The child who is decked with prince's...
Language: English after the Bangla (Bengali)
The child who is decked with prince's robes
and who has jewelled chains round his neck
loses all pleasure in his play;
his dress hampers him at every step.
In fear that it may be frayed,
or stained with dust
he keeps himself from the world,
and is afraid even to move.
Mother, it is no gain,
thy bondage of finery,
if it keeps one shut off
from the healthful dust of the earth,
if it rob one of the right of entrance
to the great fair of common human life.
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Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
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Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , "Einsicht", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [
Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2010-11-03
Line count: 14
Word count: 91
Einsicht
Language: German (Deutsch) after the English
Das Kind, das fein herausgeputzt,
behängt mit edlem Schmuck,
verliert all’ Freud am Spiel;
sein Aufzug hindert es bei jedem Schritt.
Aus Furcht, er würde abgenutzt
oder mit Staub beschmutzt,
hält es sich fern der Welt
und ängstigt sich sogar vor jedem Schritt.
Ihr Mütter, hört, ’s ist kein Gewinn,
hörig dem Putz zu sein,
sofern er uns hält fern
vom heilsamen, gesunden Staub der Welt,
und uns des Eintrittsrechts beraubt
zum großen Fest des ganz normalen Seins.
Text Authorship:
Based on:
Based on:
This text was added to the website: 2014-03-24
Line count: 14
Word count: 78
