Ich grolle nicht

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ich grolle nicht (I bear no grudge)
This is the seventh song in Robert Schumann's song cycle Dichterliebe, composed in (1840). The text is taken from Heinrich Heine's Lyrisches Intermezzo. Ich grolle nicht is one of the most well known pieces from the Dichterliebe cycle. It is featured in Michael Nyman's opera, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, and many critics have demonstrated a conservative nature by considering it the high point of the opera.

Schumann turns the title line into a theme of sorts, inserting the first line a second time in-between the two sentences of the first line of second stanza, and repeating the phrase twice at the end of the song.

[edit] German Text

Ich grolle nicht und wenn das Herz auch bricht.
Ewig verlor'nes Lieb, ich grolle nicht.
Wie du auch strahlst in Diamantenpracht,
es fällt kein Strahl in deines Herzens Nacht.

Das weiss ich längst. Ich sah dich ja im Traume,
Und sah die Nacht in deiness Herzens Raume,
Und sah die Schlang', die dir am Herzen frisst,
Ich sah, mein Leib, wie sehr du elend bist.

[edit] Translation

I bear no grudge, even though my heart may break,
eternally lost love! I bear no grudge.
However you may shine in the splendor of your diamonds,
no ray of light falls in the darkness of your heart.

I have long known this, I saw you in a dream,
and saw the night within the void of your heart,
and saw the serpent that is eating your heart-
I saw, my love, how very miserable you are.

[edit] References section

Edited by Arthur Komar. (2005). Schumann Dichterliebe: An Authoritative Score * Historical Background * Essays in Analysis * Veiws and Comments, New York: W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 978-0-393-09904-1