Läuten kaum die Maienglocken

Läuten kaum die Maienglocken,
Leise durch den lauen Wind,
Hebt ein Knabe froh erschrocken,
Aus dem Grase sich geschwind.
Schüttelt in den Blütenflocken,
Seine feinen blonden Locken,
Schelmisch sinnend wie ein Kind.

Und nun wehen Lerchenlieder
Und es schlägt die Nachtigall,
Von den Bergen rauschend wieder
Kommt der kühle Wasserfall.
Rings im Walde bunt Gefieder,
Frühling, Frühling ist es wieder
Und ein Jauchzen überall.

Und den Knaben hört man schwirren,
Goldne Fäden, zart und lind,
Durch die Lüfte künstlich wirren,
Und ein süsser Krieg beginnt.
Suchen, fliehen, schmachtend irren,
Bis sich Alle hold verwirren.
O besel'gend Labyrinth!

Translation(s): DUT ENG

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Authorship

• by Josef Karl Benedikt von Eichendorff (1788 - 1857), "Der Schalk", appears in Gedichte, in 4. Frühling und Liebe [ author's text verified 1 time]

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

• by Otto Dorn (1848 - 1931), "Maienglocken", published 1879 [voice and piano], from Lieder und Gesänge für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte, no. 15, Berlin, Weinholtz [ sung text not verified ]
• by Otto Dresel (1826 - 1890), "Der Schalk", 1846, published 1892. [ sung text not verified ]
• by Ernst Frank (1847 - 1889), "Der Schalk", op. 1 (Zehn Lieder) no. 8, published 1871 [voice and piano], Wien, Gotthard [ sung text not verified ]
• by Robert Franz (1815 - 1892), "Der Schalk", op. 3 (Sechs Gesänge) no. 1, published 1844, stanzas 1-2 [voice and piano], Leipzig, Breitkopf & Härtel [ sung text verified 1 time]
• by Carl Adolf Lorenz, Dr. (1837 - 1923), "Der Schalk", op. 15 (Zwei Terzette für drei Frauenstimmen (Solo oder Chor) mit Begleitung des Pianoforte) no. 1, published 1873 [vocal trio for female voices (or three-part women's chorus) with piano], Berlin, Trautwein [ sung text not verified ]
• by Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel (1805 - 1847), "Maienlied", op. 1 (Sechs Lieder) no. 4 (>>1840), published 1846. [ sung text verified 1 time]
• by August Reuss (1871 - 1935), "Der Schalk", op. 32 (Vier Terzette) no. 4. [women's chorus a cappella] [ sung text not verified ]
• by J. H. W. Werner , "Der Schalk", published 1883 [voice and piano], from Sechs Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianofortebegleitung, no. 6, Krefeld, Schuckert [ sung text not verified ]
• by Heinrich Zöllner (1854 - 1941), "Der Schalk", op. 47, published 1890 [men's chorus], Leipzig, Siegel [ sung text not verified ]

Set in a modified version by Julius Weismann.

• Go to the text. [ view differences ] FRE
  

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

• ENG English (Emily Ezust) , title 1: "Hardly do the lilies-of-the-valley ring", copyright ©
• DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , copyright © 2017, (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

Hardly do the lilies‑of‑the‑valley ring

Hardly do the lilies-of-the-valley ring
faintly in the gentle wind,
than a boy starts gaily
and quickly from the grass.
In the blossoms he shakes
his fine blond locks,
with roguish feeling, like a child.

And now the lark songs can be heard,
and the nightingale sings;
from the mountains roars again
the sound of the cool waterfall.
Around the forest are bright feathers;
It is Spring again
and there is rejoicing everywhere.

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.
  
  
  (licenses at lieder dot net)
  
  
  

• a text in German (Deutsch) by Josef Karl Benedikt von Eichendorff (1788 - 1857), "Der Schalk", appears in Gedichte, in 4. Frühling und Liebe DUT
• This text was set to music by the following composer(s): Otto Dorn, Otto Dresel, Ernst Frank, Robert Franz, Carl Adolf Lorenz, Dr., Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel, August Reuss, J. H. W. Werner, Heinrich Zöllner. Go to the text.

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