Schumann wrote the piece in 1840, a year in which he wrote so many lieder (including three other song cycles: the two Liederkreis and Dichterliebe) it is known as his "year of song". Chamisso's words, from the point of view of a devoted wife, were penned ten years earlier.
Schumann's choice of text was very probably inspired in part by events in his personal life. He had been courting Clara Wieck, but had failed to get her father's permission to marry her. In 1840, after a legal battle to make such permission unnecessary, he finally married her.
There are eight songs in the cycle, together telling a story from the protagonist first meeting her love, through their marriage, to his death. The songs are: