Meine Ruh' ist hin

Meine Ruh' ist hin,
Mein Herz ist schwer,
Ich finde sie nimmer
Und nimmermehr.

Wo ich ihn nicht hab
Ist mir das Grab,
Die ganze Welt
Ist mir vergällt.

Mein armer Kopf
Ist mir verrückt,
Mein armer Sinn
Ist mir zerstückt.

Meine Ruh' ist hin,
Mein Herz ist schwer,
Ich finde sie nimmer
Und nimmermehr.

Nach ihm nur schau ich
Zum Fenster hinaus,
Nach ihm nur geh ich
Aus dem Haus.

Sein hoher Gang,
Sein' edle Gestalt,
Seine Mundes Lächeln,
Seiner Augen Gewalt,

Und seiner Rede
Zauberfluß,
Sein Händedruck,
Und ach, sein Kuß!

Meine Ruh' ist hin,
Mein Herz ist schwer,
Ich finde sie nimmer
Und nimmermehr.

Mein Busen drängt sich
Nach ihm hin.
[Ach]1 dürft ich fassen
Und halten ihn,

Und küssen ihn,
So wie ich wollt,
An seinen Küssen
Vergehen sollt!

View original text (without footnotes)
¹Zelter: "Als"

Authorship

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) , title unknown, from Faust

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive)

by Max Joseph Beer (1851-1908) , "Gretchen am Spinnrade", op. 2, published 1872 [voice and piano], Wien u. Tr., Buchholz & D.
by Franz Aloys Theodor Commer (1813-1887) , "Aus Faust", op. 19 (Vier Gesänge für eine Singstimme mit Begleitung des Piano-Forte) no. 3.
by (Karl) Friedrich Curschmann (1805-1841) , "Meine Ruh ist hin", op. 11 (Sechs Gesänge) no. 5, published 1835 [voice and piano], Berlin, Schlesinger
by Gustav Heinrich Graben-Hoffmann (1820-1900) , "Meine Ruh ist hin", op. 65.
by Johann von Haszlinger , "Lied Gretchens", op. 5 (Sechs Lieder für eine Singstimme mit Begleitung des Pianoforte) no. 6.
by Johann Christoph Kienlen (1783-1829) , "Lied von Gretchen", published 1819?
by Bernhard (Joseph) Klein (1793-1832) , "Meine Ruh' ist hin", published c1820. [voice and piano]
by Conradin Kreutzer (1780-1849) , "Gretchens Klage", 1820 [voice and piano], from Gesänge aus Goethe's Faust, no. 16, an edition from 1836 is mentioned by Hofmeister, published Wien, Trentsensky
by Fredric Joseph Kroll (1945-) , "Gretchen am Spinnrade", 1965.
by Fredric Joseph Kroll (1945-) , "Gretchen am Spinnrade", 1965-6, first performed 1982 [voice and piano], from Lieder aus der Einsamkeit, no. 1.
by Justus Amadeus Lecerf (1789-1868) , "Gretchen am Spinnrad", published 1835? [voice and piano], from Neun Gesänge zu Goethe's Faust, no. 8.
by Leopold Lenz (1803-1862) , "Gretchen am Spinnrad", op. 14, Heft 1 (Gesänge Gretchens) no. 2, published 1833 [voice and piano], from Gesänge und Lieder aus der Tragödie Faust von Goethe, no. 2, Mainz, Schott
by Leopold Lenz (1803-1862) , "Meine Ruh ist hin", op. 13 (Zwei Gesänge) no. 1. [soprano and piano]
by Johann Karl Gottfried Loewe (1796-1869) , "Meine Ruh ist hin", op. 9, Heft 3 no. 2 (1822).
by C. T. Moritz , "Margarete", [c1813] [voice and piano], from Dreizehn Lieder und Gesaenge mit Begleitung des Pianoforte, no. 5, Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel
by Antoni Henryk Radziwill, Fürst (1775-1833) , "Gretchen", published 1835, from Compositionen zu Göthe's Faust, no. 20, Berlin: Zum ausschliesslichen Debit in Commission bei T. Trautwein, Buch-und Musikhandlung
by Franz Peter Schubert (1797-1828) , "Gretchen am Spinnrad(e)", op. 2, D. 118 (1814), published 1821.
by Karl Sigmund Freiherr von Seckendorff (1744-1785) , "Gretchens Klage", published [1819] [voice and piano], from Zwölf Lieder mit Begleitung des Pianoforte in Musik gesetzt und seiner Schwester gewidmet von Carl von Seckendorff, no. 12, Leipzig: Bey Breitkopf und Härtel
by Louis [Ludwig] Spohr (1784-1859) , "Gretchen", op. 25 (Sechs deutsche Lieder) no. 3 (1809).
by (Wilhelm) Richard Wagner (1813-1883) , "Meine Ruh ist hin (Gretchen am Spinnrade)", op. 5 no. 6 (1831-2), from Sieben Kompositionen zu Goethes Faust, no. 6.
by Karl Friedrich Zelter (1758-1832) , "Margarethe"
by C. F. Zietzschmann , "Meine Ruh' ist hin", op. 32 (Drei Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 2, published 1877 [voice and piano], Berlin, Barth

by Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901) , "Perduta ho la pace", 1838, from 6 Romanze, no. 5.

by Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka (1804-1857) , "Pesn' Margarity"

by Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) , "D'amour ardente flamme", op. 24 no. ? (1845-6), first performed 1846 [soprano and orchestra or piano], from the opera La damnation de Faust, no. ?

by Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) , "Romance de Marguerite", op. 1 no. 7, from Huit Scènes de Faust, no. 7. [see full setting text]

ENG English (Lynn Thompson) , "My peace is gone", copyright © 1997, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
SPA Spanish (Elisa Rapado) , "Margarita en la Rueca"
DUT Dutch [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "Greetje aan het spinnewiel", copyright © 2005, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English (Fredric Kroll) , "Gretchen at the Spinning Wheel", copyright © 2005, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English (Walter A. Aue) , "My peace is gone", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ITA Italian (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "La mia pace è perduta", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
FRE French (Gérard de Nerval) , title unknown, from Le Faust de Goethe
NOR Norwegian (Bokmål) (Marianne Beate Kielland) , "Gretchen ved rokken", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Text added to the website: 2003-10-13.

Notes about green, red, and white dots

Gentle Reminder

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My peace is gone

My peace is gone,
My heart is heavy,
I will find it never
and never more.

Where I do not have him,
That is the grave,
The whole world
Is bitter to me.

My poor head
Is crazy to me,
My poor mind
Is torn apart.

My peace is gone,
My heart is heavy,
I will find it never
and never more.

For him only, I look 
Out the window
Only for him do I go
Out of the house.

His tall walk,
His noble figure,
His mouth's smile,
His eyes' power,

And his mouth's
Magic flow,
His handclasp,
and ah!  his kiss!

My peace is gone,
My heart is heavy,
I will find it never
and never more.

My bosom urges itself
toward him.
Ah, might I grasp
And hold him!

And kiss him,
As I would wish,
At his kisses
I should die!

Authorship

Translation from German to English copyright © 1997 by Lynn Thompson, l-thompson (AT) wiu.edu, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. Please contact the copyright-holder(s) when requesting permission to reprint and be sure to give proper credit.

a text in German by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) , title unknown, from Faust DUT NOR RUS ITA FRE SPA

Text added to the website: 2003-10-13.