Über [Thal und Fluß]1 getragen,
Ziehet rein der Sonne Wagen.
Ach, sie regt in ihrem Lauf,
So wie deine, meine Schmerzen,
Tief im Herzen,
Immer morgens wieder auf.

Kaum will mir die Nacht noch frommen,
Denn die Träume selber kommen
Nun in trauriger Gestalt,
Und ich fühle dieser Schmerzen,
Still im Herzen,
Heimlich bildende Gewalt.

Schon seit manchen schönen Jahren
Seh' ich unten Schiffe fahren;
Jedes kommt an seinen Ort;
Aber ach, die steten Schmerzen,
Fest im Herzen,
Schwimmen nicht im Strome fort.

Schön in Kleidern muß ich kommen,
Aus dem Schrank sind sie genommen,
Weil es heute Festtag ist;
Niemand [ahnet]2, daß von Schmerzen
Herz im Herzen
Grimmig mir zerrissen ist. 

Heimlich muß ich immer weinen,
Aber freundlich kann ich scheinen
Und sogar gesund und roth;
Wären tödtlich diese Schmerzen
Meinem Herzen,
Ach, schon lange wär ich todt.

F. Schubert sets stanzas 1-2 in (at least) one setting - see below for more information

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, pages 101-102, and with Musen-Almanach für das Jahr 1798, herausgegeben von Schiller. Tübingen, in der J.G.Cottaischen Buchhandlung, pages 179-180.

¹ Ore: "Fluß und Thal"; further changes may exist not shown above.
² Goethe (in all prints prior to 1812): "ahndet"

Text Authorship:

• by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832), "An Mignon", written 1796, first published 1798 [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 J. Berger , "An Mignon" [ voice and piano ], from 6 Lieder für eine Singstimme mit Pianoforte, no. 2, Leipzig, Breitkopf & Härtel [sung text not yet checked]
• by Gottfried Wilhelm Fink (1783 - 1846), "An Mignon", op. 18 no. 3, published 1807 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Christian Wilhelm Heydenreich , "An Mignon" [sung text not yet checked]
• by Johann Christoph Kienlen (1783 - 1829), "An Mignon", published 1812 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Immanuel Friedrich Knapp (1784 - 1817), "An Mignon", published 1809, from Sechs Lieder von Goethe und Matthison, no. 6 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Johann Friedrich Bonneval de La Trobe (1769 - 1845), "An Mignon", from Zwölf deutsche Lieder, no. 5 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Carl Moltke (1783 - 1831), "An Mignon", published [1814] [ voice and piano or guitar ], from Acht Lieder mit Begleitung des Pianoforte oder der Guitarre, no. 7, Leipzig: Bey Breitkopf & Härtel [sung text not yet checked]
• by Ādams Ore (1855 - 1927), "An Mignon", published 1886 [ voice and piano ], from Vier Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte, no. 1, Riga, Blosfeld [sung text not yet checked]
• by (Albert Maria) Robert Radecke (1830 - 1911), "An Mignon", op. 39 (Sechs Lieder ) no. 5 [ voice and piano ], Berlin, Bote & Bock [sung text not yet checked]
• by Johann Friedrich Reichardt (1752 - 1814), "An Mignon", published 1798 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Franz Peter Schubert (1797 - 1828), "An Mignon", op. 19 (Drei Lieder) no. 2, D 161 (1815), published 1825 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Franz Peter Schubert (1797 - 1828), "An Mignon", subtitle: "erste Fassung (version 1)", D. no. 161 (1815), stanzas 1-2 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Louis [Ludwig] Spohr (1784 - 1859), "An Mignon", op. 41 (Sechs deutsche Lieder) no. 3 (1815) [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Karl Friedrich Zelter (1758 - 1832), "An Mignon", 1797 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Johann Rudolf Zumsteeg (1760 - 1802), "An Mignon", published 1800, from Kleine Balladen und Lieder, Heft II, no. 10 [sung text checked 1 time]

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

• CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "A Mignon", copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "Aan Mignon", copyright © 2007, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• ENG English (Emily Ezust) , "To Mignon", copyright ©
• FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "À Mignon", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this page: Richard Morris , Peter Rastl [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 30
Word count: 139

 Crossing over vale and river 
 the sun chariot passes cleanly.
 Ah, it stirs in its course
 my agonies, much like yours,
 deep in the heart,
 always fresh each morning.

 Hardly does the night help me,
 for my dreams themselves come
 now in mournful aspect,
 and I feel these pains
 quietly in my heart,
 a secretly-forming power.

 Already, for many fair years
 have I seen ships sailing below,
 each going to its place,
 but ah! the constant agonies,
 firm in my heart,
 do not float away in the river.

 I must appear in fine clothing
 taken from the wardrobe
 because today is a holiday;
 no one suspects the agony
 that in my heart of hearts
 is tearing grimly at me.

 In secret I must weep,
 but I can seem cheerful,
 even healthy and flushed;
 were these agonies fatal
 to my heart,
 ah, I would long since have died.