Es schlug mein Herz; geschwind zu Pferde! 
Es war gethan fast eh' gedacht; 
Der Abend wiegte schon die Erde
Und an den Bergen hing die Nacht: 
Schon stand im Nebelkleid die Eiche
Ein aufgethürmter Riese da, 
Wo Finsterniß aus dem Gesträuche 
Mit hundert schwarzen Augen sah.

Der Mond von einem Wolkenhügel 
Sah [kläglich]1 aus dem Duft hervor, 
Die Winde schwangen leise Flügel, 
Umsaus'ten schauerlich mein Ohr; 
Die Nacht schuf tausend Ungeheuer; 
Doch frisch und fröhlich war mein Muth: 
In meinen Adern welches Feuer! 
In meinem Herzen welche Glut! 

Dich [sah]2 ich, und die milde Freude 
Floß von dem süßen Blick auf mich;
Ganz war mein Herz [an]3 deiner Seite
Und jeder Athemzug für dich. 
Ein rosenfarbnes Frühlingswetter 
Umgab das liebliche Gesicht, 
Und Zärtlichkeit für mich - Ihr Götter! 
Ich hofft' es, ich verdient' es nicht! 

Doch ach schon mit der Morgensonne
Verengt der Abschied mir das Herz: 
In deinen Küssen, welche Wonne! 
In deinem Auge, [welcher]4 Schmerz! 
Ich ging, du standst und sahst zur Erden, 
Und sahst mir nach mit nassem Blick: 
Und doch, welch Glück geliebt zu werden! 
Und lieben, Götter, welch ein Glück!

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 75-76; with Goethe's Schriften, Achter Band, Leipzig, bey Georg Joachim Göschen, 1789, pages 115-116 (here with the title Willkomm und Abschied; and with Goethe's sämmtliche Schriften. Siebenter Band. Wien, 1810. Verlegt bey Anton Strauß. In Commission bey Geistinger, pages 39-40.

Note: First published 1775 in an earlier version as part of the poem Neue Liebe, Neues Leben (stanzas 4-7) in Iris. Zweyter Band. Drittes Stück.

¹ Pfitzner: "schläfrig"
² Goethe (Wien 1810 edition; misprint?), and Schubert (Neue Gesamtausgabe): "seh"
³ Schubert (Neue Gesamtausgabe): "auf"
⁴ Pfitzner: "welch ein"

Text Authorship:

• by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832), "Willkommen und Abschied", written 1771, first published 1775 [author's text checked 1 time 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 Peter Grønland (1761 - 1825), "Willkommen und Abschied", 1818 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Oscar Meyer (1865 - 1935), "Willkommen und Abschied", published 1891 [ tenor and piano ], Leipzig, Peters [sung text not yet checked]
• by Hans Erich Pfitzner (1869 - 1949), "Willkommen und Abschied", op. 29 no. 3 (1922) [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Johann Friedrich Reichardt (1752 - 1814), "Willkommen und Abschied", published 1794 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Franz Peter Schubert (1797 - 1828), "Willkommen und Abschied", op. 56 (Drei Lieder) no. 1, D 767 (1822), published 1826 [ voice and piano ], A. Pennauer, VN 258, Wien [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Winfried (Petrus Ignatius) Zillig (1905 - 1963), "Willkommen und Abschied", 1944 [sung text not yet checked]

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

• CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "Benvinguda i comiat", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "Welkom en afscheid", copyright © 2006, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• ENG English (Emily Ezust) , "Welcome and parting", copyright ©
• FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Bienvenue et séparation", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• ITA Italian (Italiano) (Amelia Maria Imbarrato) , "Benvenuto e commiato", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• ITA Italian (Italiano) [singable] (Jakob Nikolaus Craigher de Jachelutta) , "Felice arrivo e congedo"

Research team for this page: Johannes Becker , Peter Rastl [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 32
Word count: 188

My heart pounded, quick! to the horse!
It was done before I could think;
evening was already cradling the earth
and night hung upon the mountains:
already the oak stood clothed in mist,
a towering giant there,
where darkness from the bushes
peered with a hundred dark eyes!

The moon from a hill of cloud
looked pitifully down through the haze,
the wind stirred with gentle wings
murmuring eerily into my ear;
night created a thousand horrors;
but fresh and cheery was my mood:
in my veins, what fire!
in my heart, what passion!

You I saw and gentle joy
flowed from your sweet gaze to mine,
my heart was entirely at your side,
and every breath was for you.
Rose-colored spring
surrounded your lovely face,
and tenderness for me - oh you Gods!
I had hoped for this, but I do not deserve it!

But alas, already with the morning sun,
parting strangles my heart:
in your kisses, what bliss!
in your eyes, what pain!
I left, and you stood and looked down at the ground,
and then gazed after me with wet eyes:
and yet, what happiness to be loved!
And to love, Gods, what good fortune!