“Expressions of Freedom”

Florrie Marshall, viola

Poetry by Adalbert von Chamisso (1781–1838)

Music by Robert Schumann (1810-1865), trans. Florrie Marshall

*Please scroll down the page to find the translations of the following poems

Since I saw him

2. He, the noblest of all

3. I cannot grasp or believe it

4. Your ring upon my finger

5. Help me, sisters

6. Sweet friend, you gaze

7. At my heart, at my breast

8. "Now you have caused me pain for the first time"

Ernest Bloch (1880-1959)

1. Rapsodie

Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849), trans. Ettore Causa

1. Allegro moderato
2. Scherzo
3. Largo
4. Finale

English translation by Philip Miller

Since I have seen him

I believe myself to be blind;

wherever I look

I see him only.

As in a waking dream

his image hovers before me;

out of the deepest darkness

it rises ever more brightly.

There is no other light or color

in anything around me;

playing with my sisters

no longer delights me;

I would rather weep

quietly in my room.

Since I have seen him

I believe myself to be blind.

He, the noblest of all -

how kind, how good!

Fine lips, clear eyes,

bright soul and strong spirit!

As yonder in the deep blue

that bright and glorious star,

so is he in my heaven,

bright and glorious, high and distant.

Go, go your way;

only let me contemplate your brilliance,

only in humility consider it,

only be blest and melancholy!

Do not listen to my quiet prayer,

dedicated only to your to your good

fortune;

take no notice of me, the lowly maid,

O high and splendid star!

Only the worthiest of all

shall be favored by your choice;

and I will bless that exalted one,

bless her many thousand times.

I will rejoice, then, and weep,

for then I am happy – happy!

Even though my heart should break –

break, o heart, what can it matter?

I cannot grasp or believe it;

I am bewitched by a dream.

How could he, from among them all,

have exalted and blessed so lowly a one as I?

It seemed to me – he spoke:

“I am yours forever” -

It seemed to me – I am still dreaming

it cannot ever be so.

O let me perish in my dream,

lulled upon his breast!

Let me relish the most blessed death

In the endless happiness of tears.

O ring upon my finger,

my little golden ring,

I press you devoutly to my lips,

devoutly to my heart.

I had done with dreaming

the peaceful dream of childhood;

only to find myself lost

in endless desert space.

O ring upon my finger,

it was you who first taught me,

revealed to my sight

the infinite and deep value of life.

I will serve him, live for him,

belong to him entirely,

give myself and find

myself transfigured in his light.

O ring upon my finger,

my little golden ring,

I press you devoutly to my lips,

devoutly to my heart.

Help me, sisters,

please, to adorn myself,

serve me, the happy one, today.

Busily wind

around my forehead

the blossoming myrtle wreath.

As I lay peacefully,

happy in heart,

in my beloved’s arms,

he was always crying out

with longing in his heart,

impatient for this day.

Help me, sisters,

help me to banish

a foolish anxiety,

so that I may with clear eye

receive him,

him, the source of happiness.

When you, my beloved,

appeared to me,

o sun, did you give me your light?

Let me in devotion,

let me in humility

let me bow before my lord.

Scatter flowers before him,

sisters,

bring him the budding roses.

But, sisters,

I greet you with sweet melancholy,

as I happily take leave of your group.

Dear friend, you look

at me in astonishment.

You don’t understand

how I can weep!

Leave the moist pearls –

unwonted ornament –

to glisten, bright with happiness,

On my eyelashes.

How anxious I am,

how full of delight!

If only I had the words

to say it!

Come, and bury your face

here on my breast;

into your ear I will whisper

All my happiness.

[I have already asked mother

about the signs.

Good mother has

told me everything;

she has assured me

that, by all indications,

soon a cradle

will be needed.]

Now do you understand the tears

that I can weep?

Ought you not see them?

dearest man?

Rest upon my heart,

feel its beat,

and nearer and nearer

let me draw you.

Here by my bed

is place for the cradle

which shall quietly hide

my lovely dream.

The morning will come

when the dream awakens,

and from it your image

will smile at me.

Upon my heart, upon my bosom,

Oh my joy, oh my rapture!

Happiness is love, love is happiness,

I have said it before and I don’t take it back!

I have thought myself over-happy,

but I am over-happy now.

Only she who nurses, only she who loves

the child to whom she gives nourishment,

Only a mother knows

What it is to love and to be fortunate.

O how I pity the man,

who cannot feel a mother’s rapture!

You look at me and smile,

You dear, dear angel!

Upon my heart, upon my bosom,

Oh my joy, oh my rapture!

Now you have hurt me for the first time –

Really hurt me!

You sleep, hard pitiless man,

the sleep of death.

The forsaken one looks before her –

The world is empty.

I have loved and I have lived – I am

no longer alive.

I withdraw silently within myself,

the veil falls,

There I have you and lost my happiness,

O you, my world!

Dream of my own days

now long gone,

daughter of my daughter,

my sweet child,

take, before the weary one

is covered with the shroud,

take in your young life

my words of blessing.

Though you see me gray-haired,

wasted and faded,

I was once, like you,

young and charming.

I loved as you love,

like you, became a bride;

and you too will grow old

and gray as I.

Let time pass

on and on;

only steadfastly guard

the treasure in your breast.

I once said,

and I do not take it back:

happiness is only love,

love only happiness.

When I laid the one I loved

in his grave,

I cherished my love

faithfully within myself.

Though my heart was broken

my courage remained strong,

and the ashes of age

are kept aglow by the sacred fire.

 Take, before the weary one

is covered with the shroud,

take in your young life

my words of blessing:

Though your heart must break,

keep your courage strong;

may the pain of love, then,

be your highest good.