"Ganymed" is a poem by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, in which the character of the mythic youth Ganymede is seduced by God (or Zeus) through the beauty of Spring.
In early editions of the Collected Works it appeared in Volume II of Goethe's poems in a section of (assorted poems), shortly following the "", and the Harzreise im Winter. It immediately follows "Prometheus", and the two poems together should be understood as a pair, one expressing the sentiment of divine love, the other misotheism. Both belong to the period 1770 to 1775. Prometheus is the creative and rebellious spirit which, rejected by God, angrily defies him and asserts itself; Ganymede is the boyish self which is adored and seduced by God. One is the lone defiant, the other the yielding acolyte. As the humanist poet, Goethe presents both identities as aspects or forms of the human condition.
The poem was set to music, among others, by Franz Schubert (D. 544, 1817), Carl Loewe (Op. 81, No. 5, for SATB, 1836–1837), and by Hugo Wolf (1891).
Daß ich dich fassen möcht'In diesen Arm!
Ach, an deinem BusenLieg' ich, schmachte,Und deine Blumen, dein GrasDrängen sich an mein Herz.Du kühlst den brennendenDurst meines Busens,Lieblicher Morgenwind!Ruft drein die NachtigallLiebend nach mir aus dem Nebeltal.Ich komm', ich komme!Wohin? Ach, wohin?
Hinauf! Hinauf strebt's.Es schweben die WolkenAbwärts, die WolkenNeigen sich der sehnenden Liebe.Mir! Mir!In eurem SchosseAufwärts!Umfangend umfangen!Aufwärts an deinen Busen,Alliebender Vater!
Could I but embrace youIn this arm!
Ah, upon your breastI lie, languish,And your blossoms, your grasspress upon my heart.You cool the burningThirst of my bosom,Lovely morning-wind!There calls the nightingaleLovingly for me from the misty vale.I come, I come!Whither, ah whither?
Up! Up it surges.The clouds are leaningDownwards, the cloudsBow down to yearning love.To me! To me!In your lap, clouds,Upwards!Embracing, embraced!Upwards to thy bosom,All-loving Father!