Rosenzeit! wie [schnell]1 vorbei,
    Schnell vorbei 
Bist du doch gegangen!
Wär' mein Lieb' nur blieben treu,
    Blieben treu,
Sollte mir nicht bangen.

Um die Ernte wohlgemut,
    Wohlgemut
Schnitterrinnen singen.
Aber, ach! mir [kranken]2 Blut,
    Mir [kranken]2 Blut
Will nichts mehr gelingen.

Schleiche so durch's Wiesental,
    So durch's Tal,
Als im Traum verloren,
Nach dem Berg, da tausendmal,
    Tausendmal,
Er mir Treu' geschworen.

Oben auf des Hügels Rand, 
    Abgewandt,
Wein' ich bei der Linde;
An dem Hut mein Rosenband, 
    Von seiner Hand,
Spielet in dem Winde.

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Eduard Mörike, Gedichte, Dramatisches, Erzählendes, Zweite, erweiterte Auflage, Stuttgart: J.G. Cotta'sche Buchhandlung Nachf., 1961, page 62.

Note: written for the novel Maler Nolten, in which it had the title "Refrain-Liedchen"
¹ Wöbbe: "bald"; further changes may exist not shown above.
² 1877 version, also used by Kahn, E. Kauffmann, and Wetzel: "krankem"

Text Authorship:

• by Eduard Mörike (1804 - 1875), "Agnes", written 1831, first published 1838 [author's text checked 2 times against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

• by Carl Attenhofer (1837 - 1914), "Rosenzeit! wie schnell vorbei", op. 36 (Fünf Lieder für Mezzo-Sopran (oder Baryton) mit Pianofortebegleitung) no. 4, published 1880 [ mezzo-soprano or baritone and piano ], Zürich, Hug [sung text not yet checked]
• by Carl Banck (1809 - 1889), "Rosenzeit", op. 70 (24 Lieder und Gesänge für 1 Singstimme mit Beglteitung des Pianoforte) no. 3, published 1874 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig, Kistner [sung text not yet checked]
• by Gottfried Bohnnblust (1883 - 1960), "Agnes" [sung text not yet checked]
• by Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897), "Agnes", op. 59 (Acht Lieder und Gesänge) no. 5 (1873), published 1880 [ low voice and piano ], Leipzig, Rieter-Biedermann [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Rudolf Brömel (b. 1877), "Agnes", published 1959 [ voice and piano ], from Schöne Heimat, no. 17 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Hugo Distler (1908 - 1942), "Agnes", op. 19 (Mörike-Chorliederbuch), Heft 3 no. 5 (1939) [ chorus ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Felix (August Bernhard) Draeseke (1835 - 1913), "Agnes", op. 81 (Vier Gesänge) no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Gerrit Jan van Eijken (1832 - 1879), "Agnes" [sung text not yet checked]
• by Robert Emmerich (1836 - 1891), "Rosenzeit, wie schnell vorbei", op. 12 (Acht Gesänge) no. 4, published 1866 [ voice and piano ], Offenbach, André [sung text not yet checked]
• by Robert Franz (1815 - 1892), "Rosenzeit!", op. 27 (Sechs Lieder) no. 5, published 1856 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig, Senff [sung text not yet checked]
• by Robert Gund (1865 - 1927), "Rosenzeit wie schnell vorbei", op. 10 (Acht Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianofortebegleitung) no. 6, published 1894 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig, Kistner [sung text not yet checked]
• by Karl Ludwig Friedrich Hetsch (1806 - 1872), "Agnes", op. 8 (Drei Lieder für Mezzo-Sopran oder Bariton mit Pianoforte) no. 3, published 1846 [ mezzo-soprano or baritone or tenor and piano ], Hamburg, Schuberth und Co. [sung text not yet checked]
• by Ferdinand von Hiller (1811 - 1885), "Agnes", op. 46 (Sechs Gesänge für Alt) no. 2 (1850?), published 1853 [ alto and piano ], Hamburg, Schuberth und Co. [sung text not yet checked]
• by Alexis Holländer (1840 - 1924), "Agnes ", op. 6 (Sechs Lieder im Volkston, für mittlere Stimme ) no. 2, published 1864 [ medium voice and piano ], Leipzig, Breitkopf und Härtel [sung text not yet checked]
• by Émile Jacques-Dalcroze (1865 - 1950), "Rosenzeit, wie schnell vorbei", op. 14 (Sechs Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 3, published 1892 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig, Fritzsch [sung text not yet checked]
• by Robert Kahn (1865 - 1951), "Agnes", op. 47 (Neun Lieder im Volkston) no. 6, published 1903 [ voice and piano ], in the collection Im Volkston II. Sammlung: moderne Preislieder komponiert für Die Woche, Druck und Verlag von August Scherl G.m.b.H. Berlin [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Ernst Friedrich Kauffmann (1803 - 1856), "Rosenzeit", 1832 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Paul Eduard Kauffmann (1830 - 1868), "Agnes", c1850 [ four-part mixed chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Richard Kleinmichel (1846 - 1901), "Agnes", op. 31 no. 6, published 1892 [ four-part mixed chorus a cappella ], from Sechs Lieder für vierstimmigen gemischten Chor, no. 6, Hamburg und Leipzig: D. Rahter [sung text not yet checked]
• by Ernst Ludwig (1852 - 1925), "Agnes", op. 9 (Drei Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 2, published 1885 [ voice and piano ], Reichenberg, Schöpfer [sung text not yet checked]
• by Klaus Miehling (b. 1963), "Agnes", op. 356 (Vier Lieder nach Eduard Mörike) no. 3 (2023) [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Fritz Franz Schieri (1922 - 2009), "Agnes", 1999 [ female voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Martin Schmidt , "Agnes", published 1982 [ women's chorus or children's chorus ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Othmar Schoeck (1886 - 1957), "Agnes", WoO. 20 (1905) [ mixed chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Hugo von Senger (1835 - 1892), "Agnes", op. 7 (Fünfunddreißig Lieder und Gesänge), Heft 1 no. 2, published 1868 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Wolfgang Ulrich (1924 - 1995), "Agnes", 1980 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Pauline Viardot-García (1821 - 1910), "Entschwundenes Glück", VWV: 1099 (1865) [ voice and piano ], also set in Russian (Русский) [sung text checked 2 times]
• by Otto Vrieslander (1880 - 1950), "Rosenzeit" [sung text not yet checked]
• by Justus Hermann Wetzel (1879 - 1973), "Agnes" [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Emma Wöbbe , "Volkslied", published 1891 [ voice and piano ], from symphony Fünf Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte, no. 4, Hamburg, Leichssenring [sung text not yet checked]
• by Hugo Wolf (1860 - 1903), "Agnes", from Mörike-Lieder, no. 14 [sung text checked 1 time]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

• Also set in Russian (Русский), a translation by Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev (1818 - 1883) ; composed by Pauline Viardot-García.
  • Go to the text.
    
• Also set in Swedish (Svenska), a translation by William Paterson [an adaptation] ; composed by Karl Valentin.
  • Go to the text.
    

Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

• CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2019, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "Agnes", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• ENG English (Emily Ezust) , "Time of roses! How quickly past", copyright ©
• FRE French (Français) (Stéphane Goldet) (Pierre de Rosamel) , "Agnès", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• GER German (Deutsch) (Dr Huaixing Wang) , copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Agnese", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 24
Word count: 85

Time of roses! How quickly past,
Quickly past 
have you gone!
Had my sweetheart only remained true,
remained true,
Then I should fear nothing.

At the harvest, cheerfully,
Cheerfully 
the reaping women sing.
But ah! poor me, 
poor me,
I can no longer do anything right.

I creep so through the meadow valley,
Through the meadow valley, 
as if lost in a dream,
To the mountain, where a thousand times,
a thousand times,
he swore he would be true.

Above on the edge of the hill, 
turning away,
I weep by the linden tree;
On my hat, the wreath of roses 
that he made for me 
Blows in the wind.