Ohne dich wie lange
Wird mir Stund' und Tag!
Leer und öd' und bange
Was ich schauen mag.
Unser Hain der Liebe,
Der so froh mich sah,
Ist mir stumm und trübe,
Denn du bist nicht da.

Ich geh' hin und suche
Deiner Tritte Spur,
An der holden Buche,
Unsrer treuen Flur,
Rufe dich die Meine,
Glaube dich mir nah,
Sinke hin und weine;
Denn du bist nicht da.

Hör' ich dann [von weitem]1
Deiner Stimme Klang,
O wie wird im Busen
Mir das Herz Gesang.
Bebend, wenn mich deine
Zarte Hand berührt,
Wird aus deiner Lippe
Mir der Geist entführt.

View original text (without footnotes)
Confirmed with Johann Gottfried von Herders sämmtliche Werde in vierzig Bänden, 16. Band. Stuttgart und Tübingen: J.G. Cotta'scher Verlag, 1852, pages 196-197. Beneath the poem title is this text: "Französisch. (Nach dem Lied: Que le jour me dure. S[iehe]. Les Consolations des Misères de ma Vie, par Rousseau, Paris 1781. p. 97."

¹ In one of Lang's manuscripts (in error): "vom Weiten"

Authorship

• by Johann Gottfried Herder (1744 - 1803), "Sehnsucht" [an adaptation] [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Based on

• a text in French (Français) by Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712 - 1778), "Romance"
  • Go to the text page.

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive)

• by Ignaz Brüll (1846 - 1907), "Sehnsucht", op. 32 (Drei Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 1, published 1880 [voice and piano], Berlin, Bote & Bock [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
• by Josephine Lang (1815 - 1880), "Sehnsucht", c1835 [voice and piano] [ sung text checked 1 time]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

• Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Ludwig Andreas Gotter (1661 - 1735) DUT ; composed by Norbert Burgmüller, Anton Diabelli, Joh. Chr. Jusdorf, Johann Karl Gottfried Loewe, Franz Xaver Mozart, Friedrich Johann Albrecht Muck, Otto Ehrenfried Nicolai, Corona Elisabeth Wilhelmine Schröter, Gottlieb Streitwolf.
  • Go to the text.
    
• Also set in Swedish (Svenska), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist DUT GER GER ; composed by John [Jacques] Jacobsson.
  • Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
    

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

• ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "Longing", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2012-09-02
Line count: 24
Word count: 101

Without you how long
Hours and days become for me!
Empty and desolate and fearful
Is everything I gaze upon.
The grove of our love,
Which saw me so happy,
Is mute and dreary to me,
For you are not there.

I go there and search
For the trace of your steps
At the lovely beech,
Our familiar lea.
I call you, [who are] mine,
I imagine that you are near,
I sink down and weep,
For you are not there.

If I then hear from far away
The sound of your voice,
Oh how within my bosom
My heart turns into song.
I tremble when your
Delicate hand touches me,
[When] by your lips
My spirit is drawn from me.