedichte, no. 3, Leipzig, Breitkopf & Härtel [sung text not yet checked]
• by August Daniel Ferdinand Victor Wilhelmj (1845 - 1908), "Loreley" [sung text not yet checked]
• by Gotthard Wöhler (1818 - 1888), "Die Loreley", op. 1 (Drei Balladen von Heine) no. 3 [ bass and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

• Also set in English, a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by John G. Barnett.
  • Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
    
• Also set in English, a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Theo. H. Northrup.
  • Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
    
• Also set in Italian (Italiano), a translation by Felice Cavallotti (1842 - 1898) ; composed by Giorgio Miceli.
  • Go to the text.
    

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

• DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• ENG English (Walter Meyer) , no title, copyright © 1995, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• ENG English (Emma Lazarus) , appears in Poems and Ballads of Heinrich Heine, first published 1881
• ENG English [singable] (Arthur Westbrook) , "The Loreley"
• ENG English [singable] (Samuel Langhorne Clemens) , "The lorelei", appears in A Tramp Abroad, Volume 1, Leipzig: Bernhard Tauchnitz, p. 123-4, first published 1880
• FIN Finnish (Suomi) (Erkki Pullinen) , copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• GRE Greek (Ελληνικά) [singable] (Christakis Poumbouris) , copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• HUN Hungarian (Magyar) (Tamás Rédey) , "Lorelei", copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• POL Polish (Polski) (Aleksander Kraushar) , no title, appears in Pieśni Heinego, in Powrót, no. 2
• POR Portuguese (Português) (Margarida Moreno) , "A Loreley", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• SPA Spanish (Español) (Alfredo García) , "Lorelei", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 24
Word count: 118

Je ne sais pas ce que cela signifie
Et pourquoi je suis si triste;
C'est un conte des anciens temps
Qui ne me sort pas de la tête.

L'air est froid, il fait sombre,
Et le Rhin coule paisiblement.
Le sommet de la montagne étincelle
Dans la lueur du soleil couchant.

La plus belle des filles est assise
Là-haut, splendide,
Ses bijoux d'or flamboient,
Elle peigne ses cheveux d'or.

Elle les coiffe avec un peigne d'or
Tout en chantant une chanson
Qui possède une étrange
Et violente mélodie.

Le batelier dans son petit esquif
En est étreint d'une douleur sauvage,
Il ne regarde pas le récif,
Il ne regarde que vers les hauteurs.

Je crois qu'à la fin les vagues
Ont englouti le batelier et sa barque;
Et c'est avec son chant
Que l'a fait la Lorelei.