Liebes, leichtes, luft'ges Ding
Language: German (Deutsch)
Liebes, leichtes, luft'ges Ding,
Schmetterling,
Das da über Blumen schwebet,
Nur von Tau und Blüten lebet,
Blüte selbst, ein fliegend Blatt,
Das mit weichem Rosenfinger!
Wer bepurpurt hat.
War's ein Sylphe, der dein Kleid
So bestreut?
Dich aus Morgenduft gewebet,
Nur auf Tage dich belebet?
Seelchen, und dein kleines Herz
Pocht da unter meinem Finger,
Fühlet Todesschmerz.
Fleuch dahin, o Seelchen, sei
Froh und frei,
Mir ein Bild, was ich sein werde,
Wenn die Raupe dieser Erde
Auch wie du ein Zephyr ist,
Und in Duft und Tau und Honig
Jede Blüte küßt.
About the headline (FAQ)
Confirmed with Herders Volkslieder, ed. Carl Redlich, Berlin: Weidmannsche Buchhandlung, 1885, page 348.
Text Authorship:
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 Loewe (1796 - 1869), "Die Sylphide", op. 9, Heft 10 no. 2 (1838) [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Karl Guido Nakonz (1833 - 1907), "Der Schmetterling", op. 5 no. 2, published 1884 [ voice and piano ], from Kinderlieder, Heft III, no. 2, Leipzig, Fritzsch [sung text not yet checked]
- by Wilhelm Pohl (1759 - 1807), "Das Lied vom Schmetterlinge", published 1785 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Johann Xaver Sterkel (1750 - 1817), "Das Lied vom Schmetterlinge", StWV 54 no. 3 [ voice and piano ], from Zwölf Deutsche Lieder mit Begleitung des Forte-Piano - 3. Sammlung, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , copyright © 2018, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust
[Administrator] , John H. Campbell , Sharon Krebs
[Guest Editor] , Johann Winkler
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 21
Word count: 94
Dear, light, airy thing
Language: English after the German (Deutsch)
Dear, light, airy thing,
Butterfly!
That hovers there above the flowers,
Living only on dew and blossoms,
Itself a blossom, a flying leaf,
That, with a soft rosy finger!
Someone has crimsoned.
Was it a sylph, who sprinkled
Your dress thus?
Who wove you from the scent of morning,
Who only gave you a lifespan of days?
Dear soul, and your little heart
Pulses there under my finger,
Feels the pain of death.
Fly thence, oh dear soul, be
Joyful and free!
For me an image of that which I shall become,
When the caterpillar of this earth
Like you, is a zephyr,
And in scent and dew and honey
Kisses every blossom.
About the headline (FAQ)
Translations of title(s):
"Das Lied vom Schmetterlinge" = "The song about the butterfly"
"Die Sylphide" = "The sylph"
"Der Schmetterling" = "The butterfly"
Text Authorship:
- Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2018 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:
This text was added to the website: 2018-08-09
Line count: 21
Word count: 114
