Songs

Der Einsame (1825) D800

Der Einsame

Karl Lappe

Wenn meine Grillen schwirren,

Bei Nacht, am spät erwärmten Herd,

Dann sitz’ ich mit vergnügtem Sinn

Vertraulich zu der Flamme hin,

So leicht, so unbeschwert.

Ein trautes, stilles Stündchen

Bleibt man noch gern am Feuer wach,

Man schürt, wenn sich die Lohe senkt,

Die Funken auf und sinnt und denkt:

„Nun abermal ein Tag!“

Was Liebes oder Leides

Sein Lauf für uns dahergebracht,

Es geht noch einmal durch den Sinn;

Allein das Böse wirft man hin,

Es störe nicht die Nacht.

Zu einem frohen Träume,

Bereitet man gemach sich zu,

Wenn sorgenlos ein holdes Bild

Mit sanfter Lust die Seele füllt,

Ergibt man sich der Ruh.

Oh, wie ich mir gefalle

In meiner stillen Ländlichkeit!

Was in dem Schwarm der lauten Welt

Dar irre Herz gefesselt hält,

Gibt nicht Zufriedenheit.

Zirpt immer, liebe Heimchen,

In meiner Klause eng und klein.

Ich duld’ euch gern: ihr stört mich nicht,

Wenn euer Lied das Schweigen bricht,

Bin ich nicht ganz allein.

The Solitary

English Translation © Richard Wigmore

When my crickets chirp

at night, by the late-glowing hearth,

I sit contentedly,

confiding in the flame,

so light-hearted and untroubled.

For one cosy, peaceful hour

it is pleasant to stay awake by the fire,

kindling the sparks when the blaze dies down,

musing and thinking,

‘Well, yet another day!’

What joy or grief

its course has brought us

we run once again through our mind.

But the bad is discarded

lest it disturb the night.

We gently prepare ourselves

for pleasant dreams.

When a sweet image

fills our carefree soul with gentle pleasure

we succumb to rest.

Oh, how happy I am

with my quiet rustic life.

What in the bustle of the noisy world

keeps the heart fettered

does not bring contentment.

Chirp on, dear crickets,

in my narrow little room.

I like to hear you: you don’t disturb me.

When your song breaks the silence

I am not completely alone.

Translations by Richard Wigmore first published by Gollancz and reprinted in the Hyperion Schubert Song Edition

Composer

Poet

Karl Lappe was the youngest son of the pastor of Wusterhusen. After the early death of his father he attended the city school in Wolgast from 1780.. From 1790 he studied theology, philosophy and philology at the University of Greifswald.

After graduation he worked as a tutor at Kosegarten in Altenkirchen (Rügen) . In 1801 he moved to the Stralsunder school . He circulated a selection of his poetry to his students. Some of his works deal with the events of the German Campaign of 1813 and he was revered as a patriotic freedom singer.

In 1817 he had to give up teaching after a serious illness. He settled in Pütte and devoted himself to writing and the education of his children.

In addition to love poetry, Lappe wrote mainly of his native West Pomerania. He traveled to almost every corner of the country. The most frequent subject of his lyrical works was the island of Rügen . In his poems he praised the beauty of the sea, the land and its inhabitants. In addition, he described the lives of some of his countrymen. Along with Friedrich Joachim Philipp von Suckow he founded in Stralsund in 1827the literary weekly magazine Sundine .

Karl Lappe died in Stralsund in 1843.

Schubert set to music is poems Der Einsame (D800), Im Abendrot (D799) and Flucht (D825 no.3)

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