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 Das
Wandern
(Wandering) |
With
carefree optimism the young miller sings of the joys of
wandering as he roams the countryside looking for work.
Wandering! It was learned, he sings, from water (ever flowing)
and the mill-wheel (ever turning). |
Wohin?
(Where to?) |
Hearing
the rushing of a nearby stream, he merrily follows its path
down to the valley, confident that a mill-wheel turns in
every clear stream . |
Halt!
(Wait!) |
Sure
enough... for soon amidst the trees he sees a sparkling
mill and the gleaming windows of the miller's house. |
Dansagung
an den Bach
(Thanking the stream) |
Happily
he thanks the stream for leading him to the mill where he
finds work but, most of all, for leading him to the lovely
maiden of the mill. He asks the stream, "Could she
possibly have sent you to me?" |
Am
Feierabend
(At the end of a
day's work) |
At
the end of a hard day's work, he wishes he had a thousand
arms to turn every millstone so that the beautiful maiden
of the mill, when she wishes every worker good night, would
notice him and know the love that stirs in his heart. |
Der
Neugierige
(The curious man)
|
Eager
and anxious, he asks the stream, "Does she love me?
Yes or no!" |
Ungeduld
(Impatience) |
Then
he impatiently declares what he would do: carve the bark
of every tree, engrave every pebble, whisper through the
stirring grove, etc. to let the secret out to the miller-girl,
that he thought could be seen in his eyes and his burning
cheeks."My heart is yours!" |
Morgengruss
(Morning greeting) |
Finally
comes a chance to wish her "Good morning." Still
she is but a distant image hidden behind the veil of his
dreams. |
Des
Müllers Blumen
(The millers' flowers) |
So,
he will plant many little flowers beneath her window and
they shall whisper to her in her dreams, "Forget me
not!" |
Tränenregen
(Raining tears) |
And
then... a chance (and to him, intimate) encounter under
the alder tree! Beneath the moon and stars as he gazes at
her eyes, he thinks they are both looking into the stream.
But all she can say is: "It's going to rain. Goodbye,
I'm going home." |
Mein!
(Mine!) |
Yet
this meeting means the world to him and he tells the stream:
"My beloved miller-girl is mine! Mine, mine!" |
Pause
(Interlude) |
And
as he hangs his lute with the green ribbon on the wall,
he goes on: "I cannot sing any more, my heart is too
full... Ah, how great is the burden of my happiness, that
no song on earth can contain it?" |
Mit
dem grünen Lautenbande
(Lines sent with the lute's green ribbon) |
"Such
a shame that the green ribbon is fading on the wall. I like
green so much," she says. So he unties the green ribbon
and sends it to her... "because our love is evergreen,
because hope blooms green, in the distance..." |
Der
Jäger
(The Hunter) |
Suddenly
a hunter appears brashly at the millstream, where he doesn't
belong - here there is no game to hunt. Does he want the
lovely miller-girl to fall in love with him? Stay in the
forest, the young miller says, and shoot those boars that
trample upon her cabbage garden. |
Eifersucht
und Stolz
(Jealousy and pride) |
But
she falls for the hunter and cranes her neck to catch a
glimpse of him, as he cheerfully heads home from the chase.
Hurt, the young miller sadly pleads with the stream to scold
his miller-girl for her fickle heart. |
Die
liebe Farbe
(The beloved color) |
"I
will dress myself in green... my darling loves green so
much," the young miller sings. But the game he is hunting
is death! "Dig me a grave in the sward, and cover me
with green turf: my darling likes green so much," he
sings. |
Die
böse Farbe
(The hateful color) |
The
beloved color soon becomes the hateful color as he wishes
that the fields and the green woods be bleached dead white
with his tears and for a chance to bid her a final farewell!
|
Trockne
Blumen
(Withered flowers) |
All
the flowers which she gave him, he sings, shall lay with
him in his grave. But tears will not bring back the greenness
of May, nor make dead love blossom again. Yet he finds solace
and triumph in the thought that when she strolls past his
grave, she realizes in her heart that "His feelings
were true!" |
Der
Müller und Bach
(The miller and the stream) |
So
he takes his own life and finds repose in the depths of
his beloved stream which in turn sings: "And when love
tears itself free from sorrow, a new star twinkles in the
sky... and the angels cut off their wings and come down
to earth each morning." |
Des
Baches Wiegenlied
(The stream's lullaby) |
And
sustains him in sleep eternal with a beautiful lullaby -
away from the mill, hidden from the shadow of the beautiful
miller-girl. |
