The nightingale, when I asked it | The nightingale, when I asked it

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by Friedrich Martin von Bodenstedt (1819 - 1892)

Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Die Nachtigall, als ich sie fragte

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG

Die Nachtigall, als ich sie fragte
Warum sie nicht mehr singe, sagte:
Ich singe nur, wenn süß bewegt
Mein Herz voll Drang nach Liebe schlägt:
Seit ich, was ich gesucht, gefunden,
Ist Sehnsucht und Gesang [verschwunden]¹:
Doch wenn aufs neu Jasmin und Flieder
Im Garten blüh'n, dann sing' ich wieder.

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• C. Goldmark

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Aus dem Nachlasse des Mirza-Schaffy. Neues Liederbuch von Friedrich Bodenstedt, Sechzehnte Auflage, Leipzig: F.A. Brockhaus, 1891, page 79.

¹ Goldmark: "geschwunden"

Text Authorship:

by Friedrich Martin von Bodenstedt (1819 - 1892), no title, appears in Aus dem nachlasse Mirza Schaffy's: Neues Liederbuch, in 4. Cypressen und Rosen, no. 5 [author's text checked 1 time 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 Carl Goldmark (1830 - 1915), "Die Nachtigall, als ich sie fragte", op. 34 (Vier Lieder für 1 tiefe Stimme mit Pianoforte. -- für 1 hohe Stimme mit Pianofortebegleitung) no. 3, published 1880 [ voice and piano ], Mainz, Schott [sung text checked 1 time]
by Liza Lehmann (1862 - 1918), "Die Nachtigall, als ich sie fragte", published 1910 [ voice and piano ], London : Joseph Williams [sung text not yet checked]

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

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

This text was added to the website: 2014-01-27
Line count: 8
Word count: 51

The nightingale, when I asked it

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

The nightingale, when I asked it
Why it no longer sang, said:
I only sing when, sweetly moved,
My heart beats with the urge to love:
Since I have found that for which I was searching,
Yearning and song have vanished:
But when the jasmine and the lilac bloom anew
In the garden, then I shall sing again.

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2014 by Sharon Krebs, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

a text in German (Deutsch) by Friedrich Martin von Bodenstedt (1819 - 1892), no title, appears in Aus dem nachlasse Mirza Schaffy's: Neues Liederbuch, in 4. Cypressen und Rosen, no. 5
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2014-01-27
Line count: 8
Word count: 58