I will creep from door to door

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by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832)

Translation © by Emily Ezust

An die Thüren will ich schleichen

Language: German (Deutsch)

Available translation(s): CAT DUT ENG FRE ITA

An die Thüren will ich schleichen,
[Still]¹ und sittsam will ich stehn;
[Fromme]² Hand wird Nahrung reichen;
Und ich werde weiter gehn.
Jeder wird sich glücklich scheinen,
Wenn mein Bild vor ihm erscheint;
Eine Thräne wird er weinen,
Und ich weiß nicht was er weint.

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Goethe's Werke. Vollständige Ausgabe letzter Hand. Zweyter Band. Stuttgart und Tübingen, in der J.G.Cotta'schen Buchhandlung. 1827, page 121; and with Goethe's Werke. Vollständige Ausgabe letzter Hand. Neunzehnter Band. Stuttgart und Tübingen, in der J.G.Cotta'schen Buchhandlung. 1828, page 227.

First published in Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre. Ein Roman. Herausgegeben von Goethe. Dritter Band. Berlin. Bei Johann Friedrich Unger. 1795, page 146. The poem appears in Book 5, Chapter 14 of Goethe's novel.

¹ Schubert (first version): "Fromm"
² Goethe (1795 edition): "Frommer"

Authorship:

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832), "Harfenspieler", written 1785, appears in Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre, first published 1795 [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 Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Prince Consort (1819 - 1861), "Aus Wilhelm Meister", 1835-41 [sung text not yet checked]
by Michael Brough (b. 1960), "An die Thüren will ich schleichen", op. 14 no. 3 (2000) [ voice and piano ], from Harfenspieler -- 3 Lieder, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
by (August Joseph) Norbert Burgmüller (1810 - 1836), "Harfenspieler I", op. 3 (Sechs Gesänge von Uhland, Goethe, Heine, Platen) no. 6 (1827-36?), published 1838 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig, Hofmeister [sung text checked 1 time]
by Franz Aloys Theodor Commer (1813 - 1887), "An die Thüren will ich schleichen", op. 86 no. 3, published 1879 [ voice and piano ], from Drei Lieder aus Goethe's Wilhelm Meister, für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte, no. 3, Berlin, Trautwein [sung text not yet checked]
by Zdenko Antonín Václav Fibich (1850 - 1900), "Lied des Harfners (An die Türen will ich schleichen)", H. 134 no. 3 (1871), published 1893, first performed 1914, from Aus Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahren, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
by Carl Theodor Flodin (1858 - 1925), "An die Thüren will ich schleichen " [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
by Friedrich Theodor Fröhlich (1803 - 1836), "An die Thüren will ich", op. 3 no. 4 [ bass and piano ], from Acht deutsche Canzonetten für Bass, no. 4, Leipzig: Friedrich Hofmeister [sung text not yet checked]
by Gustav Jansen [not F. G. Jansen] , "Der Harfner", published 1863 [ voice and piano ], from Musikalisches Göthe-Album. Eine Sammlung Göthescher Lieder, no. 5, Berlin, Mendel [sung text not yet checked]
by Johann Christoph Kienlen (1783 - 1829), "Lied des Harfenspielers", published 1810, from Zwölf Lieder von Goethe, no. 10 [sung text not yet checked]
by Joseph Klein (1802 - 1862), "Der Harfenspieler", published 1836 [ voice and piano ], from Sechs Gedichte aus Wilhelm Meister's Lehrjahren, von Goethe, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
by Leopold Lenz (1803 - 1862), "An die Türen will ich schleichen", op. 12 no. 4, published 1832 [ low soprano or baritone and piano ], from Mignon der Harfner und Philine ein Cyclus von acht Gesaengen aus "Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre", no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
by Leopold Lenz (1803 - 1862), "Gesang des Harfners aus Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre", op. 5 (Sieben Gesänge) no. 5 [ bass and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Victor August Loser , "Gesang des Harfners aus Wilhelm Meister", op. 15 no. 2, published 1899? [sung text not yet checked]
by Nikolai Karlovich Medtner (1880 - 1951), "Aus Wilhelm Meister", op. 15 no. 2, from 12 Goethe-Lieder, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
by Arnold Mendelssohn (1855 - 1933), "An die Türen will ich schleichen", published 1900 [ voice and piano ], from Lieder und Gesänge, no. 26b, Berlin, Ries & Erler [sung text not yet checked]
by Johann Friedrich Reichardt (1752 - 1814), "Letztes Lied des Harfenspielers", published 1809 [sung text not yet checked]
by Anton Grigoryevich Rubinstein (1829 - 1894), "Der Harfner", op. 91 no. 9, from Die Gedichte und das Requiem fur Mignon aus Goethe's "Wilhelm Meister's Lehrjahre", no. 9 [sung text not yet checked]
by Othmar Schoeck (1886 - 1957), "An die Türen will ich schleichen", WoO. 87 (1902?) [sung text not yet checked]
by Franz Peter Schubert (1797 - 1828), "Harfenspieler II", op. 12 (Harfenspieler aus Goethe's Wilhelm Meister) no. 3, D 479, D 478 no. 3 (1816), published 1822 [ voice and piano ], two versions: 1816 and 1822. note: D. 479 has been removed and included in D. 478 as no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Robert Schumann (1810 - 1856), "An die Türen will ich schleichen", op. 98a no. 8 (1849), published 1851 [ baritone and piano ], from Lieder und Gesänge aus dem "Wilhelm Meister" von Goethe, no. 8, Leipzig, Breitkopf und Härtel [sung text checked 1 time]
by Hugo Wolf (1860 - 1903), "Harfenspieler II", published 1891 [ voice and piano ], from Goethe-Lieder, no. 2, Mainz, Schott [sung text checked 1 time]
by Karl Friedrich Zelter (1758 - 1832), "Harfenspieler II", 1818 [sung text not yet checked]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

Also set in Russian (Русский), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Modest Petrovich Musorgsky.

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

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: 8
Word count: 45

I will creep from door to door

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

I will creep from door to door;
Quiet and humble will I stand.
A pious hand will give me food,
And I shall go on my way.
Everyone will think himself lucky
When he sees me before him;
A tear will he shed,
But I won't know why he weeps.

Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © by Emily Ezust
Emily Ezust permits her translations to be reproduced without prior permission for printed (not online) programs to free-admission concerts only, provided the following credit is given:
Translation copyright © by Emily Ezust,
from the LiederNet Archive -- https://www.lieder.net/
For any other purpose, please write to the e-mail address below to request permission and discuss possible fees.

Based on:

a text in German (Deutsch) by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832), "Harfenspieler", written 1785, appears in Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre, first published 1795

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 8
Word count: 50