Ich weiß nicht, was [soll es]1 bedeuten,
Daß ich so traurig bin;
Ein Märchen aus [alten]2 Zeiten,
Das [kommt]3 mir nicht aus dem Sinn.

  Die Luft ist kühl und es dunkelt,
Und ruhig [fließt]4 der Rhein;
[Der Gipfel des Berges]5 funkelt
Im Abendsonnenschein.

  Die schönste Jungfrau sitzet
Dort oben wunderbar,
Ihr goldnes Geschmeide blitzet
Sie kämmt [ihr goldenes]6 Haar.

  Sie kämmt es mit [goldenem]7 Kamme
Und singt ein Lied dabei;
Das hat eine wundersame,
[Gewaltige]8 Melodei.

  Den Schiffer im kleinen [Schiffe]9
Ergreift es mit wildem Weh;
Er [schaut]10 nicht die Felsenriffe,
Er [schaut nur hinauf]11 in die Höh'.

  Ich glaube, [die Wellen verschlingen
Am Ende]12 Schiffer und Kahn;
Und das hat mit ihrem Singen
Die [Lorelei]13 gethan.

R. Schonthal sets stanza 1

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with: Heinrich Heine’s sämtliche Werke in vier Bänden, herausgegeben von Otto F. Lachmann, Erster Band, Leipzig: Druck und Verlag von Philipp Reclam jun, [1887], pages 116-117.

¹ Bronsart, Liszt,: "soll's"
² Fibich: "uralten"
³ Fibich: "geht"
⁴ Bürde: "fliesset"
⁵ Fibich: "Des Berges Gipfel"
⁶ Bronsart, Kinkel: "ihr goldnes"; Bürde: "das gold'ne"; C. Schumann: "ihr gold'nes"
⁷ Bronsart: "goldnem"; Liszt, C. Schumann: "gold'nem"
⁸ Bronsart, Kinkel, Liszt: "Gewalt'ge"
⁹ Bürde: "Kahne"
¹⁰ Fibich: "sieht"
¹¹ Fibich: "sieht nur nach ihr"
¹² Kinkel: "am Ende verschlingen / Die Wellen"
¹³ Bürde: "Loreley"

Authorship:

• by Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856), no title, appears in Buch der Lieder, in Die Heimkehr, no. 2 [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 Konstantin Julius Becker (1811 - 1859), "Lorelei", op. 19 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Jakob Blied (1844 - 1884), "Ich weiß nicht, was soll es bedeuten", from Lieder, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Ingeborg (Starck) Bronsart von Schellendorf (1840 - 1913), "Die Loreley", published 1865 [ voice and piano ], Mainz: Bei B. Schott’s Söhnen [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Christian Bruhn (b. 1934), "Ich weiß nicht, was soll es bedeuten" [ voice and orchestra ], from Heine-Lieder, no. 10 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Carl Debrois van Bruyck (1828 - 1902), "Die Loreley", op. 15 (Drei Gesänge) no. 2 [ mezzo-soprano and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Jeannette Antonie Bürde, née Milder (c1799 - 1875), "Die Loreley", op. 7 (Drei Gesänge) no. 3, published c1850 [ soprano or tenor and piano ], Magdeburg: Verlag der Heinrichshofen'schen Musikalien-Handlung [sung text checked 1 time]
• by G. Burwig , "Loreley" [ voice, speaker, and piano ], note: indicates "parodistisch-musikalisch glossirt" [sung text not yet checked]
• by John Driscoll (b. 1977), "Die Lorelei" [sung text not yet checked]
• by Louis Ehlert (1825 - 1884), "Die Loreley von Heinrich Heine", op. 6 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Richard Farber (b. 1945), "Die Lorelei", 2010 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Zdenko Antonín Václav Fibich (1850 - 1900), "Loreley", op. 7 (Vier Balladen für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte = Čtyři balady) no. 3, H. 181 no. 3 (1872), published 1874 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig, Lichtenberger [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Edmund von Freyhold (1878 - 1944), "Loreley", 1906 [ voice and piano ], from Gesungene Gedichte mit Klavierbegleitung: Sechs Lieder, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Niels Wilhelm Gade (1817 - 1890), "Die Loreley", from Lieder und Gesänge (Volksausgabe, Heft 7, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Ferdinand Gleich (1816 - 1898), "Die Loreley", from Drei Romanzen, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Ulf A. Grahn , "Die Lorelei", published 1985, first performed 1986 [ alto, violin, violoncello, piano ], from Three German Folksongs, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
• by J. Grill , "Die Loreley", published 1840, from Vier Romanzen, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Christian Friedrich Grimmer (1798 - 1850), "Loreley", from Lieder, no. 18 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Gustav Adolf Heinze (1820 - 1904), "Die Loreley", op. 25 (Vier Lieder für Tenor (oder Mezzo-Sopran) mit Pianofortebegleitung) no. 4, published 1887 [ tenor or mezzo-soprano and piano ], Amsterdam, Wahlberg [sung text not yet checked]
• by Richard Heinze (1845 - 1893), "Durch die Zeitung oder Das Rendezvous : Komisches Duett", op. 112 [ duet for soprano and tenor with piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Ferdinand von Hiller (1811 - 1885), "Lorelei", op. 116 (Acht Gedichte von H. Heine für S., A., T. und B.), Heft 1 no. 1, published 1865 [ SATB chorus ], Bremen, Cranz [sung text not yet checked]
• by Peter Janssens (b. 1934), "Ich weiß nicht, was soll es bedeuten: aus Die Heimkehr", published 1976, from Heinrich Heine Song Buch, no. 9 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Moritz Kässmayer (1831 - 1884), "Licht und Schatten: Potpourri", op. 19, published 1871 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Al. Kern , "Loreley", op. 4 (Drei Gedichte) no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Hermann Kestner (1810 - 1890), "Loreley" [sung text not yet checked]
• by Wilhelm Killmayer (1927 - 2017), "Die Loreley", 1994-5, published c1998 [ tenor and piano ], from Ein Liederbuch nach Gedichten von Heinrich Heine, Abteilung IV, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Johanna Kinkel, née Mockel (1810 - 1858), "Die Lorelei", op. 7 (Sechs Lieder) no. 4, published [1838] [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Joseph Klein (1802 - 1862), "Loreley: Ballade von H. Heine" [sung text not yet checked]
• by E. Klitzsch , "Ich weiß nicht, was soll es bedeuten", op. 1 (Lieder) no. 6 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Friedrich Wilhelm Kücken (1810 - 1882), "Die Loreley", op. 3 [ bass and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Franz Paul Lachner (1803 - 1890), "Die Lore Ley", op. 35 (Zwölf deutsche Gesänge), Heft 2 no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Franz (Ferenc) Liszt (1811 - 1886), "Loreley", S. 273 no. 1 (1841), published 1843 [ voice and piano ], note: first version [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Franz (Ferenc) Liszt (1811 - 1886), "Die Loreley", S. 273 no. 2 (1854-6), published 1856 [ voice and piano ], note: second version [sung text checked 1 time]
• by O. Lübbert , "Ich weiß nicht, was soll es bedeuten", op. 5 (Lieder) no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Hermann von Maltzan , "Loreley", op. 12 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Carl Ludwig Amand Mangold (1813 - 1889), "Ich weiß nicht, was soll es bedeuten", op. 74 (Sechs Lieder) no. 5 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Alfred Michow , "Loreley (Was geht das mich an?)" [ speaker and voice (with piano?) ], parody [sung text not yet checked]
• by Carl Friedrich Wilhelm Müller (b. 1835), "Ich weiß nicht, was soll es bedeuten", op. 1 (Lieder) no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Emil Naumann (1827 - 1888), "Loreley", subtitle: "Ballade", op. 3, published 1878 [ voice and piano ], Berlin, Bote & Bock [sung text not yet checked]
• by J. W. Nedelmann , "Ich weiß nicht, was soll es bedeuten" [sung text not yet checked]
• by Carl Oberthür (1819 - 1895), "Die Loreley", op. 72 (Drei deutsche Lieder) no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
• by W. Prischpiczek , "Böhmische Loreley (I was net was sull's bedeuten)" [sung text not yet checked]
• by Heinrich Proch (1809 - 1878), "Die Lorelei", op. 222, published 1876 [ voice and piano ], Wien, Schreiber [sung text not yet checked]
• by (Joseph) Joachim Raff (1822 - 1882), "Loreley", op. 98 no. 26 (1855-63), from Sanges-Frühling, no. 26 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Otto Reutter (1870 - 1931), "Die Loreley: eine Dialekt-Studie in Form eines Potpourris" [ voice and piano ], from Original-Vorträge mit Pianoforte, no. 137, Leipzig, Otto Teich ; note: parody? [sung text not yet checked]
• by Georg Rösser , "Ich weiß nicht, was soll es bedeuten", subtitle: "Couplet" [sung text not yet checked]
• by Karl Friedrich Rungenhagen (1778 - 1851), "Loreley", op. 38 (Sechs Lieder) no. 4 [ low voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Louis Schlottmann (1826 - 1905), "Die Lore-Ley", op. 1 ([Zwei] Lieder und Gesänge für eine Singstimme mit Pianoforte ) no. 1, published 1845 [ voice and piano ], Berlin, Guttentag [sung text not yet checked]
• by Ruth Schonthal (1924 - 2006), "Ich weiß nicht, was soll es bedeuten", 1990-1, published c1997, stanza 1 [ soprano, flute, 2 clarinets, 2 percussion, violoncello, piano, and synthesizer ], from Collagen, no. 1, note: also uses parts of a text from Des Knaben Wunderhorn [sung text not yet checked]
• by Ferdinand Schultz, Dr. , "Die Loreley", published 1866 [ voice and piano ], from Gesänge, no. 4, Berlin, Trautwein [sung text not yet checked]
• by Friedrich August Schulz (1810 - 1893), "Die Loreley", op. 45 (Myrthenkränzchen : Sammlung von Jugendliedern), Heft 2 no. 2, published 1862 [ voice and piano ], Hannover, Bachmann [sung text not yet checked]
• by Clara Schumann, née Wieck (1819 - 1896), "Lorelei" [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
• by (Philipp) Friedrich Silcher (1789 - 1860), "Die Loreley", published 1838 [ voice and piano ], confirmed with a concert programme booklet [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Rudi Spring (b. 1962), "Ich weiß nicht, was soll es bedeuten", op. 17 no. 2 (1996), published 2002 [ tenor and piano ], from Vier Lieder nach Gedichten von Heinrich Heine, no. 2, München (Munich), Verlag vierdreiunddreissig [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Wilhelm Steifensand (1820 - 1882), "Loreley: Ballade", op. 9, published 1852 [ voice and piano ], Cöln, Schloss [sung text not yet checked]
• by Emil Steinkühler (1821 - 1872), "Lorelei: von Heine", op. 15 [ tenor and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Julius Stern (1820 - 1883), "Die Loreley", op. 1 (Fünf Gesänge) no. 5, published 1840 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig, Klemm [sung text not yet checked]
• by Reinhold Stöckhardt (1831 - 1901), "Loreley", op. 1 (Liederkranz), Heft 1 no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
• by (Eugen Felix) Richard Thiele (1847 - 1903), "Parodie auf die Loreley", op. 62 [ speaker and piano ], from Melodramatische Parodien klassischer Gedichte, no. 7 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Otto Tiehsen (1817 - 1849), "Loreley", op. 2 (Fünf Gesänge von Heine und Müller) no. 4, published 1839 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Albert Karl Tottmann (1837 - 1917), "Loreley", op. 14 [ voice, violin, and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Walter Trautner (b. 1903), "Die Loreley", op. 37 (Lieder) no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Anton Urspruch (1850 - 1907), "Ich weiß nicht, was soll es bedeuten", op. 6 (Liebeslieder nach Texten von Heinrich Heine), Heft 4 no. 3, published 1876 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Johann Vesque von Püttlingen (1803 - 1883), "Loreley", op. 39 (Sechs Gedichte von Heine) no. 1, from Die Heimkehr : 88 Gedichte aus H. Heine's Reisebildern, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Th. Werner , "Ich weiß nicht, was soll es bedeuten", op. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Paul Widemann , "Die Loreley", op. 2 no. 3, published 1878 [ tenor and piano ], from In Majas Zauber : Drei Gedichte, no. 3, Leipzig, Breitkopf & Härtel [sung text not yet checked]
• by August Daniel Ferdinand Victor Wilhelmj (1845 - 1908), "Loreley" [sung text not yet checked]
• by Gotthard Wöhler (1818 - 1888), "Die Loreley", op. 1 (Drei Balladen von Heine) no. 3 [ bass and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

• Also set in English, a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by John G. Barnett.
  • Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
    
• Also set in English, a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Theo. H. Northrup.
  • Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
    
• Also set in Italian (Italiano), a translation by Felice Cavallotti (1842 - 1898) ; composed by Giorgio Miceli.
  • Go to the text.
    

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

• DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• ENG English (Walter Meyer) , no title, copyright © 1995, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• ENG English (Emma Lazarus) , appears in Poems and Ballads of Heinrich Heine, first published 1881
• ENG English [singable] (Arthur Westbrook) , "The Loreley"
• ENG English [singable] (Samuel Langhorne Clemens) , "The lorelei", appears in A Tramp Abroad, Volume 1, Leipzig: Bernhard Tauchnitz, p. 123-4, first published 1880
• FIN Finnish (Suomi) (Erkki Pullinen) , copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• GRE Greek (Ελληνικά) [singable] (Christakis Poumbouris) , copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• HUN Hungarian (Magyar) (Tamás Rédey) , "Lorelei", copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• POL Polish (Polski) (Aleksander Kraushar) , no title, appears in Pieśni Heinego, in Powrót, no. 2
• POR Portuguese (Português) (Margarida Moreno) , "A Loreley", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• SPA Spanish (Español) (Alfredo García) , "Lorelei", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 24
Word count: 118

I'm looking in vain for the reason
That I am so sad and distressed;
A tale known for many a season
Will not allow me to rest.

Cool is the air in the twilight
And quietly flows the Rhine;
The mountain top glows with a highlight
From the evening sun's last shine.

The fairest of maiden's reposing
So wonderously up there.
Her golden treasure disclosing;
She's combing her golden hair.

She combs it with comb of gold
And meanwhile sings a song
With melody strangely bold
And overpoweringly strong.

The boatman in his small craft
Is seized with longings, and sighs.
He sees not the rocks fore and aft;
He looks only up towards the skies.

I fear that the waves shall be flinging
Both vessel and man to their end;
That must have been what with her singing
The Lorelei did intend.