The quiet song
(Poet's title: Das stille Lied)
Set by Schubert:
D 916
for TTBB quartet
(incomplete)[May 1827]
Schweige nur,
Süßer Mund der heil’gen Liebe,
Stille weben die Getriebe
Der Natur
In der Erde Schoß, und stille
Hält der Himmel seine Fülle,
Still ist alles Lebens Spur,
Liebe lebt nur in der Hülle,
Schweige nur.
Atme nur,
Blumen atmen, und so sprühen
Süße Düfte, Farben glühen
Durch die Flur,
Sterne atmen Licht und ziehen
Alles atmend an im Fliehen.
Nur ein Hauch wiegt die Natur,
Engel atmen Melodieen,
Atmen nur.
Blühe nur,
Sieh, in eine sel’ge Blüte
Hüllt sich ein die ganze Güte
Der Natur,
Und ihr himmlisches Gemüte
Füllt allein dies Weltgebiete.
Liebe zeige mir die Spur,
Schweige, atme, sel’ge Blüte,
Blühe nur.
Just remain silent,
Sweet mouth of holy love.
They weave silently, the gears
Of nature
In the earth’s womb, and in silence
The sky maintains its fullness,
The trace of all life is silent,
Love only lives in the covering,
Just remain silent.
Just breathe,
Flowers breathe and therefore emit
Sweet scents, colours glow
Across the field,
Stars breathe light and attract
Everything that breathes as they flee,
Nature is rocked with a single breath,
Angels breathe melodies,
Just breathing.
Just flower!
Look at how one blessed blossom
Contains the whole goodness
Of nature,
And its heavenly spirit
Is all that fills this worldly domain:
Love, show me the trace.
Remain silent, breathe, blessed blossom,
Just flower.
All translations into English that appear on this website, unless otherwise stated, are by Malcolm Wren. You are free to use them on condition that you acknowledge Malcolm Wren as the translator and schubertsong.uk as the source. Unless otherwise stated, the comments and essays that appear after the texts and translations are by Malcolm Wren and are © Copyright.
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Themes and images in this text:
Breath and breathing Flowers Noise and silence Stars Weaving
The poet seems to be offering advice. It is as if he has been asked, “How can I find love in the world?” Like so many people today who offer guidance, he cannot resist saying “All you do is x” or “You just do y”. Just be quiet, he says. Just breathe. All you have to do is bloom. Can it really be so simple?
It is difficult to assess how noisy the world of the early 19th century was. Horse transport was almost certainly noisier than modern traffic. When most villages still had their own blacksmiths you probably had to get a considerable distance from a human settlement to find relative peace and quiet. This poem explicitly contrasts the silence of nature’s weaving in contrast to the noisy cogs and gears of modern looms (there may be a reference here to the power-looms that were beginning to be used in Prussia, two generations after the first introduction of steam-powered weaving in England). If nature can keep quiet, so should we, the poet seems to be saying. Just be quiet.
Just breathe. The second stanza is rather like a lesson in mindfulness or yoga. Flowers breathe out their scent and colour. Stars breathe light. Angels breathe melodies. Although none of this is true, it perhaps sounds profound to some people as a guide to how we should behave in the world.
Just blossom. The whole world is contained in a flower. We JUST have to see it. ALL WE HAVE TO DO is let it happen. ‘But what if I am not a flower?’, we might ask. ‘Just be quiet.’
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Original Spelling Das stille Lied Schweige nur, Süßer Mund der heil'gen Liebe. Stille weben die Getriebe Der Natur In der Erde Schooß, und stille Hält der Himmel seine Fülle, Still ist alles Lebens Spur, Liebe lebt nur in der Hülle, Schweige nur. Athme nur, Blumen athmen und so sprühen Süße Düfte, Farben glühen Durch die Flur, Sterne athmen Licht und ziehen Alles athmend an im Fliehen, Nur ein Hauch wiegt die Natur, Engel athmen Melodieen, Athmen nur. Blühe nur! Sieh in eine sel'ge Blüthe Hüllt sich ein die ganze Güte Der Natur, Und ihr himmlisches Gemüthe Füllt allein dies Weltgebiete: Liebe, zeige mir die Spur. Schweige, athme, sel'ge Blüthe, Blühe nur.
Confirmed with Frauentaschenbuch für das Jahr 1817 von de la Motte Fouqué. Nürnberg, bei Joh. Leonh. Schrag, pages 116-117.
To see an early edition of the text, go to page 116 [Erstes Bild 178] here: https://download.digitale-sammlungen.de/BOOKS/download.pl?id=bsb10924723