Der Musensohn

Durch Feld und Wald zu schweifen,
Mein Liedchen wegzupfeifen,
So geht's von Ort zu Ort!
Und nach dem Takte reget
Und nach dem Maß beweget
Sich alles an mir fort.

Ich kann sie kaum erwarten,
Die erste Blum' im Garten,
Die erste Blüt' am Baum.
Sie grüßen meine Lieder,
Und kommt der Winter wieder,
Sing ich noch jenen Traum.

Ich sing ihn in der Weite,
Auf Eises Läng' und Breite,
Da blüht der Winter schön!
Auch diese Blüte schwindet,
Und neue Freude findet
Sich auf bebauten Höhn.

Denn wie ich bei der Linde
Das junge Völkchen finde,
Sogleich erreg ich sie.
Der stumpfe Bursche bläht sich,
Das steife Mädchen dreht sich
Nach meiner Melodie.

Ihr gebt den Sohlen Flügel
Und treibt durch Tal und Hügel
Den Liebling weit von Haus.
Ihr lieben, holden Musen,
Wann ruh ich ihr am Busen
Auch endlich wieder aus?

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) , "Der Musensohn"

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

by Ludwig Berger (1777-1839) , "Der Musensohn"
by Bernhard (Joseph) Klein (1793-1832) , "Der Musensohn", op. 15 (Neun Lieder von Goethe) no. 7, published 1827/32. [voice and piano]
by Johann Friedrich Reichardt (1752-1814) , "Der Musensohn", 1809.
by Franz Peter Schubert (1797-1828) , "Der Musensohn", op. 92 no. 1, D. 764 (1822), published 1828.
by Karl Friedrich Zelter (1758-1832) , "Der Musensohn", 1807.

ENG English (Lawrence Snyder) (Rebecca Plack)
DUT Dutch [singable] (Lau Kanen)
ITA Italian (Amelia Maria Imbarrato)
ENG English [singable] (Shula Keller)
CHI Chinese (Yen-Chiang Che)
FRE French (Guy Laffaille)

Text added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.

Notes about green, red, and white dots

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The son of the muses

Roaming through field and wood,
Piping along my little song,
So I go from place to place!
And to my beat
And to my measure
Everything moves with me.

I can hardly wait for them,
The first bloom in the garden,
The first blossom on the tree.
My songs greet them,
And when winter returns
I still sing of that dream.

I sing them far and wide,
Through the ice's realm,
Then winter blossoms beautifully!
That bloom disappears too,
And new joy is found
In the hilltowns.

For when I, beside the linden,
Encounter young folks,
I rouse them at once.
The swaggering youth puffs up,
The naive maiden twirls
To my melody.

You give my feet wings
And drive through vale and hill
Your favorite, far from home.
You dear, kind muses,
When on her bosom
Will I finally again find rest?

Translation from German to English copyright © by Lawrence Snyder, ldsnyder (AT) dcn (DOT) davis (DOT) ca (DOT) us and Rebecca Plack, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. Please contact the copyright-holder when requesting permission to reprint.

a text in German by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) , "Der Musensohn" DUT ITA CHI FRE

Text added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.