Enchantment
(Poet's title: Entzückung)
Set by Schubert:
D 413
[April 1816]
Tag voll Himmel, da aus Lauras Blicken
Mir der Liebe heiligstes Entzücken
In die wonnetrunkne Seele drang!
Und von ihrem Zauber hingerissen,
Ich der Holden unter Feuerküssen,
An den süßbeklommnen Busen sank!
Goldner sah ich Wolken sich besäumen,
Jedes Blättchen auf den Frühlingsbäumen
Schien zu flüstern: ewig, ewig dein.
Glücklicher in solcher Taumelfülle,
Werd ich, nach verstäubter Erdenhülle,
Kaum in Edens Myrtenlauben sein!
Heaven-filled day, when, because of Laura’s gaze,
The most sacred entchantment of love
Overwhelmed my ecstasy-drunk soul!
And, drawn forward by her magic,
Under fiery kisses, I approached the beauteous one
And sank onto her sweetly apprehensive breast!
I saw the clouds increasingly lined with gold,
Each little leaf on the spring trees
Seemed to whisper, ‘For ever, for ever yours!’
Lucky me, this is such a perfect frenzy,
I shall barely experience anything like it after this earthly husk has turned to dust
And I am surrounded by the myrtle leaves of Eden.
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:
Chest / breast Clouds Covers and covering Day Dust Eden Emptiness and fullness Eternity Evening and the setting sun Fire Gazes, glimpses and glances Gold Heaven, the sky Kissing Laurel Leaves and foliage Magic and enchantment Myrtle Soul Spring (season) Sweetness Trees (general) Whispering
It is probably all in his mind. Since the object of the poet’s desire is called Laura she is almost certainly a literary conceit based on Petrarch’s famous relationship with a Laura who was more poetic symbol than real woman. The poet is not describing a real experience but imagining the bliss that might follow the fulfilment of his desires. This is the nature of her magic or enchantment.
Although the poet declares that the experience was one of total ecstasy or rapture, that he was ‘full of heaven’ and ‘drunk with bliss’, he is also oddly detached. He realises that the message of the leaves on the trees is only his own interpretation (they ‘seemed to whisper’). He is aware, as a devout Christian, that he should not compare this bliss to what is in store in heaven, so he tries to qualify his evocation of his state of happiness by declaring that it is difficult to imagine how life in heaven can be much better than this. It is presumably the associations of Laura’s name (laurel) that leads him to think that it is leaves that are speaking to him about her love and that heaven will be the Garden of Eden. Is he aware, though, that the myrtle bushes (which he expects to surround him there) are sacred to the goddess Aphrodite?
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Original Spelling Entzückung Tag voll Himmel! da aus Lauras Blicken Mir der Liebe heiligstes Entzücken In die wonnetrunkne Seele drang! Und, von ihrem Zauber hingerissen, Ich der Holden, unter Feuerküssen, An den süßbeklommnen Busen sank! Goldner sah ich Wolken sich besäumen, Jedes Blättchen auf den Frühlingsbäumen Schien zu flüstern: Ewig, ewig dein! Glücklicher, in solcher Taumelfülle, Werd' ich, nach verstäubter Erdenhülle, Kaum in Edens Myrthenlauben seyn.
Original version of the text (published 1781 and 1783), entitled Laura:
Dolce nella memoria! Petrarca
Tag voll Himmel! da, aus Laura’s Bliken,
Mir der Liebe heiligstes Entzüken
In die tiefgerührte Seele drang!
Und, von ihrem Zauber hingerissen,
Ich der Frommen, unter Feuerküssen,
An den süßbeklomnen Busen sank!
O! wie da, im seligsten Getümmel
Niegefühlter Freuden, Erd’ und Himmel
Mir Beglüktem ringsumher vergieng!
Sanfte Glut durch meine Adern glühte,
Aus dem hocherfreuten Auge sprühte,
Wenn es schmachtend an dem ihren hieng!
Goldner sah ich Wolken sich besäumen,
Jedes Blätchen auf den Frühlingsbäumen
Schien zu flüstern: Sie ist ewig dein!
Glüklicher, in solcher Taumelfülle,
Werd’ ich, nach verstäubter Erdenhülle,
Nur in Edens Mirthenlauben sein!
‘Sweet in memory!’ Petrarch
Heaven-filled day, when, because of Laura’s gaze,
The most sacred entchantment of love
Overwhelmed my deeply stirred soul!
And, drawn forward by her magic,
Under fiery kisses, I approached the pious one
And sank onto her sweetly apprehensive breast!
Oh! there, in the most blessed turmoil
Of joys never felt before, Earth and Heaven
Seemed to disappear around me in my happiness!
A gentle glow burned through my veins
And flashed from my overjoyed eyes
When they looked longingly into hers!
I saw the clouds increasingly lined with gold,
Each little leaf on the spring trees
Seemed to whisper, ‘She is for ever yours!’
Lucky me, this is such a perfect frenzy
That I shall not experience anything like it until this earthly husk has turned to dust
And I am surrounded by the myrtle leaves of Eden!
Confirmed by Peter Rastl with Gedichte von Friedrich von Matthisson. Erster Theil. Tübingen, bei Cotta, 1811, page 7; and with Gedichte von Friedrich von Matthisson. Erster Theil. Neueste, sehr vermehrte und vollständigste Ausgabe. Wien 1815. In Commission bey Cath. Gräffer und Härter, page 7.
To see an early edition of the text, go to page 7 [29 von 380] here: http://digital.onb.ac.at/OnbViewer/viewer.faces?doc=ABO_%2BZ185186703