Das Wasser rauscht', das Wasser schwoll,
Ein Fischer saß daran,
Sah nach dem Angel ruhevoll,
Kühl bis ans Herz hinan.
Und wie er sitzt und wie er lauscht,
Theilt sich die Fluth empor;
Aus dem bewegten Wasser rauscht
Ein feuchtes Weib hervor.

[Sie sang zu ihm, sie sprach zu ihm]1:
Was lockst du meine Brut
Mit Menschenwitz und Menschenlist
[Hinauf in]2 Todesgluth?
Ach wüßtest du, wie's Fischlein ist
So wohlig auf dem Grund,
Du stiegst herunter wie du bist
Und würdest erst gesund.

Labt sich die liebe Sonne nicht,
Der Mond sich nicht im Meer?
Kehrt wellenathmend ihr Gesicht
Nicht doppelt schöner her?
Lockt dich der tiefe Himmel nicht,
Das feuchtverklärte Blau?
Lockt dich dein eigen Angesicht
Nicht her in ew'gen Thau?

Das Wasser rauscht', das Wasser schwoll,
Netzt' ihm den nackten Fuß;
Sein Herz wuchs ihm so sehnsuchtsvoll
Wie bei der Liebsten Gruß.
Sie sprach zu ihm, sie sang zu ihm;
Da war's um ihn geschehn:
Halb zog sie ihn, halb sank er hin,
Und ward nicht mehr gesehn.

F. Hensel sets stanza 1

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 185-186.

Note: the Eberwein score has a likely misprint in stanza 1, line 8, word 4: "empor".

¹ Vesque von Püttlingen: "Sie sprach zu ihm, sie sang zu ihm"
² Eberwein: "Herauf zu"

Text Authorship:

• by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832), "Der Fischer", written 1778?, first published 1779 [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 (Carl) Ludwig (Heinrich) Berger (1777 - 1839), "Der Fischer ", op. 17 no. 7, published 1825 [ voice and piano ], from Neun deutsche Lieder mit Begleitung des Pianoforte, no. 7, Berlin: bei Fr. Laue [sung text not yet checked]
• by Heinrich Karl Breidenstein (1796 - 1876), "Der Fischer", 1834 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Michael Brough (b. 1960), "Der Fischer", op. 5 (Sieben Goethe-Lieder) no. 3 (1992-3) [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by August Leopold Crelle (1780 - 1855), "Der Fischer", op. 3 (Zehn Gesänge am Fortepiano) no. 5 (1813/4), published 1867 [sung text not yet checked]
• by A. Crüger (flourished c1832), "Der Fischer", 1832 [sung text not yet checked]
• by (Karl) Friedrich Curschmann (1805 - 1841), "Der Fischer", op. 4 (Sechs Gedichte) no. 3 (1832), published 1832 [ voice and piano ], Berlin, Trautwein [sung text not yet checked]
• by Alphons Diepenbrock (1862 - 1921), "Der Fischer", op. 1 (Drie ballades) no. 2 (1884), published 1885 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Anton Franz Joseph Eberl (1765 - 1807), "Der Fischer" [sung text not yet checked]
• by Max (Traugott Maximillian) Eberwein (1775 - 1831), "Der Fischer" [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Karl Anton Florian Eckert (1820 - 1879), "Der Fischer", 1828 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Robert Emmerich (1836 - 1891), "Der Fischer ", op. 33, published 1878 [ voice and piano ], Hamburg, Schuberth [sung text not yet checked]
• by H. W. Ernst , "Der Fischer" [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Arnold Gassmann , "Der Fischer", published 1875 [ bass or baritone and piano ], Leipzig, Kahnt [sung text not yet checked]
• by Moritz Hauptmann (1792 - 1868), "Der Fischer", op. 31 (Drei Lieder für eine Singstimme mit Pianoforte- und Violin-Begleitung ) no. 3, published 1844 [ voice, violin, and piano ], Leipzig, Peters [sung text not yet checked]
• by Fanny Hensel (1805 - 1847), "Der Fischer", H-U 85, stanza 1 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Friedrich Heinrich Himmel (1765 - 1814), "Der Fischer", op. 21 no. 4 (c1807) [ voice and piano or guitar ], from Sechs Lieder von Göthe mit Begleitung des Pianoforte oder der Guitarre, no. 4, Leipzig: A. Kühnel (Bureau de Musique) [sung text not yet checked]
• by Camillo Horn (1860 - 1941), "Der Fischer", op. 38 (Drei Gedichte mit begleitender Musik (Klavier)) no. 1 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Joh. Chr. Jusdorf , "Der Fischer" [sung text not yet checked]
• by Heinrich Kafka , "Der Fischer", op. 4, published 1875 [ high voice and piano ], Leipzig, Kahnt [sung text not yet checked]
• by Johann Wenzeslaus Kalliwoda (1801 - 1866), "Der Fischer" [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Friedrich August Kanne (1778 - 1833), "Der Fischer", published 1804 [ voice, guitar, and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by M. J. Kremer , "Der Fischer" [ voice and piano ], from Ausgewählte Lieder, no. 2, self-published, no date ; note: each song has a title page showing "M. J. Kremer" as the composer, but at the top of each song, it says "J. N. Kremer"  [sung text not yet checked]
• by Johann Friedrich Bonneval de La Trobe (1769 - 1845), "Der Fischer", published 1798 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Huub de Lange (b. 1955), "Der Fischer", published 2008 [ SATB chorus a cappella ], from 5 Liedchen von Liebe und Tod, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Carl Loewe (1796 - 1869), "Der Fischer", op. 43 no. 1 (1835) [ voice and piano ], from 3 Balladen, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Carl Ludwig Amand Mangold (1813 - 1889), "Der Fischer", op. 15, published 1840 [ soprano or tenor and piano ], Darmstadt, Pabst [sung text not yet checked]
• by Friedrich Methfessel (1771 - 1807), "Der Fischer ", op. 6 (Kleine Romanzen und Lieder für die Guitarre) no. 1, published 1805 [ voice and guitar ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Carl Moltke (1783 - 1831), "Der Fischer", published [c1816/7] [ voice, piano, and guitar ], from Acht Lieder mit Begleitung des Pianoforte und der Guitarre, no. 5, Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel [sung text not yet checked]
• by Béla Nemes Hegyi , "Der Fischer", op. 8 (Sieben Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 1, published 1897 [ voice and piano ], Budapest, Rózsavölgyi & Co. [sung text not yet checked]
• by Sigismund von Neukomm (1778 - 1858), "Der Fischer", published [c1826] [ voice and piano ], from Sechs Lieder für eine Singstimme mit Begleitung des Pianoforte , no. 3, Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel [sung text not yet checked]
• by Friedrich Niggli (1875 - 1959), "Der Fischer", op. 21 no. 1 [ duet for 2 voices with piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Johann Friedrich Reichardt (1752 - 1814), "Der Fischer", published 1794 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Karl Gottlieb Reissiger (1798 - 1859), "Der Fischer", op. 48 (Deutsche Lieder von W. v. Göthe für eine Sopran- oder Tenorstimme ) no. 2, published [1827?] [ soprano or tenor and piano ], Berlin: Bei Fr. Laue [sung text not yet checked]
• by Joseph (Gabriel) Rheinberger (1839 - 1901), "Der Fischer", op. 2 (Fünf Lieder und Gesänge für gemischten Chor) no. 2, published 1867 [ mixed chorus ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Andreas Jakob Romberg (1767 - 1821), "Der Fischer ", published 1793 [ voice and piano ], from Oden und Lieder fürs Clavier , no. 11, Bonn: Gestochen und zu haben bey Georg Welsch, Hofmusikus [sung text not yet checked]
• by Cláudio Franco de Sá Santoro (1919 - 1989), "Der Fischer", 1984 [ voice and organ (or piano, or strings and harp) ], title in Portuguese: "O pescador" [sung text not yet checked]
• by G. Scheller , "Der Fischer", op. 60 (Drei Gesänge für Bariton mit Pianofortebegleitung) no. 3, published 1878 [ baritone and piano ], Hamburg, Hentze [sung text not yet checked]
• by Louis Schlottmann (1826 - 1905), "Der Fischer", op. 44 (10 Goethe'sche Dichtungen) no. 7 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Christian Schreiber (1781 - 1857), "Der Fischer", published 1804 [ voice and piano ], from Sechzehn Lieder von Göthe, Mahlmann, Matthesius, A. W. Schlegel, C. Schreiber u. a. mit Begleitung des Pianoforte von C. Schreiber, no. 10, Leipzig: Bei Breitkopf und Härtel [sung text not yet checked]
• by Franz Peter Schubert (1797 - 1828), "Der Fischer", op. 5 (Fünf Lieder) no. 3, D 225 (1815), published 1821 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Robert Schumann (1810 - 1856), "Der Fischer", WoO. 19 (1828) [ voice and piano ], from Elf Jugendlieder, no. 6, published 1933 by Regensburg, Bosse as a "notenbeilage" [sung text not yet checked]
• by Hans August Friedrich Zincke genannt Sommer (1837 - 1922), "Der Fischer" [ voice and orchestra ], confirmed with a CD booklet [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Richard Georg Strauss (1864 - 1949), "Der Fischer", WoO. 33 (1877) [ voice and piano ], in Jugendlieder [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Václav Jan Křtitel Tomášek (1774 - 1850), "Der Fischer", op. 59 (Gedichte von Goethe: VII) no. 3 (1815?) [sung text not yet checked]
• by Friedrich Hieronymus Truhn (1811 - 1886), "Der Fischer", published 1832 [ voice and piano ], Berlin, Brandenburg [sung text not yet checked]
• by Johann Vesque von Püttlingen (1803 - 1883), "Der Fischer", 1865 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Hugo Wolf (1860 - 1903), "Der Fischer", op. 3 no. 3 (1875) [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Karl Friedrich Zelter (1758 - 1832), "Der Fischer", 1809 [sung text checked 1 time]

Set in a modified version by Karl Sigmund Freiherr von Seckendorff.

• Go to the text. [ view differences ]
  

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

• Also set in French (Français), a translation by Albert-Marie Du Boys (1804 - 1889) ; composed by Hector Berlioz.
  • Go to the text.
    

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

• CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "El pescador", copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• CZE Czech (Čeština) (Karel Dostál-Lutinov) , "Rybář", first published 1917
• DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "De visser", copyright © 2005, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• ENG English (Emily Ezust) , "The fisherman", copyright ©
• FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Le pêcheur", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• GRE Greek (Ελληνικά) [singable] (Christakis Poumbouris) , "Ο ψαράς", copyright © 2018, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• ITA Italian (Italiano) (Amelia Maria Imbarrato) , "Il pescatore", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• TUR Turkish (Türkçe) (Gül Sabar) , "Balıkçı", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Peter Rastl [Guest Editor] , Johann Winkler

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 32
Word count: 170

The water roared, the water swelled;
a fisherman sat beside,
gazing calmly at his fishing line,
cool to his very heart.
And as he sits there and as he listens,
the waves split
and from the turbulent water
a watery woman bursts up.

She sang to him, and spoke to him:
"Why do you lure my children
with your human wit and cunning,
up here to this deadly glow?
Ah, if you only knew how pleasant the tiny fish
find it below the surface,
you would come down, just as you are,
and you would be well for the first time.

Does not the dear sun refresh itself
and the moon as well, in the sea?
Do they not turn their faces, breathing the waves
and thus becoming doubly fair?
Aren't you tempted by the deep sky,
the moist and transfiguring blue?
Aren't you tempted by your own face
shining in the eternal dew?"

The water roared, the water swelled,
and moistened his naked foot;
and his heart filled with the longing
that he felt at the greeting of his beloved.
She spoke to him, and sang to him;
then all was done for him;
half pulled by her and half sinking himself,
he went down and was never seen again.