Wär' ich nie aus euch gegangen,
Wälder, hehr und wunderbar!
Hieltet liebend mich umfangen
Doch so [lange, lange]1 Jahr'.

Wo in euren Dämmerungen
[Vogelsang]2 und Silberquell,
Ist auch manches Lied entsprungen
Meinem Busen, frisch und hell.

[Euer]3 Wogen, [euer]3 [Halle]4,
Euer Säuseln nimmer müd',
Eure Melodien alle
Weckten in der Brust das Lied.

Hier in diesen weiten Triften
Ist mir alles öd' und stumm,
Und ich schau' in blauen Lüften
Mich nach Wolkenbildern um.

[In den Busen eingezwinget]5,
Regt sich selten nur das Lied;
[Wie der Vogel halb nur singet]6,
Den von Baum und [Bach]7 man schied.

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)
¹ Schaffgotsch: "manche, manche"
² Schaffgotsch: "Vogel singt"
³ Schaffgotsch: "Eure"
⁴ Schumann: "Hallen"
⁵ Schumann: "Wenn ihr's in den Busen zwinget"; Birn, Schaffgotsch: "In dem Busen eingezwänget"
⁶ Birn: "Wie nur halb der Vogel singet"
⁷ Schumann: "Blatt"

Authorship

• by Justinus (Andreas Christian) Kerner (1786 - 1862), "Sehnsucht nach der Waldgegend" [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 Max Birn , "Sehnsucht nach dem Walde", op. 10 (Lebenslust. Vier Duette) no. 1. [duet] [ sung text verified 1 time]
• by Franz, Graf von Schaffgotsch , "Sehnsucht nach der Waldgegend" [bass and piano], from Drei Lieder für eine Baßstimme mit Begleitung des Pianoforte, no. 3, Wien: Adolf Bösendorfer [no year] [ sung text verified 1 time]
• by Robert Schumann (1810 - 1856), "Sehnsucht nach der Waldgegend", op. 35 no. 5 (1840), published 1841 [voice and piano], from Zwölf Gedichte von Justinus Kerner, no. 5, Leipzig, Klemm [ sung text verified 1 time]

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

• CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "Enyorança del bosc", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "Heimwee naar het woudgebied", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• ENG English (Emily Ezust) , "Longing for the woodlands", copyright ©
• FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• ITA Italian (Italiano) (Amelia Maria Imbarrato) , "Nostalgia di andare per i boschi", copyright © 2006, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 20
Word count: 97

 Would that I had never left you,
 woodlands, lofty and wondrous!
 You held me lovingly in your embrace
 for many a long, long year.
 
 Where, in your twilit spots,
 there was birdsong and silver streams,
 there also sprang up many songs
 from my bosom, fresh and bright.
 
 Your surging, your echoes,
 your never-tiring whispering,
 your melodies all
 awoke song in my breast.
 
 Here in these wide meadows
 everything is desolate and mute to me,
 and I gaze up into the blue sky,
 looking for shapes in the clouds.
 
 While you compelled song from my breast,
 it seldom stirs now,
 just as the bird sings only a half song
 when parted from tree and leaf.