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Songs

Songs

Vergissmeinnicht (1823) D792

Vergissmeinnicht

Franz von Schober

Als der Frühling sich vom Herzen
Der erblühten Erde riss,
Zog er noch einmal mit Schmerzen
Durch die Welt, die er verliess.
Wiesenschmelz und Saatengrüne
Grüssen ihn mit hellem Blühn,
Und die Schattenbaldachine
Dunklen Walds umsäuseln ihn.
Da im weichen Samt des Mooses
Sieht er, halb vom 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,
Unentfaltet 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
Äugelt 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 der Scheidekuss.
Und in Duft ist er entschwunden.
Doch das Kind entfährt dem Schlaf,
Tief hat sie der Kuss entzünden,
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,
Was sie ungekannt verlor.
Aber niemand gibt ihr Kunde,
Alle sehn sie staunend an,
Und die Schwestern in der Runde,
Wissen nicht wie ihr getan.
Ach sie weiss es selbst nicht! –
Tränen 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.
Doch im Ufergras dem feuchten,
Wird ihr heisser Fuss gekühlt,
Und in seinem Spiegel 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 Pein.
Denn es ist ihr aufgegangen:
Dass sie eine Seele fand,
Die ihr innigstes Verlangen,
Ihren tiefsten Schmerz verstand.
Gern mag sie an dieser Stelle
Sich die stille Wohnung bau’n,
Der verklärten sanften Welle
Kann sie rückhaltslos vertrau’n.
Und sie fühlt sich ganz genesen,
Wenn sie zu dem Wasser spricht,
Wie zu dem geahnten Wesen:
O vergiss, vergiss mein nicht!

Forget-me-not

English Translation © Richard Wigmore

When spring tore himself from the heart
of the burgeoning earth
he walked sorrowfully one last time
through the world that he was leaving.
Radiant meadows and green cornfields,
blooming brightly, greeted him,
and the shady canopy
of the dark forest rustled about him.
There, in the soft, velvet moss,
half concealed by the greenery, he espied
a lovely, carefree creature
stretched out in sweet slumber.
Whether it was a child still or a maiden
he was loth to say;
short, blonde threads of silk
waved about her little round face.
Her slender limbs were still delicate,
her figure undeveloped,
and yet her breast already seemed
to heave with emotion.
A rosy glow shone from her cheeks;
her mouth smiled slyly.
Through the fragrant veil of her eyelashes
her bright blue eyes looked out mischievously.
And spring, drunk with ecstasy
yet deeply moved, stood up;
enraptured by the sweet sight
he fully realized what he was leaving.
But the hour urgently reminded him
that he had to leave quickly.
Ah, his ardent parting kiss
burned her lips!
And he vanished in a haze.
But the child awoke from her sleep;
the kiss had inflamed her deeply
as if lightning had struck her.
Every bud concealed
within her little bosom unfolded;
swiftly transformed into a young woman
she rose from the coffin of childhood.
Her blue eyes opened,
solemn and radiant with love;
she seemed to enquire after the happiness
that, unknowing, she had lost.
But no one brought her news of it;
all gazed at her in astonishment,
and her sisters in a circle
did not know what had happened to her.
Alas, she herself did not know! Her tears
expressed only their own sorrow,
and an unfathomable longing
drew her out of herself;
Drew her away to find the image
that lived on within her,
that was conjured up by her imagination,
that hovered over her in her dreams.
She clambered over rocks,
she climbed up and down mountains
until she reached the river
that checked her impetuous course.
But in the damp grass on the bank
her burning feet were cooled,
and she saw her own image shining
in the mirror of the waves.
She saw the distant blue of the sky,
saw the crimson glow of the clouds,
saw the moon and all the stars;
and she felt her pain less keenly.
For she realized
that she had found a soul
which understood her innermost longing,
her deepest sorrow.
She would gladly build herself
a tranquil dwelling on this spot;
she could trust implicitly
the gentle, radiant waves.
And she felt quite recovered
as she spoke to the waters
as if to that figure of her dreams:
O forget, forget me not!
Translations by Richard Wigmore first published by Gollancz and reprinted in the Hyperion Schubert Song Edition

Composer

Franz Schubert

Franz Peter Schubert was an late Classical and early Romantic composer. He produced a vast oeuvre during his short life, composing more the 600 vocal works (largely Lieder), and well as several symphonies, operas, and a large body of piano music. He was uncommonly gifted from a young age, but appreciation of his music was limited during his lifetime. His work became more popular in the decades after his death, and was praised by 19th century composers, including Mendelssohn, Schumann, Brahms, and Liszt.

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Poet

Franz von Schober

Franz Adolf Friedrich Schober, since 1801 von Schobe, was an Austrian poet, librettist, lithographer, actor in Breslau and Legationsrat in Weimar.

Schober was born to Austrian parents in Sweden. Educated in the Schnepfenthal Salzmann School, Akademisches Gymnasium (Vienna) and Kremsmünster Abbey, he returned to Vienna, where he began to study philosophy and met the composer Franz Schubert, his friends Johann Mayrhofer, Joseph von Spaun and the painters Leopold Kupelwieser and Moritz von Schwind. Between 1823 and 1825, Schober was an actor at the theatre in Breslau under the pseudonym "Torupson". In the 1840s, Schober was in close contact with Franz Liszt. In 1856 he married the author Thekla von Gumpert; afterwards he lived in Budapest, Munich and Dresden.

Schober wrote lyric poetry and in 1821 the libretto for Schubert's opera Alfonso und Estrella.

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