"Welcome and Farewell" (German: "") is a poem by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe from the collection . It was published for the first time in 1775 in the women's magazine . Franz Schubert set it to music as a lied (D.767).
In 1770 Goethe went to Strasbourg and assumedly wrote the love song in the following spring of 1771.[1] It was written in the spirit of the Sturm und Drang period for the daughter of a parson, Friederike Brion.
Der Mond von einem WolkenhügelSah kläglich aus dem Duft hervor,Die Winde schwangen leise Flügel,Umsausten schauerlich mein Ohr.Die Nacht schuf tausend Ungeheuer;Doch frisch und fröhlich war mein Mut:In meinen Adern welches Feuer!In meinem Herzen welche Glut!
Dich sah ich, und die milde FreudeFloss von dem süssen Blick auf mich;Ganz war mein Herz an deiner Seite,Und jeder Atemzug für dich.Ein rosenfarbnes FrühlingswetterUmgab das liebliche Gesicht,Und Zärtlichkeit für mich — ihr Götter!Ich hofft' es, ich verdient' es nicht!
Doch ach, schon mit der MorgensonneVerengt der Abschied mir das Herz:In deinen Küssen, welche Wonne!In deinem Auge, welcher Schmerz!Ich ging, du standst und sahst zur Erden,Und sahst mir nach mit nassem Blick:Und doch, welch Glück geliebt zu werden!Und lieben, Götter, welch ein Glück![2]
From out a hill of clouds the moonWith mournful gaze began to peer:The winds their soft wings flutter'd soon,And murmur'd in my awe-struck ear;The night a thousand monsters made,Yet fresh and joyous was my mind;What fire within my veins then play'd!What glow was in my bosom shrin'd!
I saw thee, and with tender prideFelt thy sweet gaze pour joy on me;While all my heart was at thy side,And every breath I breath'd for thee.The roseate hues that spring suppliesWere playing round thy features fair,And love for me—ye Deities!I hoped it, I deserved it ne'er!
But, when the morning sun return'd,Departure filled with grief my heart:Within thy kiss, what rapture burn'd!But in thy look, what bitter smart!I went—thy gaze to earth first roved;Thou follow'dst me with tearful eye:And yet, what rapture to be loved!And, Gods, to love—what ecstacy![3]
Atop a hill of cloud the moonShed piteous glimmers through the mist,Softly the wind took flight, and soonWith horrible wings around me hissed.Night made a thousand ghouls respire,Of what I felt, a thousandth partMy mind, what a consuming fire!What a glow was in my heart!
You I saw, your look replied,Your sweet felicity, my own,My heart was with you, at your side,I breathed for you, for you alone.A blush was there, as if your faceA rosy hue of Spring had caught,For me-ye gods!-this tenderness!I hoped, and I deserved it not.
Yet soon the morning sun was there,My heart, ah, shrank as leave I took:How rapturous your kisses were,What anguish then was in your look!I left, you stood with downcast eyes,In tears you saw me riding off:Yet, to be loved, what happiness!What happiness, ye gods, to love![4]
The poem has been set to music as a Lied for voice and piano by Johann Friedrich Reichardt (1794), Franz Schubert (D 767; 1822), Hans Pfitzner (op. 29,3; 1922)[5] und Winfried Zillig (1944).[6]
In the 2010 German film Young Goethe in Love, the poem is being recited by the protagonist and its content plays a central role in the movie.[7]