Der Neugierige

Ich frage keine Blume,
Ich frage keinen Stern,
Sie können [mir]1 nicht sagen,
Was ich erführ' so gern.

Ich bin ja auch kein Gärtner,
Die Sterne stehn zu hoch;
Mein Bächlein will ich fragen,
Ob mich mein Herz belog.

O Bächlein meiner Liebe,
Wie bist du heut so stumm!
Will ja nur Eines wissen,
Ein Wörtchen um und um.

Ja, heißt das eine Wörtchen,
Das andre heißet Nein,
Die beiden Wörtchen schließen
Die ganze Welt mir ein.

O Bächlein meiner Liebe,
Was bist du wunderlich!
Will's ja nicht weiter sagen,
Sag', Bächlein, liebt sie mich?

Translation(s): CAT DUT ENG FIN FRE GRE ITA KOR

List of language codes

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Gedichte aus den hinterlassenen Papieren eines reisenden Waldhornisten. Herausgegeben von Wilhelm Müller. Erstes Bändchen. Zweite Auflage. Deßau 1826. Bei Christian Georg Ackermann, pages 14-15; and with Sieben und siebzig Gedichte aus den hinterlassenen Papieren eines reisenden Waldhornisten. Herausgegeben von Wilhelm Müller. Dessau, 1821. Bei Christian Georg Ackermann, pages 15-16.

First published in a slightly different version with the title Am Bach in Der Gesellschafter oder Blätter für Geist und Herz. Herausgegeben von F. W. Gubitz. Zweiter Jahrgang. Berlin, 1818. In der Maurerschen Buchhandlung. Montag den 25. Mai. 83stes Blatt, page 329.

Authorship

• by Wilhelm Müller (1794 - 1827), "Der Neugierige", appears in Gedichte aus den hinterlassenen Papieren eines reisenden Waldhornisten 1, in Die schöne Müllerin, no. 7, first published 1818 [ author's text checked 2 times]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive)

• by Emilie Mayer (1821 - 1883), "Der Neugierige", op. 10 no. 1, published [1845] [voice and piano], Berlin, bei Stern & Co. [ sung text verified 1 time]
• by Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel (1805 - 1847), "Der Neugierige", 1823. [ sung text verified 1 time]
• by Karl Gottlieb Reissiger (1798 - 1859), "Der Neugierige", op. 53 (6 Lieder und Gesänge für eine Bass- oder Bariton-Stimme mit Begleitung des Pianoforte) no. 3, published [1829] [bass or baritone and piano], Dresden: Bei Wilhelm Paul [ sung text not verified ]
• by Franz Peter Schubert (1797 - 1828), "Der Neugierige", op. 25 no. 6, D. 795 no. 6 (1823), from Die schöne Müllerin, no. 6. [ sung text verified 1 time]

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

• CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "L'ansiós de saber", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "De nieuwsgierige", copyright © 2005, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• ENG English (Emily Ezust) , "Curiosity", copyright ©
• FIN Finnish (Suomi) (Erkki Pullinen) , "Utelias", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Le curieux", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• GRE Greek (Ελληνικά) (Athanasios Papaisiou) , "Η περιέργεια", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• ITA Italian (Italiano) (Amelia Maria Imbarrato) , "Il curioso", copyright © 2005, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• KOR Korean (한국어/조선말) [singable] (곽명규 Myung-Kew Kwack) , "알고 싶은 사람", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Text added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.

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This website began in 1995 as a personal project, and I have been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your gift is greatly appreciated.      - Emily Ezust

Curiosity

 I ask no flower,
 I ask no star;
 None of them can tell me,
 What I so eagerly want to know.

 I am surely not a gardener,
 The stars stand too high;
 My brooklet will I ask,
 Whether my heart has lied to me.

 O brooklet of my love,
 Why are you so quiet today?
 I want to know just one thing -
 One little word again and again.

 The one little word is "Yes";
 The other is "No",
 Both these little words
 Make up the entire world to me.

 O brooklet of my love,
 Why are you so strange?
 I'll surely not repeat it;
 Tell me, o brooklet, does she love me?

IMPORTANT NOTE: The material directly above is protected by copyright and appears here by special permission. If you wish to copy it and distribute it, you must obtain permission or you will be breaking the law. Once you have permission, you must give credit to the author and display the copyright symbol ©. Copyright infringement is a criminal offense under international law.

Authorship

• Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © by Emily Ezust

  Emily Ezust permits her translations to be reproduced without prior permission for printed (not online) programs to free-admission concerts only, provided the following credit is given:

  Translation copyright © by Emily Ezust,
  from the LiederNet Archive -- http://www.lieder.net/

  For any other purpose, please write to the e-mail address below to request permission and discuss possible fees.
  
  
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• a text in German (Deutsch) by Wilhelm Müller (1794 - 1827), "Der Neugierige", appears in Gedichte aus den hinterlassenen Papieren eines reisenden Waldhornisten 1, in Die schöne Müllerin, no. 7, first published 1818 CAT DUT FIN FRE GRE ITA KOR
• This text was set to music by the following composer(s): Emilie Mayer, Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel, Karl Gottlieb Reissiger, Franz Peter Schubert. Go to the text.

Text added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.