So lang' im deutschen Eichenthale,
Natur! dein hehrer Schauer webt,
Und, bei des Mondes Geisterstrale,
Der Adler Wodans mich umschwebt;

So lang' in der Erwählten Blicken
Mir tausend Himmel offen stehn,
Und, mit [vergötterndem]1 Entzücken,
[Wir Arm in Arm durchs Leben gehn]2;

So lang', in wackrer Brüder Kreise,
Der Bundeskelch zur Weihe klingt,
Und jeder, nach der Ahnherrn Weise,
In Tells und Hermanns Jubel singt:

Will ich den Gram den Winden geben,
Selbst Augenblicken Kränze weihn,
Und noch, wo Todesengel schweben,
Den Pfad mit Rosen mir bestreun!

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Gedichte von Friedrich von Matthisson. Erster Theil. Tübingen, bei Cotta, 1811, page 3; with Morgenblatt für gebildete Stände. Dritter Jahrgang. 1809. Im Verlag der J. G. Cotta'schen Buchhandlung in Tübingen. Nro. 250. Donnerstag, 19. Oktober, 1809, page 997; and with Friedrich von Matthisson, Gedichte, Zurich, Füssli, 1851, pages 11-12.

¹ Matthisson (Morgenblatt): "vergöttertem"
² Matthisson (Morgenblatt): "Nach Stunden wir uns wiedersehn"

Text Authorship:

• by Friedrich von Matthisson (1761 - 1831), "Jünglingswonne", written 1778, appears in Gedichte aus der Schulzeit (1776-1778), first published 1809 [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 Franz Peter Schubert (1797 - 1828), "Jünglingswonne", op. 17 no. 1, D 983 (<<1823), published 1823 [ ttbb quartet ], Cappi & Diabelli, VN 1176, Wien [sung text checked 1 time]

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

• CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "Goig de jovenesa", copyright © 2019, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "Wat een jongeman leuk vindt", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• ENG English (Malcolm Wren) , "Happiness of youth", copyright © 2020, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this page: Ferdinando Albeggiani , Melanie Trumbull , Peter Rastl [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2007-07-05
Line count: 16
Word count: 89

In this German oak valley, so long
As your noble mystery envelops me, nature,
And, by the ghostly light of the moon,
Wodan's eagle hovers around me;

In the glances of the one I have chosen, so long
As a thousand heavens open up to me,
And with a rapture that turns me into a god
We go through life arm in arm;

In the honest circle of brothers, so long
As the cup of union is clinked in devotion,
And everyone follows our ancestors and
Sings the praises of Tell and Hermann:

I shall cast my cares to the winds,
I shall devote a wreath myself to those moments,
And still, as the angel of death descends,
I shall strew my path with roses!