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Als der Frühling sich vom Herzen Der erblühten Erde riß, Zog er noch einmal mit Schmerzen Durch die [Flur]1, die er verließ. Wiesenschmelz und Saatengrüne Grüßen ihn mit hellem Blühn, Und die Schattenbaldachine Dunklen Walds umsäuseln ihn. Da im weichen Sammt des Mooses Sieht er, halb [vom]2 Grün verdeckt, Schlummersüß, ein kummerloses Holdes Wesen hingestreckt. Ob's ein Kind noch, ob's ein Mädchen, Wagt er nicht sich zu gestehn. Kurze blonde Seidenfädchen Um das runde Köpfchen wehn. Zart noch sind die schlanken Glieder, [Unentwickelt]3 die Gestalt, Und doch scheint der Busen wieder Schon von Regungen durchwallt. Rosig strahlt der Wangen Feuer, Lächelnd ist der Mund und schlau, Durch der Wimpern duft'gen Schleier Aeugelt schalkhaft helles Blau. Und der Frühling, wonnetrunken Steht er, und doch tief gerührt; In das holde Bild versunken, Fühlt er ganz, was er verliert! Aber dringend mahnt die Stunde, Daß er schnell von hinnen muß. Ach! da brennt auf ihrem Munde Glühend heiß [sein]4 Scheidekuß. [Und in Duft ist er entschwunden. - Doch das Kind entfährt dem Schlaf, Tief hat sie der Kuß entzunden,]5 Wie ein Blitzstrahl, der sie traf. Alle Keime sind entfaltet, Die ihr kleiner Busen barg, Schnell zur Jungfrau umgestaltet, Steigt sie aus der Kindheit Sarg. Ihre blauen Augen schlagen Ernst und liebelicht empor, Nach dem Glück scheint sie zu fragen, [Das]6 sie ungekannt verlor. Aber Niemand gibt ihr Kunde, Alle sehn sie staunend an, Und die Schwestern in der Runde, Wissen nicht wie ihr gethan. Ach sie weiß es selbst nicht! - Thränen Sprechen ihren Schmerz nur aus, Und ein unergründlich Sehnen Treibt sie aus sich selbst heraus; Treibt sie fort, das Bild zu finden, Das in ihrem Innern lebt, Das ihr Ahnungen verkünden, Das in Träumen sie umschwebt. Felsen hat sie überklommen, Berge steigt sie ab und auf; Bis sie an den Fluß gekommen, Der ihr hemmt den Strebelauf. [Hier,]7 im Ufergras dem feuchten, Wird ihr heißer Fuß gekühlt, Und [im Wellenspiegel]8 leuchten Siehet sie ihr eignes Bild. Sieht des Himmels blaue Ferne, Sieht der Wolken Purpurschein, Sieht den Mond und alle Sterne; - Milder fühlt sie [ihre]9 Pein. [Gern mag sie an dieser Stelle Sich die stille Wohnung bau'n, Der verklärten sanften Welle Kann sie rückhaltslos vertrau'n.]10 Denn es ist ihr aufgegangen: Daß sie eine Seele fand, Die ihr [innerstes]11 Verlangen, Ihren tiefsten Schmerz verstand. Und sie fühlt sich ganz genesen, Wenn sie zu dem Wasser spricht, Wie zu dem geahnten Wesen: O vergiß, vergiß mein nicht!
Confirmed with Gedichte von Franz von Schober. Stuttgart und Tübingen. J. G. Cotta'scher Verlag. 1842, pages 15-18; and with Gedichte von Franz von Schober. Zweite, vermehrte Auflage. Leipzig Verlagsbuchhandlung von J. J. Weber. 1865, pages 16-20.
Note: Schubert received all poems from Schober in handwritten form. A (possibly later) autograph of this poem is kept in the Vienna City Library.
1 Schober (manuscript), and Schubert: "Welt"2 Schober (manuscript): "von"
3 Schubert: "Unentfaltet"
4 Schubert: "der"
5 Schober (1865 edition):
Und wie er in Duft verschwindet Fährt das Kind aus tiefem Schlaf, Denn es hat der Kuß gezündet,6 Schubert: "Was"
7 Schubert: "Doch"
8 Schubert: "in seinem Spiegel"
9 Schubert (in the repetition): "alle"
10 Schober in his manuscript (and Schubert) interchanged this stanza with the next one
11 Schubert: "innigstes"
Authorship:
- by Franz Adolf Friedrich von Schober (1796 - 1882), "Vergißmeinnicht", subtitle: "Blumenballade", appears in Gedichte, in Frühlingslieder, no. 6 [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 Franz Peter Schubert (1797 - 1828), "Vergissmeinnicht", D 792 (1823), published 1833 [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "No m’oblidis", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "Vergeet-mij-niet", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Emily Ezust) , "Forget me not", copyright ©
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Ne m'oublie pas", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Antonio Zencovich) , "Non ti scordar di me", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Richard Morris , Peter Rastl [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 80
Word count: 405
When Springtime ripped itself from the heart of the blossoming earth, he tread once more with sorow through the world that he was departing. Melting fields and green crops greet him with bright flowers and the shady canopy of the dark wood whisper about him. There in the supple velvety moss he observes, half-concealed by the foliage, a lovely, carefree being sprawled in sweet slumber. Whether she is still a child or already a maiden, he does not venture to decide. Short, blonde filaments of silk blow about her round little head. Her slim arms are still delicate, her figure still immature and yet her breast seems already to be surging with emotion again. Her cheeks glow with rosy fire, her mouth is smiling and clever, and through the filmy veil of eyelashes her bright eyes look out roguishly. And Spring, intoxicated with bliss, stands there, deeply moved; engrossed in this lovely sight he now feels fully what he is leaving! But the hour urgently reminds him that he must depart quickly. Ah! there suddenly burns on her lips the glowing heat of his parting kiss. And then he vanished. But the girl is jolted from her sleep: the kiss had set her afire as if she had been struck by lightning. All of the buds now unfolded that her small bosom had concealed: she was quickly transformed into a young woman, and arose from the coffin of her childhood. Her blue eyes snap open, serious and full of love; she seems to inquire after the happiness that she has unknowingly lost. But no one tells her anything; they stare at her with astonishment, and the girlfriends in her circle do not know what has happened to her. Even she herself does not know! - Tears speak only of their sorrow, and an inscrutable yearning impels her outside of herself. It urges her forth to find the image that lives within her mind, that her intuition speaks about and that floats about her in her dreams. She climbed over rocky cliffs, scaled mountains up and down, until she came to a river that obstructed her questing way. But in the damp grass on the shore her hot feet were cooled, and in the glittering reflection she saw her own image. She saw the sky's blue remoteness, she saw the crimson gleam of the clouds, she saw the moon and all the stars - and she felt her pain more mildly. For she now understood that she had found a soul that understood her most intimate yearnings, her deepest grief. In this place she would gladly build herself a quiet home; in the mild, transfiguring waves she could trust entirely. And she feels herself recovering completely as she speaks to the waters, as if she were speaking to that being from her dreams; Oh, forget me not, forget me not!
Authorship:
- Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © by Emily Ezust
Emily Ezust permits her translations to be reproduced without prior permission for printed (not online) programs to free-admission concerts only, provided the following credit is given:
Translation copyright © by Emily Ezust,
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Based on:
- a text in German (Deutsch) by Franz Adolf Friedrich von Schober (1796 - 1882), "Vergißmeinnicht", subtitle: "Blumenballade", appears in Gedichte, in Frühlingslieder, no. 6
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 80
Word count: 479