Wings

Gillray, Fall of Icarus 1807
Gillray, Fall of Icarus 1807

Ach, aus dieses Tales Gründen,
     Die der kalte Nebel drückt,
Könnt ich doch den Ausgang finden,
     Ach, wie fühlt' ich mich beglückt.
Dort erblick ich schöne Hügel,
     Ewig jung und ewig grün,
Hätt' ich Schwingen, hätt ich Flügel,
     Nach den Hügeln zög ich hin.

Oh, to get out of the bottom of this valley
Filled with cold mist;
If only I could find the way out
How happy I would feel!
I can make out beautiful hills over there,
Forever young and forever green.
If only I had wings; if only I could fly,
I would set off for those hills.

Schiller, Sehnsucht	D 52, D 636

Hätt’ ich Schwingen, hätt ich Flügel. If only I had wings. Schwingen and Flügel refer to the same thing – wings – but Schwingen is more poetic, rather like the rare English word ‘pinions’, as used by Shelley, for example, in The World’s Wanderers (1824):

Tell me, thou star, whose wings of light
Speed thee in thy fiery flight,
In what cavern of the night
	Will thy pinions close now?

Schiller, like Shelley, appears to be using two different words simply to avoid repetition, or perhaps it was to accentuate the fact that the speaker lacks these features, and is not sure how to refer to what it is he longs for.

When Marianne von Willemer wrote her address to the west wind she similarly used both nouns to refer to the wings that can carry her message from Frankfurt to Weimar:

Ach, um deine feuchten Schwingen,
West, wie sehr ich dich beneide,
Denn du kannst ihm Kunde bringen,
Was ich in der Trennung leide.

Die Bewegung deiner Flügel
Weckt im Busen stilles Sehnen,
Blumen, Auen, Wald und Hügel
Stehn bei deinem Hauch in Tränen.

Oh, those wings of yours that are heavy with moisture
Are what I very much envy you, West wind:
Since you can carry him news about
What I am suffering because of this separation!

The movement of your wings
Awakens a quiet longing in my breast;
Flowers, meadows, woods and hills
Burst into tears when you breathe.

von Willemer, Suleika II	D 717

On a more basic level, the different words allow different rhymes – Schwingen / bringen (wings / brings), Flügel / Hügel (wings / hills) – and thereby encourage different concepts to resonate with each other.

Most of the Schubert song texts which refer to wings, not surprisingly, are expressions of longing. The poetic persona is confined or grounded and yearns to be able to fly off into freedom. However, a substatial minority of the texts see the wings as protection rather than a means of escape. 

Oh, for the wings of a dove!

Von meinem Blumehügel 
   Sah ich dir lange nach; 
Ich wünschte mir die Flügel 
   Der Täubchen auf dem Dach; 
Nun glaub ich zu vergehen 
   Mit jedem Augenblick. 
Willst du dein Liebchen sehen, 
   So komme bald zurück.

From my flower-covered hill
I watched you for a long time;
I wanted to have the wings
Of the doves on the roof;
I now believe that I am about to expire
As each moment passes.
If you want to see your beloved,
Just come back quickly!

Stolberg-Stolberg, Daphne am Bach  D 411

Daphne by her river is in a similar situation to Suleika and Marianne von Willemer. As a woman her movements are restricted. Wings are for the birds.

Men, too, often feel this restriction and constriction. Atys on the shore of Asia Minor gives voice to the poet Mayrhofer’s agony confined to a suffocating office in Vienna: 

Der Knabe seufzt übers grüne Meer, 
Vom fernenden Ufer kam er her,
Er wünscht sich mächtige Schwingen: 
Die sollten ihn ins heimische Land, 
Woran ihn ewige Sehnsucht mahnt, 
Im rauschenden Fluge bringen.  

The lad sighs looking out over the green sea,
He came here from a distant shore.
He would like to have powerful wings,
Which would take him back to his native country
(Which an eternal longing reminds him of),
Carrying him off on a swirling flight.

Mayrhofer, Atys	D 585

Mayrhofer’s version of the Atys myth stresses the futility of the longing to escape. His attempted flight ends in a fatal plunge.

Although ultimate escape from the horrors of the human condition may be impossible (as symbolised by our winglessness) this does not mean that we cannot enjoy temporary relief. Both alcohol and music are said to give us wings. We need to capture the ‘winged joys’ trapped in bottles, and Hungarian Tokay wine even ‘bewings’ our blood!

O köstlicher Tokayer,
O königlicher Wein,
Dir soll, als Gramzerstreuer, 
Dies Lied geweihet sein!
In Schwermutsvollen Launen
Beflügelst du das Blut;

Oh valuable Tokay, 
Oh royal wine,
As destroyer of sorrow, we should 
Dedicate this song to you!
In grief-laden moods
You give our blood wings

von Baumberg, Lob des Tokayers	D 248

Mädchen entsiegelten,   
   Brüder, die Flaschen;   
   Auf, die geflügelten   
   Freuden zu haschen, 
Locken und Becher von Rosen umglüht.   

The girls have uncorked
The bottles, brothers!
Up! the winged
Joys need to be captured,
Locks of hair and beakers are glowing with roses all around.

von Matthisson, Skolie	D 507

Auf Flügeln des Gesanges / On wings of song

Sanfte Laute hör ich klingen, 
Die mir in die Seele dringen, 
Die mir auf des Wohllauts Schwingen 
Wunderbare Tröstung bringen.

I can hear a gentle lute resound,
Which goes deep into my soul,
Which lifts me onto the wings of harmony,
Bringing me miraculous consolation;

Schober, Trost im Liede	D 646

Es wehte mit Frieden uns wonnigen Schmerz
Aus Schwingen der Töne ins fühlende Herz.

A blissful pain brought peace as it wafted
Into our feeling hearts on the wings of music.

Unger, Die Nachtigall	D 724

For many German speakers the association of music with wings is axiomatic. Because of its shape a grand piano is actually called a wing (Flügel) in German. Even as early as 1781, before the pianoforte had taken on its modern shape, the poet Schubart was able to address his keyboard instrument as a ‘wing’ that could carry the sounds of heaven:

Sanftes Klavier,
Welche Entzückungen schaffest du mir,
Sanftes Klavier!
Wenn sich die Schönen
Tändelnd verwöhnen,
Weih ich mich dir,
Liebes Klavier.

* * *

Sing' ich dazu: 
Goldener Flügel! welch himmlische Ruh
Lispelst mir du!
Tränen der Freude
Netzen die Saite;
Silberner Klang
Trägt den Gesang.

Gentle piano,
What delights you create for me,
Gentle piano!
While beauties
Spoil themselves with dalliances,
I devote myself to you,
Beloved piano!

* * *

If I sing along,
Golden instrument, what heavenly peace
You whisper to me!
Tears of joy
Moisten the strings;
A silver sound
Carries the song.

Schubart, An mein Klavier	D 342

Protection and rest, time and eternity

Joy spreads its wings in Schiller’s famous ode:

Alle Menschen werden Brüder,
Wo dein sanfter Flügel weilt.

All humans are going to become brothers,
Where your gentle wing offers protection.

Schiller, An die Freude	D 189

In other texts we nestle down as sleep takes us under its wing:

Goldner Schlummer, 
Komm und umflügle mich!
Trockne meine Tränen
Mit deines Schleiers Saum

Golden slumber, 
Come and put your wings around me!
Dry my tears
With the hem of your veil

Kosegarten, Nachtgesang	D 314	

Komm, und senke die umflorten Schwingen, 
Süßer Schlummer, auf den müden Blick! 

Come and lower your gentle wings
Over my tired eyes, sweet sleep!

Anonymous, An den Schlaf	D447

In Széchényi’s Der Flug der Zeit (The flight of time) human life is presented as the flight of a bird, rapid in the early stages, gliding through the contentment of friendship and middle age before the wings are folded up in rest.

Es floh die Zeit im Wirbelfluge 
Und trug des Lebens Plan mit sich. 
Wohl stürmisch war es auf dem Zuge, 
Beschwerlich oft und widerlich.  

So ging es fort durch alle Zonen, 
Durch Kinderjahre, Jugendglück, 
Durch Täler, wo die Freuden wohnen, 
Die sinnend sucht der Sehnsucht Blick.  

Bis an der Freundschaft lichtem Hügel 
Die Zeit nun sanfter, stiller flog, 
Und endlich da die raschen Flügel 
In süßer Ruh zusammenbog.

Time flew off in a whirlwind
And it carried life's plan with it.
It was really stormy as it followed its course,
Often arduous and disturbing.

Thus it went on its way through all the stages,
Through the years of childhood, the happiness of youth,
Through valleys where joys live,
Joys that are sought for by longing's meditative look.

Until at the bright hill of friendship
Time started to fly more gently, more quietly,
And finally there it stopped its rapid wings
And folded them up in sweet repose.

von Széchényi, Der Flug der Zeit	D 515

Stolberg-Stolberg takes the image of the winged flight of time even further in his ambitious Auf dem Wasser zu singen. Here the human soul is presented as a boat bobbing on the water. The rocking waves and the glistening light capture something of the lightness of the soul as it begins to be released from its earthly moorings. And then:

Ach, es entschwindet mit tauigem Flügel	
Mir auf den wiegenden Wellen die Zeit.	
Morgen entschwindet mit schimmerndem Flügel
Wieder wie gestern und heute die Zeit,
Bis ich auf höherem strahlendem Flügel
Selber entschwinde der wechselnden Zeit.	

Oh, with its dewy wings it is vanishing,
Time is vanishing for me on these rocking waves; 
With shimmering wings it is going to vanish tomorrow
Again, time will vanish like yesterday and today,
Until I, on higher, beaming wings,
Myself vanish into changing time.

Stolberg-Stolberg, Auf dem Wasser zu singen	D 774

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Descendant of: 

Animals   MOVEMENT  


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