Auf der Bruck, D 853

On the Bruck

(Poet's title: Auf der Bruck)

Set by Schubert:

  • D 853

    [March or August 1825]

Text by:

Ernst Konrad Friedrich Schulze

Text written on July 25, 1814.  First published 1819.

Auf der Bruck

Frisch trabe sonder Ruh und Rast,
Mein gutes Ross, durch Nacht und Regen!
Was scheust du dich vor Busch und Ast
Und strauchelst auf den wilden Wegen.
Dehnt auch der Wald sich tief und dicht,
Doch muss er endlich sich erschließen,
Und freundlich wird ein fernes Licht
Uns aus dem dunkeln Tale grüßen.

Wohl könnt’ ich über Berg und Tal
Auf deinem schlanken Rücken fliegen
Und mich am bunten Spiel der Welt,
An holden Bildern mich vergnügen;
Manch Auge lacht mir traulich zu
Und beut mir Frieden, Lieb und Freude,
Und dennoch eil ich ohne Ruh
Zurück, zurück zu meinem Leide.

Denn schon drei Tage war ich fern
Von ihr, die ewig mich gebunden,
Drei Tage waren Sonn und Stern
Und Erd und Himmel mir verschwunden.
Von Lust und Leiden, die mein Herz
Bei ihr bald heilten, bald zerrissen,
Fühlt’ ich drei Tage nur den Schmerz,
Und ach, die Freude musst’ ich missen.

Weit sehn wir über Land und See
Zur wärmern Flur den Vogel fliegen,
Wie sollte denn die Liebe je
In ihrem Pfade sich betrügen?
Drum trabe mutig durch die Nacht,
Und schwinden auch die dunklen Bahnen,
Der Sehnsucht helles Auge wacht,
Und sicher führt mich süßes Ahnen.

On the Bruck

Trot along merrily without stopping or resting
My good horse, through the night and rain!
What is making you afraid of bushes and branches
And why do you stumble on the wild pathways?
Although the wood stretches on deep and thick,
It will have to come to an end at some point,
And a distant light will make a friendly appearance
And greet us from out of the dark valley.

I could happily go on over mountains and valleys
Flying on your slender back,
And observing the bright play of the world
I could enjoy the beautiful images;
Many an eye smiles at me confidentially
Offering me peace, love and joy,
And yet I hurry on without rest,
Back, back towards my suffering.

For three days already I have been far
From her, she who is eternally bound to me;
For three days the sun and stars
And earth and heaven have vanished as far as I am concerned.
Of the pleasure and pain that my heart
Would have known at her side, be it by being healed or being torn,
All I have felt for three days is agony,
And oh, I have had to miss out on the joy!

Up there over the land and sea we can see
The birds flying towards warmer ground;
So how could love ever allow
Itself to be led astray if it is following that path?
Therefore trot on courageously through the night!
And even if the dark tracks disappear
Longing’s bright eye is still on the lookout,
And sweet presentiment leads me on securely.



In 1813 a small booklet was printed to introduce Göttingen and its region to the newly arrived students at the town´s Georg August University (Der Göttinger Student. Oder Bemerkungen, Rathschäge und Belehrungen über Göttingen und das Studenten-Leben auf der Georgia Augusta.). In a chapter on the surroundings (natural scenery and views) there is this entry under the heading ‘Die Bruck’:

An hour beyond Kerstlingerode, therefore 2 hours from Göttingen, there rises the Bruck, a high mountain, from which a splendid view over Unter-Eichsfeld opens out to delight the eye. Seeburg . . . looks more beautiful from here than it does from nearby. In the far distance the Harz Mountains can be seen, of which the Brocken is the most noticeable. Down the edge of the Bruck runs a long narrow footpath, which is rather dangerous to walk down. 

(English translation by Malcolm Wren)

Ernst Schulze’s ‘Auf der Bruck’ was written when he was a tutor at Göttingen University. He called his poem ‘Auf der Bruck‘ and dated it ‘Den 25st Julius 1814‘. It was printed as part of his ‘Poetic Diary‘ posthumously in 1819. When Schubert’s musical setting of the text was published in Graz in 1828 the title was changed to ‘Auf der Brücke‘ (On the bridge). Although some writers have speculated that this was motivated by a desire to remove the references to a specific time and place in order to create a more general connection with readers and listeners, it is much more likely that the people involved in the publication of the song in far-away Austria had no idea that ‘Bruck’ was the name of a specific hill near Göttingen and they assumed that there had been a misprint. Since the text makes no reference whatsoever to a bridge (or a river), and the poetic persona is not crossing from one emotional or spiritual state to another, the new title makes no sense on any level.

Although the poet is urging his horse onwards, insisting that there is going to be light at the end of the dark forest, it soon becomes clear that he is going back. He has been away for three days and is unable to break the ties that bound him to the beloved (or rather, to his idea of the beloved). He is sufficiently self-aware to realise that his obsession is wounding him as much as it is offering him healing, but it is something he cannot do without. Others have offered him ‘peace, love and joy’ but this is not enough. He cannot break away or move forward.

Yet on another level he is far from self-aware. He sees the migrating birds, so certain of the direction in which they are flying, and he tells himself that such instincts cannot be wrong. His own longing cannot be misguided. The presentiments he feels must be leading him ‘securely’. Only someone truly enthralled or seriously disturbed would speak with such certainty about his prospects. We do not even need to know (as Schubert would not have done) that the woman Schulze was fixated on (Adelheid Tychsen) showed no interest in him, particularly since he had previously been obsessed with her own sister (now dead). There are enough signs in the text as it stands to show any reader that the poetic voice here is unstable.

Original Spelling and notes on the text

Auf der Bruck

Frisch trabe sonder Ruh' und Rast,
Mein gutes Roß, durch Nacht und Regen!
Was scheust du dich vor Busch und Ast
Und strauchelst auf den wilden Wegen?
Dehnt auch der Wald sich tief und dicht,
Doch muß er endlich sich erschließen,
Und freundlich wird ein fernes Licht
Uns aus dem dunkeln Thale grüßen.

Wohl könnt' ich über Berg und Thal1
Auf deinem schlanken Rücken fliegen
Und mich am bunten Spiel der Welt,
An holden Bildern mich vergnügen;
Manch Auge lacht mir traulich zu
Und beut mir Frieden, Lieb' und Freude,
Und dennoch eil' ich ohne Ruh,
Zurück, zurück zu meinem Leide.

Denn schon drey Tage war ich fern
Von ihr, die ewig mich gebunden;
Drey Tage waren Sonn' und Stern
Und Erd' und Himmel mir verschwunden.
Von Lust und Leiden, die mein Herz
Bey ihr bald heilten, bald zerrissen,
Fühlt' ich drey Tage nur den Schmerz,
Und ach, die Freude mußt' ich missen!

Weit sehn wir über Land und See
Zur wärmern Flur den Vogel fliegen;
Wie sollte denn die Liebe je
In ihrem Pfade sich betrügen?
Drum trabe muthig durch die Nacht!
Und schwinden auch die dunklen Bahnen,
Der Sehnsucht helles Auge wacht,
Und sicher führt mich süßes Ahnen.2

1  Schubert appears to have changed Schulze's 'Feld' (field) to 'Thal' (valley)
2  Schubert changed the order of the lines here. Schulze's stanza was:

Drum trabe muthig durch die Nacht!
Und schwinden auch die dunkeln Bahnen,
Der Sehnsucht helles Auge wacht,
Und sicher führt mich süßes Ahnen.
Weit sehn wir über Land und See
Zur wärmern Flur den Vogel fliegen;
Wie sollte denn die Liebe je
In ihrem Pfade sich betrügen?

Confirmed by Peter Rastl with Schubert’s source,  Ernst Schulze’s sämmtliche poetische Schriften. Dritter Band. I. Poetisches Tagebuch. […] Leipzig: F. A. Brockhaus. 1819, pages 74-75; and with Sämmtliche poetische Werke von Ernst Schulze. Neue Ausgabe mit sechszehn Kupfern. Dritter Theil. Leipzig: F. A. Brockhaus. 1822, pages 75-76.

To see an early edition of the text, go to page 74  [90 von 336] here: http://digital.onb.ac.at/OnbViewer/viewer.faces?doc=ABO_%2BZ170542803