Autumn
(Poet's title: Herbst)
Set by Schubert:
D 945
[April 1828]
Es rauschen die Winde
So herbstlich und kalt,
Verödet die Fluren,
Entblättert der Wald,
Ihr blumigen Auen,
Du sonniges Grün,
So welken die Blüten
Des Lebens dahin.
Es ziehen die Wolken
So finster und grau,
Verschwunden die Sterne
Am himmlischen Blau.
Ach, wie die Gestirne
Am Himmel entfliehn,
So sinket die Hoffnung
Des Lebens dahin!
Ihr Tage des Lenzes,
Mit Rosen geschmückt,
Wo ich den Geliebten
Ans Herze gedrückt!
Kalt über den Hügel
Rauscht, Winde, dahin –
So sterben die Rosen
Des Lebens dahin!
The winds are roaring,
So autumnal and cold;
The fields have become barren,
The forest has lost its leaves.
You flowery meadows!
You sunlit green!
In the same way the blossoms wither – the blossoms
Of life decay.
The clouds are going by
So dark and grey;
The stars have disappeared
In the blue of the sky.
Alas, just as the constellations
Fly away in the sky,
In the same way hope sinks – the hope
Of life collapses!
You days of spring,
Adorned with roses,
Where I took my beloved
And pressed him to my heart!
Cold over the hill,
Winds, roar away.
In the same way the roses die – the roses
Of life pass away.
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:
Autumn Blue Clouds Fields and meadows Flowers Green Grey Hearts Heaven, the sky Hope Roses and pink Spring (season) Stars Wind Woods – large woods and forests (Wald)
Rellstab’s autumn is not the ‘season of mists and mellow fruitfulness’ that Keats wrote about. It has none of blazing glory of a North American fall. This is the second stage of autumn, what some Germans call ‘Spätjahr’ (late year) and some people in northern England refer to as ‘the back end’. In the northern hemisphere that probably means November rather than October.
In this text the leaves are not about to fall or currently falling; they have fallen. The fields are now barren, the woods bare. The only colour is grey. The wind blows and clouds block out the stars, and with them any remaining hopes for the future. There is still a faint memory of spring, the sunlit green and the bright roses associated with love. However, that too is gone. All of the flowers have now withered. With no solace from the future or the past we are left in the empty, cold present.
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Original Spelling and note on the text Herbst Es rauschen die Winde So herbstlich und kalt; Verödet die Fluren, Entblättert der Wald. Ihr blumigen Auen! Du sonniges Grün! So welken die Blüthen Des Lebens dahin. Es ziehen die Wolken So finster und grau; Verschwunden die Sterne Am himmlischen Blau! Ach, wie die Gestirne Am Himmel entfliehn, So sinket die Hoffnung Des Lebens dahin! Ihr Tage des Lenzes Mit Rosen geschmückt, Wo ich den Geliebten An's Herze gedrückt! Kalt über den Hügel Rauscht, Winde, dahin! So sterben die Rosen Des Lebens1 dahin. 1 Schubert changed 'die Rosen der Liebe' (the roses of love) to 'die Rosen des Lebens' (the roses of life), or perhaps he was working from a manuscript of an earlier version.
Confirmed by Peter Rastl with Gedichte von Ludwig Rellstab. Erstes Bändchen. Berlin, bei Friedrich Laue. 1827, pages 106-107.
To see an early edition of the text, go to page 106 [122/265] here: http://digital.ub.uni-duesseldorf.de/download/pdf/3376501