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by Hans Bötticher (1883 - 1934)
Translation © by Gary Bachlund (b. 1947)
War einmal ein Schwefelholz
Language: German (Deutsch)
Available translation(s): ENG
War einmal ein Schwefelholz, Das sich mit erhab'nem Stolz Einen Anarchisten nannte Und ein ganzes Haus verbrannte. Dieses war schon ungewöhnlich, Doch es kannte auch persönlich Meyers Taschenlexika, Ganz speziell das Bändchen "A", Weshalb es sich nach dem Brande An besagtes Bändchen wandte Mit den Worten: "Sag, was ist Eigentlich ein Anarchist?"
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Authorship
- by Hans Bötticher (1883 - 1934), "War einmal ein Schwefelholz", appears in Die Schnupftabacksdose - Stumpfsinn in Versen, first published 1912 [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 Gary Bachlund (b. 1947), "Ein Schwefelholz", 2009 [medium voice and piano], from Ringelnatz in dreiviertel Takt, no. 13 [ sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Gary Bachlund) , "A match", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
A match
Language: English after the German (Deutsch)
There was once a safety match, Filled with a sense of pride, Chosen by anarchists to arson-dispatch A house and the contents inside. This seemed odd and thereupon It went out straightaway To Meyers pocket lexicon, Specifically the first volume, "A," Which is why after the blaze It turned to that alphabetical list To answer this questioning phrase, "What exactly is an anarchist?"
Authorship
- by Gary Bachlund (b. 1947), "A match", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
- a text in German (Deutsch) by Hans Bötticher (1883 - 1934), "War einmal ein Schwefelholz", appears in Die Schnupftabacksdose - Stumpfsinn in Versen, first published 1912
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]