Kennst du das Land? wo die Citronen blühn,
Im dunkeln Laub die [Gold-Orangen]1 glühn,
Ein sanfter Wind vom blauen Himmel weht, 
Die Myrte still und hoch der Lorbeer steht,
Kennst du es wohl?
                   Dahin! Dahin
Möcht' ich mit dir, o mein Geliebter, ziehn.

Kennst du das Haus? Auf Säulen ruht sein Dach,
Es glänzt der Saal, es schimmert das Gemach,
Und Marmorbilder stehn und sehn mich an:
Was hat man Dir, du armes Kind, gethan?
Kennst du es wohl? 
                   Dahin! Dahin
Möcht' ich mit dir, o mein Beschützer, ziehn.

Kennst du den Berg und seinen Wolkensteg?
Das Maulthier sucht im Nebel seinen Weg;
In [Höhlen]2 wohnt der Drachen alte Brut;
Es stürzt der Fels und über ihn die Flut.
Kennst du [ihn]3 wohl?
                    Dahin! Dahin
Geht unser Weg! o Vater, laß uns ziehn!4

A. Berg sets stanza 1
J. Lang sets stanza 1

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, page 177. First published in Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre. Ein Roman. Herausgegeben von Goethe. Zweyter Band. Frankfurt und Leipzig. 1795, pages 7-8. The poem appears in Book 3, Chapter 1 of Goethe's novel.

See also the following poems inspired by this poem: the French poem Mignon and the German poem Kennst du das Land, wo über Grabes Nächte.

Note: modern German would employ the following spellings: "gethan" -> "getan", "Maulthier" -> "Maultier", etc.

¹ Lang: "Goldorangen"
² Schubert (autograph): "Höllen"
³ Schubert: "es"
⁴ Spontini adds:

Dahin mit dir, möcht' ich mit dir,
O mein Geliebter, ziehn,
Dahin mit dir, möcht' ich mit dir,
O mein Beschützer, ziehn,
O Vater, dahin geht unser Weg,
O Vater laß uns ziehn,
Mit dir dahin, dahin mit dir!

Text Authorship:

• by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832), "Mignon", written 1784, appears in Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre, first published 1795 [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 Ludwig Abeille (1761 - 1838), "Sehnsucht nach Italien" [ voice and piano ], from Acht Lieder für eine Singstimme mit Pianoforte, no. 2, Leipzig, Breitkopf und Härtel [sung text not yet checked]
• by John Bartlett (b. 1949), "Kennst du das Land", 1987 [ voice, piano, clarinet ] [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Wilhelm Baumgartner (1820 - 1867), "Mignon", op. 1 (Sechs Lieder für 4 Männerstimmen) no. 1 [ vocal quartet for male voices ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Bror Beckman (1866 - 1922), "Kennst du das Land?", 1906 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827), "Mignon", op. 75 no. 1 (1809) [ voice, piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Alban Maria Johannes Berg (1885 - 1935), "Mignon", 1907, stanza 1 [ voice and piano ], from Jugendlieder, Vol. II (1904-08), no. 70 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Carl Blum (1786 - 1844), "Sehnsucht nach Italien", c1820 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Michael Brough (b. 1960), "Kennst du das Land?", op. 5 (Sieben Goethe-Lieder) no. 6 (1992-3) [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Leopold Damrosch (1832 - 1885), "Mignon", op. 17 no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Franz Danzi (1763 - 1826), "Kennst du das Land, wo die Zitronen blühn", op. 14 (6 Deutsche Lieder) no. 3, P 171 no. 3, published [1803] [ voice and piano ], Munich: Falterische Musikhandlung [sung text not yet checked]
• by Alphons Diepenbrock (1862 - 1921), "Mignon", op. 2 (Zwei Gesänge für Alt-Stimme (oder Mezzo-Sopran) mit Pianofortebleitung) no. 1 (1884), published 1889 [ alto or mezzo-soprano and piano ], Frankfurt a/M., Steyl & Thomas [sung text checked 1 time]
• by John Woods Duke (1899 - 1984), "Kennst du das Land?", 1969 [ soprano and piano ], Southern/Texas [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Heinrich Elkamp (1812 - 1868), "Mignon", op. 5 (12 Lieder), Heft 2 no. 10, published 1834 [ voice and piano ], Hamburg, Cranz [sung text not yet checked]
• by Zdenko Antonín Václav Fibich (1850 - 1900), "Kennst du das Land?", 1871 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Zdenko Antonín Václav Fibich (1850 - 1900), "Mignon", op. 36 no. 4, H. 300 no. 4, from Jarní paprsky (Frühlingsstrahlen), no. 4, also set in Czech (Čeština) [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Carl Gollmick (1796 - 1866), "Lied der Mignon", op. 30 (c1828/9), published 1829 [ voice and piano ], Offenbach, André [sung text not yet checked]
• by Friedrich Adrian Götzloff (d. 1836), "Aus dem Wilhelm Meister", c1806 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Ivor (Bertie) Gurney (1890 - 1937), "Kennst du das Land?", c1914 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by August Ferdinand Häser (1779 - 1844), "Sehnsucht nach Italien", 1819 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Moritz Hauptmann (1792 - 1868), "Mignon", op. 37 (Sechs Lieder) no. 1, published 1852 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig, Siegel [sung text not yet checked]
• by Georg Jakob Ernst Häusler (c1760 - 1837), "Kennst du das Land wo die Cytronen blühn?", 1799 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Fanny Hensel (1805 - 1847), "Sehnsucht nach Italien", 1822 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Ferdinand von Hiller (1811 - 1885), "Kennst du das Land wo die Zitronen", op. 31 (Sechs Gesänge für eine Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 4, published 1844 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig, Peters [sung text not yet checked]
• by Dorothea Hofmann (b. 1961), "Kennst Du das Land...?", 2013, first performed 2013 [ soprano, violin, piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Alexis Holländer (1840 - 1924), "Mignon", op. 43 (Sechs Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 5, published 1892 [ voice and piano ], Berlin, Schlesinger [sung text not yet checked]
• by Paul Hoppe (1869 - 1933), "Sehnsucht", op. 10 (Fünf Lieder für mittlere Stimme mit Pianofortebegleitung) no. 3, published 1891 [ medium voice and piano ], Langensalza, Beyer & Söhne [sung text not yet checked]
• by Gustav Jansen [not F. G. Jansen] , "Mignon", published 1863 [ baritone or alto and piano ], from Musikalisches Göthe-Album. Eine Sammlung Göthescher Lieder, no. 15, Berlin, Mendel  [sung text not yet checked]
• by Adolf Jensen (1837 - 1879), "Mignon", published 1882 [ voice and piano ], from Sechs Lieder für 1 Singstimme und Pianoforte, no. 6, Berlin, Ries & Erler [sung text not yet checked]
• by Alfrēds Kalniņš (1879 - 1951), "Minjona" [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Bernhard (Joseph) Klein (1793 - 1832), "Mignonslied", published 1836 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Bernhard (Joseph) Klein (1793 - 1832), "Mignon", op. 15 (Neun Lieder von Goethe) no. 8, published 1827/32 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Joseph Klein (1802 - 1862), "Mignon", published 1836 [ voice and piano ], from Sechs Gedichte aus Wilhelm Meister's Lehrjahren, von Goethe, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
• by August Friedrich Martin Klughardt (1847 - 1902), "Mignon", op. 14 (2 Gesänge für eine Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 1, published 1870 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig, Seitz [sung text not yet checked]
• by Raphael von Koeber (1848 - 1923), "Mignon", op. 1, published 1883 [ voice and piano ], Heidelberg, Guttenberger [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Theobald Kretschmann (1850 - 1919), "Kennst du das Land", op. 8 no. 4, published 1880 [ voice and piano ], from Fünf Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianofortebegleitung, no. 4, Wien, (Buchholz & Diebel Sort.) [sung text not yet checked]
• by Hans Kretzschmer , "Kennst du das Land", op. 3 (Zwei Lieder für 1 mittlere Stimme mit Pianofortebegleitung) no. 2, published 1893 [ medium voice and piano ], Naumburg, Schmidt [sung text not yet checked]
• by Karl Johan Krook (1860 - 1931), "Kennst du das Land", 1922 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Nikolaus, Freiherr von Krufft (1779 - 1818), "Kennst du das Land", published 1812 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Josephine Lang (1815 - 1880), "Kennst du das Land? wo die Citronen blühn", stanza 1 [ voice ], unpublished, undated, incomplete [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Huub de Lange (b. 1955), "Mignon", published 2006 [ SATB chorus and piano ], from Myrte Lieder, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Leopold Lenz (1803 - 1862), "Kennst du das Land", op. 12 no. 1, published 1832 [ low soprano or baritone and piano ], from Mignon der Harfner und Philine ein Cyclus von acht Gesaengen aus "Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre", no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Hélène Liebmann, née Riese (1796 - c1819), "Kennst du das Land?", op. 4, published 1811 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Franz (Ferenc) Liszt (1811 - 1886), "Mignons Lied", S. 275 (1842), rev. 1848 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Oswald Lorenz (1806 - 1889), "Mignons Lied", published 1838 [ voice and guitar ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Franz Anton Maurer (1777 - 1803), "Kennst du das Land" [ voice and piano ], from Drey Lieder, no. 1, München: In der Falterischen Musikhandlung [sung text not yet checked]
• by Heinrich Meyer , "Mignon", op. 13, published 1881 [ voice and piano ], Hamburg, Thiemer [sung text not yet checked]
• by Ferdinand Möhring (1816 - 1887), "Kennst du das Land wo die Citronen blühn ", op. 3 (Deutsche Lieder) no. 3, published 1838 [ voice and piano ], Berlin, Crantz  [sung text not yet checked]
• by Carl Moltke (1783 - 1831), "Mignon", published [1814] [ voice and piano or guitar ], from Drey Lieder von Göthe mit Begleitung des Pianoforte, no. 3, Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel [sung text not yet checked]
• by Lodewijk Mortelmans (1868 - 1952), "Lied van Mignon", 1906 [ soprano and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Ignaz von Mosel (1772 - 1844), "Das Lied der Mignon", published 1823 [ voice and piano ], from Sechs Gedichte, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
• by August Heinrich Leberecht August Mühling (1786 - 1847), "Mignon", [c1806] [ voice and piano ], from Sechs Lieder mit Begleitung des Pianoforte, no. 6, Leipzig: A. Kühnel (Bureau de Musique) [sung text not yet checked]
• by Hans Georg Nägeli (1773 - 1836), "Mignon", c1795-7 [ voice and piano ], sketch [sung text not yet checked]
• by (Christian) August Pohlenz (1790 - 1843), "Mignons Lied", op. 4 (Gesänge mit Begleitung des Pianoforte) no. 4, published [c1824] [ voice and piano ], Leipzig: Auf Kosten des Verlegers [sung text not yet checked]
• by Gustav Reichardt (1797 - 1884), "Mignon", published [1824] [ voice and piano or guitar ], from Sechs Lieder von Göthe, Tieck, Matthisson, & Körner mit Begleitung des Pianoforte oder der Guitarre , no. 5, Hannover: In der Hofmusikhandlung von C. Bachmann [sung text not yet checked]
• by Johann Friedrich Reichardt (1752 - 1814), "Italien", published 1795-96 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Adolf Reichel (1820 - 1896), "Mignon", op. 72 (Drei Lieder für vierstimmigen gemischten Chor) no. 1, published 1883 [ chorus a cappella ], Leipzig, Leuckart [sung text not yet checked]
• by Bernard Reichel (1901 - 1992), "Kennst du das Land", published 198-? [ voice and piano ], from Lieder-Gedichte von Goethe, no. 4, Monthey : Cantate Domino [sung text not yet checked]
• by Helene Riese (1796 - ?), "Lied", op. 4, published [1811?] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Andreas Jakob Romberg (1767 - 1821), "Kennst du das Land", published [1799] [ voice and piano ], from Sechs Leder beym Claviere zu singen in Musik, no. 1, Leipzig: Bei Breitkopf und Härtel [sung text not yet checked]
• by Anton Grigoryevich Rubinstein (1829 - 1894), "Mignon", op. 91 no. 4, from Die Gedichte und das Requiem fur Mignon aus Goethe's "Wilhelm Meister's Lehrjahre", no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Heinrich von Sahr (1821 - 1874), "Mignon's Lied", op. 14 (Sechs Lieder für Sopran mit Pianoforte) no. 3, published 1878 [ soprano and piano ], Leipzig, Senff [sung text not yet checked]
• by Malvina Schnorr von Carolsfeld (1825 - 1904), "Kennst du das Land", published 1880 [ voice and piano ], from Mignon's vier Lieder von Goethe, für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte, no. 1, Berlin, Bote & Bock  [sung text not yet checked]
• by Othmar Schoeck (1886 - 1957), "Kennst du das Land?", WoO. 92 (1903?) [sung text not yet checked]
• by Franz Peter Schubert (1797 - 1828), "Mignons Gesang", alternate title: "Mignon", D 321 (1815), published 1832 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Robert Schumann (1810 - 1856), "Mignon", op. 79 no. 28[29], published 1849, from Liederalbum für die Jugend, no. 28[29], Leipzig, Breitkopf und Härtel [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Robert Schumann (1810 - 1856), "Kennst du das Land?", op. 98a no. 1 (1849), published 1851 [ soprano and piano ], from Lieder und Gesänge aus dem "Wilhelm Meister" von Goethe, no. 1, Leipzig, Breitkopf und Härtel [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Hans August Friedrich Zincke genannt Sommer (1837 - 1922), "Mignons Heimath", 1920 [ voice and orchestra ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Louis [Ludwig] Spohr (1784 - 1859), "Mignons Lied", op. 37 (Sechs deutsche Lieder) no. 1 (1816) [sung text not yet checked]
• by Gaspare Luigi Pacifico Spontini (1774 - 1851), "Mignon", 1830? [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Václav Jan Křtitel Tomášek (1774 - 1850), "Mignons Sehnsucht", op. 54 (Gedichte von Goethe: II) no. 1 (1815?) [sung text not yet checked]
• by Martin Wegelius (1846 - 1906), "Kennst du das Land", 1875 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Eduard Ritter von Welz (1854 - ?), "Kennst du das Land", op. 4 (Drei Lieder der Mignon aus Goethe's "Wilhelm Meister" für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 1, published 1886 [ voice and piano ], Liegnitz, Kaulfuss  [sung text not yet checked]
• by Emma Wöbbe , "Mignon's Lied", published 1891 [ voice and piano ], from symphony Fünf Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte, no. 5, Hamburg, Leichssenring [sung text not yet checked]
• by Hugo Wolf (1860 - 1903), "Mignon: Kennst du das Land?", 1888, published 1891 [ voice and piano ], from Goethe-Lieder, no. 9, Mainz, Schott [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Erich J. Wolff (1874 - 1913), "Mignon", op. 15 (Drei Lieder von Goethe) no. 1, published 1907 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Karl Friedrich Zelter (1758 - 1832), "Kennst du das Land?", Z 120 no. 12, Z 128 no. 6 (1795) [ voice and piano ], from 12 Lieder, no. 12, from Sechs deutsche Lieder für die Altstimme mit Begleitung des Pianoforte, no. 6 [sung text checked 1 time]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

• Also set in Czech (Čeština), a translation by Ladislav Quis (1846 - 1913) ; composed by Zdenko Antonín Václav Fibich.
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• Also set in Dutch (Nederlands), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist [an adaptation] ; composed by Lodewijk Mortelmans.
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• Also set in English, a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist , copyright © ; composed by Ralph Shapey.
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• Also set in English, a translation by William Ball ; composed by Ann Sheppard Mounsey, as Ann Sheppard Bartholomew.
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• Also set in French (Français), a translation by Achille Maffre de Baugé (1855 - 1912) , no title ; composed by Jules Goudareau.
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• Also set in French (Français), a translation by (Paul) Jules Barbier (1825 - 1901) , Act I [an adaptation] and by Michel Carré (1822 - 1872) , Act I [an adaptation] ; composed by Erazm Rafal Dłuski, Ambroise Thomas.
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• Also set in French (Français), a translation by Louis Gallet (1835 - 1898) [an adaptation] ; composed by Charles Gounod.
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• Also set in French (Français), a translation by Victor Wilder (1835 - 1892) [an adaptation] ; composed by Henri Duparc.
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• Also set in French (Français), a translation (Comte de P. Perthuis ? ) by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Adolf Reichel.
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• Also set in French (Français), a translation by Théodore Toussenel (1806 - 1885) ; composed by Hippolyte Monpou.
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• Also set in French (Français), a translation by Émile Deschamps (1791 - 1871) ; composed by Gaspare Luigi Pacifico Spontini.
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• Also set in French (Français), a translation by Alfred des Essarts (1811 - 1893) ; composed by Felipe Pedrell.
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• Also set in French (Français), a translation by Louis Gustave Fortune Ratisbonne (1827 - 1900) , "Le Chant de Mignon, d'après Goethe", appears in Les Figures jeunes, poésies, Paris, Éd. Hetzel, first published 1865 ; composed by Gaston Salvayre.
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• Also set in German (Deutsch), adapted by ? Stosberg [an adaptation] ; composed by Joseph Geissler.
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• Also set in Italian (Italiano), a translation by Giuseppe Zaffira (flourished 1868-1886) , "Non conosci il bel suol" [an adaptation] ; composed by Ambroise Thomas.
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• Also set in Polish (Polski), a translation by Adam Mickiewicz (1798 - 1855) , "Do H(enryki Ankwiczówny). — Wezwanie do Neapolu" [an adaptation] ; composed by Stanisław Moniuszko.
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• Also set in Russian (Русский), a translation by Fyodor Ivanovich Tyutchev (1803 - 1873) , no title ; composed by Pavel Ivanovich Blaramberg, Eduard Yulyevich Goldstein, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.
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• Also set in Russian (Русский), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Akhilles Nikolayevich Alferaki.
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• Also set in Russian (Русский), a translation by Apollon Nikolayevich Maykov (1821 - 1897) ; composed by Sergey Yevgenevich Novikov.
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Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

• CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "Ken je het land?", copyright © 2007, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• ENG English (Walter Meyer) , "Knowest thou where?", copyright © 1996, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• ENG English [singable] (John Bernhoff) , "Mignon", first published 1907
• ENG English [singable] (Charles Fonteyn Manney) , "Mignon's song", first published 1911
• ENG English (Emily Ezust) , copyright © 2016
• FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Connais-tu le pays où les citronniers fleurissent", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• GRE Greek (Ελληνικά) [singable] (Christakis Poumbouris) , copyright © 2018, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• HUN Hungarian (Magyar) (Tamás Rédey) , copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Conosci tu il paese", copyright © 2005, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• ITA Italian (Italiano) (Paolo Montanari) , "Conosci il paese", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• NOR Norwegian (Bokmål) (Marianne Beate Kielland) , copyright © 2023, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

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

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 21
Word count: 133