"" ("Only he who knows yearning") is a poem by

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as trea ...

. The poem appears in the 11th chapter of Book Four of Goethe's novel ''

Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship ''Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship'' ( ger, Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre) is the second novel by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, published in 1795–96. Plot The eponymous hero undergoes a journey of self-realization. The story centers upon Wilhelm's ...

''. In the novel, it is sung as a duet by Mignon and the harpist (Augustin) the latter being revealed as her father at the end of the novel. The poem has been set to music by many composers,"Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt"
The LiederNet Archive among them

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...

, Schubert (six settings, the last two included in '' Gesänge aus "Wilhelm Meister'', D 877), Schumann,

Wolf The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly u ...

and Tchaikovsky (via its translation into Russian by

Lev Mei Lev Aleksandrovich Mei (russian: Лев Алекса́ндрович Мей (name sometimes transliterated as Lev Mey); ) was a Russian dramatist and poet. Biography Mei was born on 13/25 February 1822, in Moscow. His father was a German officer wh ...

). Tchaikovsky's setting is often known in English as " None but the Lonely Heart" and has been set in many vocal, choral, and instrumental arrangements.

References

Poetry by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 1795 poems {{poem-stub