Heidenröslein text pdf


Confirmed by Peter Rastl with Schubert’s source, Goethe’s sämmtliche Schriften. / Gedichte von Goethe. Im Norden zu singen (1st version)

  • D.254, Der Gott und die Bajadere
  • D.255, Der Rattenfänger
  • D.256, Der Schatzgräber
  • D.257, Heidenröslein
  • D.258, Bundeslied
  • D.259, An den Mond (1st setting)
  • D.260, Wonne der Wehmut
  • D.261, Wer kauft Liebesgötter? (2 versions)
  • D.262, Die Fröhlichkeit
  • D.263, Cora an die Sonne
  • D.264, Der Morgenkuss (2 versions)
  • D.265, Abendständchen.

    Wien, 1810. We say that mosquitoes ‘bite’ and that bees ‘sting’, so we have to think of this thorn acting similarly; its piercing injects some sort of poison that is intended to harm.

    There is something about the rose’s transcience and fragility that adds to its allure at the best of times, and if it can perform its basic biological function of attracting pollinators and playing a part in reproduction and the continuation of its DNA then we can comfort ourselves that its brief blossoming and rapid decay is all part of the cycle of life.


    And I will not suffer it.
    Röslein, Röslein, Röslein rot,
    Wild rose, wild rose, wild rose red,
    Röslein auf der Heiden.
    wild rose in the heather.

    Und der wilde Knabe brach
    And the impetuous boy plucked
    ’S Röslein auf der Heiden;
    the wild rose from the heather;
    Röslein wehrte sich und stach,
    the rose defended herself and pricked him,
    Half ihm doch kein Weh und Ach,
    but her cries of pain were to no avail;
    Musst es eben leiden.
    she simply had to suffer.
    Röslein, Röslein, Röslein rot,
    Wild rose, wild rose, wild rose red,
    Röslein auf der Heiden.
    wild rose in the heather.

  • Composer

    Franz Schubert

    Franz Peter Schubert was an late Classical and early Romantic composer.

    Unless otherwise stated, the comments and essays that appear after the texts and translations are by Malcolm Wren and are © Copyright.



    These things hurt. It is not just a matter of feeling a little prick and then it is all over. He takes her (it) without consent.
    looked on it with great joy.
    Röslein, Röslein, Röslein rot,
    Wild rose, wild rose, wild rose red,
    Röslein auf der Heiden.
    wild rose in the heather.

    Knabe sprach: Ich breche dich,
    Said the boy: I shall pluck you,
    Röslein auf der Heiden!
    wild rose in the heather!
    Röslein sprach: Ich steche dich,
    Said the rose: I shall prick you
    Dass du ewig denkst an mich,
    so that you will always remember me.

    There have always been people who say the females just have to bear it, but this is unlikely to have been the moral that Goethe intended the reader to take from the story. Some versions of the text appeared (even in Goethe’s life-time) which suggested that the boy did not really suffer as a result: they change the word ‘ihm’ to ‘ihr’ in line 4 of the third stanza.

    He…

    Poet

    Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

    Johann Wolfgang Goethe was a German writer and statesman. The boy is attracted by the flower but his admiration and desire for possession leads to violence and violation. An Elisa

  • D.98, Erinnerungen (1st setting: 2 versions; 1st version- fragment)
  • D.99, Andenken (1st setting)
    • D.100, Geisternähe
    • D.101, Erinnerung
    • D.102, Die Betende
    • D.104, Die Befreier Europas in Paris (3 versions)
    • D.107, Lied aus der Ferne (2 versions)
    • D.108, Der Abend
    • D.109, Lied der Liebe
    • D.113, An Emma (3 versions)
    • D.114, Romanze (2 versions & 1st version variant- fragment)
    • D.115, An Laura, als sie Klopstocks Auferstehungslied sang
    • D.116, Der Geistertanz (3rd setting)
    • D.117, Das Mädchen aus der Fremde (1st setting)
    • D.118, Gretchen am Spinnrade
    • D.119, Nachtgesang
    • D.120, Trost in Tränen
    • D.121, Schäfers Klagelied (2 versions)
    • D.122, Ammenlied
    • D.123, Sehnsucht
    • D.124, Am See (2 versions; 1st version- fragment)
    • D.126, Szene aus ‘Faust’ (2 versions)
    • D.134, Ballade
    • D.138, Rastlose Liebe (2 versions)
    • D.141, Der Mondabend
    • D.142, Geistes-Gruss (6 versions)
    • D.143, Genügsamkeit
    • D.144, Romanze (sketch)
    • D.149, Der Sänger (2 versions)
    • D.150, Lodas Gespenst
    • D.151, Auf einen Kirchhof
    • D.152, Minona
    • D.153, Als ich sie erröten sah
    • D.155, Das Bild
    • D.159, Die Erwartung (2 versions)
    • D.160, Am Flusse (1st setting)
    • D.161, An Mignon (2 versions)
    • D.162, Nähe des Geliebten (2 versions)
    • D.163, Sängers Morgenlied (1st setting)
    • D.164, Liebesrausch (1st setting- fragment)
    • D.165, Sängers Morgenlied (2nd setting)
    • D.166, Amphiaraos
    • D.171, Gebet während der Schlacht (2 versions)
    • D.172, Der Morgenstern (1st setting- sketch)
    • D.174, Das war ich (2 settings; 2nd setting- sketch)
    • D.176, Die Sterne
    • D.177, Vergebliche Liebe
    • D.177a, Am ersten Mai (lost)
    • D.179, Liebesrausch (2nd setting)
    • D.180, Sehnsucht der Liebe
    • D.182, Die erste Liebe
    • D.186, Die Sterbende
    • D.187, Stimme der Liebe (1st setting)
    • D.188, Naturgenuss (1st setting)
    • D.190, No.5 Arie: Gott!

      Röslein, Röslein, Röslein roth, Röslein auf der Heiden. However, when we are forced to consider the assault involved in the human desire to cut flowers (and consequently deprive them of their primary function in the world) we are faced with the realisation that we use our own superficial senses of delight and pleasure to justify a form of killing.

      The flower in her turn acts in self-defence and pricks him, but the verb ‘stechen’ can equally mean ‘stab’ or ‘sting’. His action is destructive. Siebenter Band. Her (its) only line of defence is to infect him in some way. He has reason to regret his action.

      eins tages der künec al eine reit (daz war gar den sînen leit) ûz durch âventiure, durch freude an minnen stiure: des twanc in der minnen ger.

      There has been a suggestion, though, that there is a connection with heathens rather than heaths [1]. It is not just a Röslein (little rose), it is a Heidenröslein, a little rose ‘on the heath’ or ‘in the heather’.
      Und ich will’s nicht leiden. . The prick will be painful, but he will have to bear it.

      Jousting, he was wounded by a poisoned lance so seriously that he never recovered, your dear uncle - through the scrotum. Knabe sprach: Ich breche dich, Röslein auf der Heiden! Its defences built up over evolutionary time (in the form of spikes and thorns) managed to deter herbivorous predators, who left the plant to grow so that it could flower, but they are hardly sufficient to keep roses safe from passing humans.

      heidenröslein text pdf

      In Commission bey Geistinger, page 7; and with Goethe’s Werke, Vollständige Ausgabe letzter Hand, Erster Band, Stuttgart und Tübingen, in der J.G.Cotta’schen Buchhandlung, 1827, page 17.

      First published in a different version by Johann Gottfried Herder in 1772 with the title “Fabelliedchen”, and again in 1779 with the title “Röschen auf der Heide” 

      To see an early edition of the text, go to page 7 [21 von 418] here: http://digital.onb.ac.at/OnbViewer/viewer.faces?doc=ABO_%2BZ163965701

      If you would like to use our texts and translations, please click here for more information.

      Text & Translation

      View IPA

      Heidenröslein
      German source: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

      Wild Rose
      English source: Richard Wigmore

      Sah ein Knab’ ein Röslein stehen,
      A boy saw a wild rose
      Röslein auf der Heiden,
      growing in the heather;
      War so jung und morgenschön,
      it was so young, and as lovely as the morning.

      ez was ein heiden der dâ streit unt der die selben tjoste reit, geborn von Ethnîse, dâ ûzzem pardîse rinnet diu Tigris. Erster Theil. He picks the flower: the verb ‘brechen’ carries all of the force of ‘breaking’. Röslein, Röslein, Röslein roth, Röslein auf der Heiden. The encounter is not as one-sided as the lad assumes it is going to be at the beginning.

      heidenröslein text pdf

      This would mean that as it was being plucked the rose cried out in pain but this did not help it (her), she (it) just had to put up with it. His body of work includes epic and lyric poetry written in a variety of metres and styles; prose and verse dramas; memoirs; an autobiography; literary and aesthetic criticism; treatises on…

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      heidenröslein text pdf

      The man who was fighting there and rode that joust was a heathen born of Ethnise, where the Tigris flows out from Paradise. Psalm

    • D.669, Beim Winde
    • D.670, Die Sternennächte (2 versions)
    • D.671, Trost
    • D.672, Nachtstück (2 versions)
    • D.673, Die Liebende schreibt (2 versions)
    • D.674, Prometheus
    • D.677, Strophe aus ‘Die Götter Griechenlands’ (2 versions)
    • D.682, Über allen Zauber Liebe (fragment)
    • D.684, Die Sterne
    • D.685, Morgenlied
    • D.686, Frühlingsglaube (3 versions)
    • D.687, Nachthymne
    • D.688, 4 Canzonen (song cycle)
    • D.690, Abendröte
    • D.691, Die Vögel
    • D.692, Der Knabe
    • D.693, Der Fluss
    • D.694, Der Schiffer
    • D.695, Namenstagslied
    • D.698, Des Fräuleins Liebeslauschen
    • D.699, Der entsühnte Orest
    • D.700, Freiwilliges Versinken
    • D.702, Der Jüngling auf dem Hügel
    • D.707, Der zürnenden Diana (2 versions)
    • D.708, Im Walde
    • D.711, Lob der Tränen (2 versions)
    • D.712, Die gefangenen Sänger
    • D.713, Der Unglückliche (2 versions)
    • D.715, Versunken (2 versions)
    • D.716, Grenzen der Menschheit
    • D.717, Suleika II
    • D.719, Geheimes
    • D.720, Suleika I (2 versions)
    • D.721, Mahomets Gesang (2nd setting- fragment)
    • D.726, Mignon I (1st setting)
    • D.727, Mignon II (2nd setting)
    • D.728, Johanna Sebus (fragment)
    • D.731, Der Blumen Schmerz
    • D.732, No.8 Arie: Doch im Getümmel der Schlacht
    • D.732, No.13 Arie: Wenn ich dich, Holde, sehe
    • D.736, Ihr Grab
    • D.737, An die Leier
    • D.738, Im Haine
    • D.741, Sei mir gegrüsst
    • D.742, Der Wachtelschlag
    • D.743, Selige Welt
    • D.744, Schwanengesang
    • D.745, Die Rose (2 versions)
    • D.746, Am See
    • D.749, Herrn Josef Spaun, Assessor in Linz
    • D.751, Die Liebe hat gelogen
    • D.752, Nachtviolen
    • D.753, Heliopolis I
    • D.754, Heliopolis II
    • D.756, Du liebst mich nicht (2 versions)
    • D.758, Todesmusik (2 versions)
    • D.761, Schatzgräbers Begehr (2 versions)
    • D.762, Schwestergruss
    • D.764, Der Musensohn (2 versions)
    • D.765, An die Entfernte
    • D.766, Am Flusse (2nd setting)
    • D.767, Willkommen und Abschied (2 versions)
    • D.768, Wandrers Nachtlied
    • D.770, Drang in die Ferne
    • D.771, Der Zwerg
    • D.772, Wehmut
    • D.774, Auf dem Wasser zu singen
    • D.775, Dass sie hier gewesen
    • D.776, Du bist die Ruh
    • D.777, Lachen und Weinen
    • D.778, Greisengesang (3 versions)
    • D.778a, Die Wallfahrt
    • D.785, Der zürnende Barde
    • D.786, Viola
    • D.788, Lied (Das Lebens Tag ist schwer und schwül)
    • D.789, Pilgerweise
    • D.792, Vergissmeinnicht
    • D.793, Das Geheimnis (2nd setting)
    • D.794, Der Pilgrim (2 versions)
    • D.795, Die schöne Müllerin (song cycle)
    • D.799, Im Abendrot (2 versions)
    • D.800, Der Einsame
    • D.801, Dithyrambe (2nd setting: 2 versions)
    • D.805, Der Sieg
    • D.806, Abendstern
    • D.807, Auflösung
    • D.808, Gondelfahrer (1st setting)
    • D.827, Nacht und Träume (2 versions)
    • D.828, Die junge Nonne
    • D.829, Leb’ wohl du schöne Erde
    • D.830, Lied der Anne Lyle
    • D.831, Gesang der Norna
    • D.832, Des Sängers Habe
    • D.833, Der blinde Knabe (2 versions & modified 2nd version)
    • D.834, Im Walde (2 versions)
    • D.837, Ellens Gesang I
    • D.838, Ellens Gesang II
    • D.839, Ellens Gesang III
    • D.842, Totengräbers Heimwehe
    • D.843, Lied des gefangenen Jägers
    • D.846, Normans Gesang
    • D.851, Das Heimweh (2 versions)
    • D.852, Die Allmacht (1st setting: original & modified versions)
    • D.853, Auf der Bruck (2 versions)
    • D.854, Fülle der Liebe
    • D.855, Wiedersehn
    • D.856, Abendlied für die Entfernte
    • D.857, 2 Szenen aus dem Schauspiel 'Lacrimas'
    • D.860, An mein Herz
    • D.861, Der liebliche Stern
    • D.862, Um Mitternacht (2 versions)
    • D.863, An Gott (lost)
    • D.864, Das Totenhemdchen (lost)
    • D.865, Widerspruch
    • D.866, 4 Refrainlieder (song cycle)
    • D.867, Wiegenlied
    • D.869, Totengräber-Weise
    • D.870, Der Wanderer an den Mond
    • D.871, Das Zügenglöcklein (2 versions)
    • D.874, O Quell, was strömst du rasch und wild (sketch)
    • D.876, Im Jänner 1817
    • D.877, 4 Gesänge aus “Wilhelm Meister” (song cycle- various settings)
    • D.878, Am Fenster
    • D.879, Sehnsucht
    • D.880, Im Freien
    • D.881, Fischerweise (2 versions)
    • D.882, Im Frühling (2 versions)
    • D.883, Lebensmut
    • D.884, Über Wildemann
    • D.888, Trinklied
    • D.889, Ständchen
    • D.890, Hippolits Lied
    • D.891, An Silvia
    • D.896, Fröhliches Scheiden (sketch)
    • D.896a, Sie in jedem Liede (sketch)
    • D.896b, Wolke und Quelle (sketch)
    • D.902, 3 Gesänge (song cycle)
    • D.904, Alinde
    • D.905, An die Laute
    • D.906, Der Vater mit dem Kind
    • D.907, Romanze des Richard Löwenherz (2 versions)
    • D.909, Jägers Liebeslied
    • D.910, Schiffers Scheidelied
    • D.911, Winterreise (song cycle)
    • D.916a, Song Sketch in C major (sketch)
    • D.917, Das Lied im Grünen
    • D.919, Frühlingslied (2nd setting)
    • D.922, Heimliches Lieben (2 versions)
    • D.923, Eine altschottische Ballade (3 versions)
    • D.926, Das Weinen
    • D.927, Vor meiner Wiege
    • D.931, Der Wallensteiner Lanzknecht beim Trunk
    • D.932, Der Kreuzzug
    • D.933, Des Fischers Liebesglück
    • D.937, Lebensmut (fragment)
    • D.938, Der Winterabend
    • D.939, Die Sterne
    • D.943, Auf dem Strom
    • D.945, Herbst
    • D.955, Glaube, Hoffnung und Liebe
    • D.957, 13 Lieder nach Gedichten von Rellstab und Heine [“Schwanengesang”] (song cycle)
    • D.965, Der Hirt auf dem Felsen
    • D.965a, Die Taubenpost
    • D.990, Der Graf von Habsburg
    • D.990a, Kaiser Maximilian auf der Martinswand in Tirol
    • D.990b, Augenblicke in Elysium (lost)
    • D.990c, Das Echo
    • D.990d, Die Schiffende (lost)
    • D.990e, L'incanto degli occhi (1st setting- fragment)
    • D.990f, Ombre amene (fragment)
    • D.deest, Winterlied

    .

    He produced a vast oeuvre during his short life, composing more the 600 vocal works (largely Lieder), and well as several symphonies, operas, and a large body of piano music.