Austrian composer Franz Schubert left us about 600 songs. Among these is the amazing “Gretchen am Spinnrade”, in English: Gretchen at the spinning wheel.
The lyrics are as follows:
Gretchen at the spinning-wheel
My peace is gone
My heart is heavy;
I shall never
Ever find peace again.
When he’s not with me,
Life’s like the grave;
The whole world
Is turned to gall.
My poor head
Is crazed,
My poor mind
Shattered.
My peace is gone
My heart is heavy;
I shall never
Ever find peace again.
It’s only for him
I gaze from the window,
It’s only for him
I leave the house.
His proud bearing
His noble form,
The smile on his lips,
The power of his eyes,
And the magic flow
Of his words,
The touch of his hand,
And ah, his kiss!
My peace is gone
My heart is heavy;
I shall never
Ever find peace again.
My bosom
Yearns for him.
Ah! if I could clasp
And hold him,
And kiss him
To my heart’s content,
And in his kisses
Perish!
Translations by Richard Stokes, author of The Book of Lieder (Faber, 2005)
Listen now to one amazing pianist play the Liszt arrangement for piano solo of this Schubert song:
