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It is illegal to copy and distribute our copyright-protected material without permission. It is also illegal to reprint copyright texts or translations without the name of the author or translator.

To inquire about permissions and rates, contact Emily Ezust at licenses@email.lieder.example.net

If you wish to reprint translations, please make sure you include the names of the translators in your email. They are below each translation.

Note: You must use the copyright symbol © when you reprint copyright-protected material.

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832)
Translation © by Emily Ezust

Der Schatzgräber
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Our translations:  CAT DUT ENG ITA
Arm am Beutel, krank [am]1 Herzen,
Schleppt' ich meine langen Tage.
Armuth ist die größte Plage,
Reichthum ist das höchste Gut!
Und, zu enden meine Schmerzen,
Ging ich einen Schatz zu graben.
Meine Seele sollst du haben!
Schrieb ich hin mit eignem Blut.
 
Und so zog' ich Kreis' um Kreise,
Stellte wunderbare Flammen,
Kraut und Knochenwerk zusammen:
Die Beschwörung war vollbracht.
Und auf die gelernte Weise
Grub ich nach dem alten Schatze
Auf dem angezeigten Platze:
Schwarz und stürmisch war die Nacht.
 
Und ich sah ein Licht von weiten,
Und es kam gleich einem Sterne
Hinten aus der fernsten Ferne,
Eben als es zwölfe schlug.
Und da galt kein Vorbereiten.
Heller ward's mit einemmale
Von dem Glanz der vollen Schale,
Die ein schöner Knabe trug.
 
Holde Augen sah ich blinken
Unter [dichtem]2 Blumenkranze;
In des Trankes [Himmelsglanze]3
Trat er in den Kreis herein.
Und er hieß mich freundlich trinken;
Und ich dacht': es kann der Knabe
Mit der schönen lichten Gabe
Wahrlich nicht der Böse sein.
 
Trinke Muth des reinen Lebens!
Dann verstehst du die Belehrung,
Kommst, mit ängstlicher Beschwörung,
Nicht zurück an diesen Ort.
Grabe hier nicht mehr vergebens.
Tages Arbeit! [Abends Gäste]4;
Saure Wochen! Frohe Feste!
Sey dein künftig Zauberwort.

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Goethe's Werke, Vollständige Ausgabe letzter Hand, Erster Band, Stuttgart und Tübingen, in der J.G.Cotta'schen Buchhandlung, 1827, pages 198-199; and with Musen-Almanach für das Jahr 1798. herausgegeben von Schiller. Tübingen, in der J.G.Cottaischen Buchhandlung, pages 46-48.

1 Schubert (Neue Gesamtausgabe): "im"
2 first edition (Musenalmanach): "einem"
3 first edition (Musenalmanach): "Himmelglanze"
4 first edition (Musenalmanach): "Abendgäste"

Text Authorship:

  • by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832), "Der Schatzgräber", written 1797, 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 Hanns Eisler (1898 - 1962), "Der Schatzgräber", 1942, from Hollywooder Liederbuch, no. 28 [sung text checked 1 time]
  • by Lenhuk , "Der Schatzgräber", published <<1815 [ voice and piano ], from Zwölf Gedichte von Goethe und Schiller, no. 10 [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Carl Loewe (1796 - 1869), "Der Schatzgräber", op. 59 no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]
  • by Émile Louis Victor Mathieu (1844 - 1932), "Der Schatzgräber" [ voice and piano ], from Six Ballades de Goethe (Deuxième Suite), no. 6, Bruxelles: Schott Frères, also set in French (Français) [sung text checked 1 time]
  • by Johann Friedrich Reichardt (1752 - 1814), "Der Schatzgräber", published 1811 [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Franz Peter Schubert (1797 - 1828), "Der Schatzgräber", D 256 (1815), published 1887 [sung text checked 1 time]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

  • Also set in French (Français), a translation by Jules Abrassart (1826 - 1893) ; composed by Émile Louis Victor Mathieu.
      • Go to the text.

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

  • CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "El cercador de tresors", copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "De schatgraver", copyright © 2006, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ENG English (Emily Ezust) , "The treasure-seeker", copyright ©
  • FRE French (Français) (Gérard Labrunie) , "Le chercheur de trésors"
  • ITA Italian (Italiano) (Amelia Maria Imbarrato) , "Il cercatore di tesori", copyright © 2007, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


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

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 40
Word count: 206

The treasure‑seeker
Language: English  after the German (Deutsch) 
Poor in purse and sick at heart,
I dragged out my long days.
Poverty is the greatest plague,
wealth is the highest good!
And, to end my pain,
I went to dig for a treasure.
"My soul you shall have!"
I wrote in my own blood.

And so I drew circle upon circle,
set wonderful fires,
combined herbs and bones:
the spell was complete.
And in the prescribed way
I dug then for the old treasure
in the appointed place;
dark and stormy was the night.

And I saw a light from afar,
and it came like a star
from the furthest distance,
just as the hour of twelve struck.
And then with no warning,
it grew brighter in a split second, 
from the gleam of the full cup
held by a fair boy.

Gentle eyes I saw gazing out
from under a thick wreath of flowers;
in the heavenly glow of that libation,
he stepped into my circle.
And he bade me drink with friendliness;
and I thought: this boy,
with his fair, bright gift,
surely cannot be the Evil One!

"Drink the courage of pure life!
Then you will understand my message,
and never, with anxious conjuration,
return to this place.
Dig here no more in vain:
Daily work! Evening guests!
Hard weeks! Joyous feasts!
Let these then be your future magic words."

Text 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

    For any other purpose, please write to the e-mail address below to request permission and discuss possible fees.
    licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

  • a text in German (Deutsch) by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832), "Der Schatzgräber", written 1797, first published 1798
    • Go to the text page.

 

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 40
Word count: 225

Gentle Reminder

This website began in 1995 as a personal project by Emily Ezust, who has been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your help is greatly appreciated!
–Emily Ezust, Founder

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