Who's riding so late through night, so wild? | Who's riding so late through night, so wild?

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by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832)

Translation © by Walter Meyer

Wer reitet so spät durch Nacht und Wind?

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: CAT DUT DUT ENG ENG ENG FIN FRE FRI ITA ITA LIT NOR

Wer reitet so spät durch Nacht und Wind?
Es ist der Vater mit seinem Kind;
Er [hat]¹ den Knaben wohl in dem Arm,
Er [faßt]¹ ihn sicher, er hält ihn warm.
 
Mein Sohn, was birgst du so [bang]² dein Gesicht? -
Siehst, Vater, du den Erlkönig nicht?
Den Erlenkönig mit Kron' und Schweif?
Mein Sohn, es ist ein Nebelstreif. -
 
»Du liebes Kind, komm, geh mit mir!
Gar schöne Spiele spiel' ich mit dir;
[Manch' bunte Blumen sind an dem Strand]³;
[Meine]⁴ Mutter hat manch' [gülden]⁵ Gewand.«
 
Mein Vater, mein Vater, und [hörest]⁶ du nicht,
Was Erlenkönig mir [leise]⁷ verspricht? -
Sey ruhig, bleibe ruhig, mein Kind;
In dürren Blättern säuselt der Wind. -
 
»Willst, feiner Knabe, du mit mir gehn?
Meine Töchter sollen dich warten schön;
Meine Töchter führen den nächtlichen Reihn,
[Und]⁸ [wiegen und tanzen und singen]⁹ dich ein.«
 
Mein Vater, mein Vater, und siehst du nicht dort
Erlkönigs Töchter am [düstern Ort]¹⁰? -
Mein Sohn, mein Sohn, ich seh' es genau;
Es scheinen die alten Weiden so grau. -
 
»[Ich liebe dich, mich reizt deine schöne Gestalt]¹¹;
Und bist du nicht willig, so brauch' ich Gewalt.« -
Mein Vater, mein Vater, jetzt faßt er mich an!
Erlkönig hat mir ein [Leids]¹² gethan! -
 
Dem Vater grauset's, er reitet geschwind,
Er hält [in Armen]¹³ das ächzende Kind,
Erreicht den Hof mit [Mühe]¹⁴ und Noth;
In seinen Armen das Kind war todt.

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• A. Engelberg • A. Harder • J. Hille • T. Länsiö • C. Loewe • J. Reichardt • K. Reissiger • C. Schröter • L. Spohr • V. Tomášek • K. Zelter

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Goethe's Werke, Vollständige Ausgabe letzter Hand, Erster Band, Stuttgart und Tübingen, in der J.G.Cottaschen Buchhandlung, 1827, pages 183-184; and with Goethe's Schriften, Achter Band, Leipzig, bey Georg Joachim Göschen, 1789, pages 157-158.

First published in 1782 in Goethe's Singspiel "Die Fischerin" in the introductory scene (Dortchen's song).

¹ Schubert (first version), Spohr: "hält"
² Spohr: "scheu"
³ Harder: "Manch bunte Blumen stehn an dem Strand"; Spohr: "Viel bunte Blumen sind am Strand"
⁴ Spohr: "Mein' "
⁵ Spohr: "güldnes"
⁶ Spohr: "hörst"
⁷ Spohr: "heimlich"
⁸ Schubert (4th version, in the repetition): "Sie"
⁹ Harder: "singen und tanzen und spielen"
¹⁰ Harder: "düstern Port"; Spohr und Hille: "düsteren Ort"
¹¹ Harder: "Ich lieb' dich, mich reizt dein' schöne Gestalt"
¹² Harder: "Leides"
¹³ Reissiger: "in den Armen", Spohr: "im Arme"
¹⁴ Schubert: "Müh'"

Text Authorship:

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832), "Erlkönig", written 1782, first published 1782 [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 Gottlob Bachmann (1763 - 1840), "Erlkönig", op. 43, published 1798/99? [sung text not yet checked]
by (Carl) Ludwig (Heinrich) Berger (1777 - 1839), "Erlkönig" [sung text not yet checked]
by Carl Blum (1786 - 1844), "Erlkönig", op. 12 [sung text not yet checked]
by Carl Czerny (1791 - 1857), "Erlkönig", 1811 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Max (Traugott Maximillian) Eberwein (1775 - 1831), "Erlkönig", 1826 [sung text not yet checked]
by August Engelberg (1817 - 1850), "Erlkönig", 1841 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
by Karl Feye (1848 - 1927), "Wer reitet so spät durch Nacht und Wind?" [ soli, men's chorus, piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by August Harder (1775 - 1813), "Erlkönig", op. 1 (Gesänge für die Guitarre) no. 5 [ voice and guitar ], Leipzig: Breitkopf und Härtel [sung text checked 1 time]
by Johannes Hille , "Erlkönig", op. 10 no. 2, a note on the score suggests that this be sung by three people: one singing the father, one the child, and one the Erlkönig [sung text checked 1 time]
by Anselm Hüttenbrenner (1794 - 1868), "Erlkönig", 1829 [sung text not yet checked]
by August Kestner (1777 - 1853), "Erlkönig" [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Bernhard (Joseph) Klein (1793 - 1832), "Der Erlkönig", published c1815/6 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Otto Klemperer (1885 - 1973), "Der Erlkönig", c1948 [sung text not yet checked]
by H. Krich , "Erlkönig", op. 10, published 1890 [ voice and piano ], Berlin, Rühle & Hunger [sung text not yet checked]
by Huub de Lange (b. 1955), "Erlkönig", published 2004 [ SATB chorus a cappella ], from Drei Goethe Lieder, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
by Tapani Länsiö (b. 1953), "Erlkönig", 2002 [ chorus and string quartet ] [sung text checked 1 time]
by Carl Loewe (1796 - 1869), "Erlkönig", op. 1 no. 3 (1818) [sung text checked 1 time]
by Otto Ludwig (1813 - 1865), "Der Erlkönig" [ soli, chorus, and piano ], MS at Goethe-Museum, Düsseldorf [sung text not yet checked]
by Émile Louis Victor Mathieu (1844 - 1932), "Erlkönig", from Six Ballades de Goethe (Deuxième Suite), no. 3, Bruxelles: Schott Frères, also set in French (Français) [sung text not yet checked]
by Emilie Mayer (1821 - 1883), "Erlkönig", 1842 [ voice and piano ], first of two settings, unpublished [sung text not yet checked]
by Emilie Mayer (1821 - 1883), "Erlkönig", 1870 [ voice and piano ], second of two settings, unpublished [sung text not yet checked]
by Friedrich Methfessel (1771 - 1807), "Erlkönig", published c1805 [ voice and guitar ], from Zwölf Lieder mit Begleitung der Guitarre, no. 9, Leipzig: Breitkopf und Härtel [sung text not yet checked]
by Carl Borromäus von Miltitz (1780 - 1845), "Erlkönig" [ mezzo-soprano and piano ], Dresden: Bei C. F. Meser [sung text not yet checked]
by Ann Sheppard Mounsey (1811 - 1891), "Erlkönig", also set in English [sung text not yet checked]
by Johann Friedrich Reichardt (1752 - 1814), "Erlkönig", published 1794 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Karl Gottlieb Reissiger (1798 - 1859), "Erlkönig" [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
by Andreas Jakob Romberg (1767 - 1821), "Erlkönig", published 1793 [ voice and piano ], from Oden und Lieder fürs Clavier , no. 12, Bonn: Gestochen und zu haben bey Georg Welsch, Hofmusikus [sung text not yet checked]
by Louis Schlottmann (1826 - 1905), "Erlkönig", op. 44 (10 Goethe'sche Dichtungen) no. 8, published 1878? [sung text not yet checked]
by Julius Schneider (1805 - 1885), "Erlkönig", 1828 [sung text not yet checked]
by Corona Elisabeth Wilhelmine Schröter (1751 - 1802), "Der Erlkönig", 1782, published 1786 [ voice and piano ], from Fünf und Zwanzig Lieder. In Musik gesezt von Corona Schröter. [Erste Sammlung], no. 17, Weimar: Annoch bey mir selbst, und in Commission in der Hoffmannischen Buchhandlung [sung text checked 1 time]
by Franz Peter Schubert (1797 - 1828), "Erlkönig", op. 1, D 328 (1815), published 1821 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Louis [Ludwig] Spohr (1784 - 1859), "Erlkönig", op. 154 no. 4 (1856), from Sechs Lieder für Bariton mit Begleitung von Violine und Klavier, no. 4 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Václav Jan Křtitel Tomášek (1774 - 1850), "Erlkönig", op. 59 (Gedichte von Goethe: VII) no. 1 (1815?) [sung text checked 1 time]
by Karl Friedrich Zelter (1758 - 1832), "Der Erlkönig", 1797 [sung text checked 1 time]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

Also set in English, a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by John Wall Callcott.
- Go to the text.
Also set in English, a translation by William Bartholomew (1793 - 1867) ; composed by Ann Sheppard Mounsey.
- Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
Also set in French (Français), a translation by Jules Abrassart (1826 - 1893) ; composed by Émile Louis Victor Mathieu.
- Go to the text.

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

CZE Czech (Čeština) (Otokar Fischer) , "Král duchů"
ENG English (Walter Scott, Sir) , "The Erl-King"

Research team for this page: Ofer Sheinberg , Peter Rastl [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 32
Word count: 225

Who's riding so late through night, so wild?

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

Who's riding so late through night, so wild?
It is the father who's holding his child;
He's tucked the boy secure in his arm,
He holds him tight and keeps him warm.

My son, why hide you your face in fear?"
See you not, father, the Erl King near?
The Erl King in his crown and train?"
My son, 'tis but a foggy strain."

Sweet lovely child, come, go with me!
What wonderful games I'll play with thee;
Flowers, most colorful, yours to behold.
My mother for you has garments of gold."

My father, my father, and can you not hear
What Erl King is promising into my ear?"
Be calm, stay calm, o child of mine;
The wind through dried leaves is rustling so fine." 

Wouldst thou, fine lad, go forth with me?
My daughters should royally wait upon thee;
My daughters conduct each night their song fest
To swing and to dance and to sing thee to rest."

My Father, my father, and can you not see
Erl King's daughters, there by the tree?" 
My son, my son, I see it clear;
The ancient willows so grey do appear."  

I love thee, I'm aroused  by thy beautiful form;
And be thou not willing, I'll take thee by storm."
My father, my father, he's clutching my arm!
Erl King has done me a painful harm!"

The father shudders and onward presses;
The gasping child in his arms he caresses;
He reaches the courtyard, and barely inside,
He holds in his arms the child who has died.

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 1995 by Walter Meyer, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

a text in German (Deutsch) by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832), "Erlkönig", written 1782, first published 1782
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 32
Word count: 257

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Attention! Some of this material is not in the public domain.