by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832)
Translation © by Guy Laffaille

Rastlose Liebe
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Available translation(s): CAT DUT ENG FRE POR
[Dem]1 Schnee, [dem]1 Regen,
Dem Wind entgegen,
Im Dampf der Klüfte,
Durch Nebeldüfte,
Immer zu! Immer zu!
Ohne Rast und Ruh!

Lieber durch Leiden
[Möcht']2 ich mich schlagen,
Als so viel Freuden
Des Lebens ertragen.
Alle das Neigen
[Von]3 Herzen zu Herzen,
Ach wie so eigen
Schaffet [das]4 Schmerzen!

Wie soll ich [fliehen?]5
Wälderwärts [ziehen?]6
[Alles]7 vergebens!
Krone des Lebens,
Glück ohne Ruh,
Liebe, bist du!

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Goethe's Werke, Vollständige Ausgabe letzter Hand, Erster Band, Stuttgart und Tübingen, in der J.G.Cottaschen Buchhandlung, 1827, page 93, and with Goethe's Schriften, Achter Band, Leipzig, bey Georg Joachim Göschen, 1789, pages 147-148.

1 Harder: "Durch"
2 Schubert (Alte Gesamtausgabe): "Wollt'"; Greger: "Will"
3 Reichardt: "Der"
4 Schubert (2nd version, and 1st version in Alte Gesamtausgabe): "es"
5 Reichardt, Schubert: "flieh'n"
6 Reichardt, Schubert: "zieh'n"
7 Schubert: "Alles, alles"

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):

  • CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "Amor sense treva", copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "Rusteloze liefde", copyright © 2005, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ENG English (Lynn Thompson) , "Restless love", copyright © 1997, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ENG English (Edgar Alfred Bowring) , "Restless love", appears in The Poems of Goethe, first published 1853
  • FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Amour sans repos", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • POR Portuguese (Português) (Margarida Moreno) , "Amor sem descanso", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Research team for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Peter Rastl [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 20
Word count: 66

Amour sans repos
Language: French (Français)  after the German (Deutsch) 
Sous la neige, sous la pluie,
Face au vent,
Dans la vapeur de l'abîme,
À travers le parfum du brouillard,
Sans arrêt ! Sans arrêt !
Sans repos ni paix !

Je préfèrerais dans cette souffrance
Me frapper moi-même
Qu'endurer tant de joies
De la vie.

Toute cette inclination
De cœur à cœur,
Ah, quelle douleur
Elle procure !

Comment dois-je fuir ?
Aller dans la forêt ?
Tout est vain !
Couronne de la vie,
Bonheur sans repos,
Amour, tu es cela !

Authorship:

  • Translation from German (Deutsch) to French (Français) copyright © 2009 by Guy Laffaille, (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: 2009-06-22
Line count: 20
Word count: 84