by Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856)
An die bretterne Schiffswand
Language: German (Deutsch)
An die bretterne Schiffswand, Wo mein träumendes Haupt liegt, Branden die Wellen, die wilden Wellen; Sie rauschen und murmeln Mir heimlich ins Ohr: "Betörter Geselle! Dein Arm ist kurz, [und der Himmel ist weit]1 Und die Sterne [droben sind festgenagelt]2 Mit goldnen Nägeln - Vergebliches Sehnen, vergebliches Seufzen, Das beste wäre, du schliefest ein."
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)1 Franz: "der Himmel so weit"
2 Franz: "da droben sind fest geschmiedet"
Text Authorship:
- by Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856), no title, appears in Buch der Lieder, in Die Nordsee, in Erster Zyklus, in 7. Nachts in der Kajüte, no. 5 [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 Catharinus Elling (1858 - 1942), "Nachts in der Kajüte. II", op. 12 no. 10 [ voice and piano ], from Catharinus Elling-Album, no. 10, Kjøbenhavn (Copenhagen), Kongelig (Kgl.) Hof-Musikhandel [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Robert Franz (1815 - 1892), "Auf dem Meere", op. 25 (Sechs Lieder) no. 6, published 1856 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig, Whistling [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Hans Gál (1890 - 1987), "Nachts in der Kajüte II", 1912 [ voice and piano ], unpublished [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Samuel de Lange (1840 - 1911), "An die bretterne Schiffswand", op. 6 no. 4, published 1871 [ voice and piano ], from Nachts in der Kajüte : ein Liedercyclus von Heinrich, no. 4, Leipzig, Forberg [sung text not yet checked]
- by Heinrich Reimann (1850 - 1906), "Auf dem Meere", op. 4 (Vier Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 2, published 1881 [ voice and piano ], Breslau, Hainauer [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Malcolm Wren) , "By the sea", copyright © 2005, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Emma Lazarus) , appears in Poems and Ballads of Heinrich Heine, first published 1881
- FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 11
Word count: 55