Sag an, wer lehrt dich Lieder
Language: German (Deutsch)
Available translation(s): CAT DUT ENG ENG FRE
Sag an, wer lehrt dich Lieder,
So schmeichelnd und so zart?
Sie [zaubern]1 einen Himmel
Aus trüber Gegenwart.
Erst lag das Land, verschleyert,
Im Nebel vor uns da -
Du singst - und Sonnen leuchten,
Und Frühling ist uns nah.
Den [Alten, Schilfbekränzten]2,
Der seine Urne gießt,
Erblickst du nicht, nur Wasser,
Wie's durch die Wiesen fließt.
So geht es auch dem Sänger,
Er [singt und]3 staunt in sich;
Was still ein Gott bereitet,
Befremdet ihn, wie dich.
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)
Confirmed with Gedichte von Johann Mayrhofer. Wien. Bey Friedrich Volke. 1824, page 9; and with Conversationblatt. Zeitschrift für wissenschaftliche Unterhaltung. Dritter Jahrgang. 1821. Nr. 69. (Wien, Mittwoch den 29. August) Im Verlage der Gerold'schen Buchhandlung, page 821.
Note: Schubert received Mayrhofer's texts generally in handwriting; the printed edition of Mayrhofer's poems appeared much later and presents the texts usually in a revised version.
1 Schubert: "rufen"
2 Schubert: "schilfbekränzten Alten"
3 Schubert: "singt, er"
Authorship:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "Het geheim. Aan Franz Schubert", copyright © 2006, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Emily Ezust) , "Secret. To Franz Schubert", copyright ©
- ENG English [singable] (Yuxin (Sheila) Zhang) , "Secret. To Franz Schubert", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Secret. À Franz Schubert", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
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: 16
Word count: 78
Secret. To Franz Schubert
Language: English after the German (Deutsch)
Oh say, who learns thee ditties,
so flatt'ring and so fine?
They conjure up a heaven
from present gloom and whine.
The land at first lay shrouded
in mist before us there -
thou sing - and sunbeams shine down,
and springtime's in the air.
The reed-coronalled old man
who out his vessel pours
thou never see; but water
that through the meadows draws.
So goes it with the singer:
he sings, and awed is he;
what God's in silence fashioned
perplexes him and thee.
Authorship:
Based on:
This text was added to the website: 2012-05-26
Line count: 16
Word count: 85