Liebes, leichtes, luft'ges Ding

  Liebes, leichtes, luft'ges Ding, 
Schmetterling,
Das da über Blumen schwebet,
Nur von Tau und Blüten lebet,
Blüte selbst, ein fliegend Blatt,
Das mit welchem 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.

Translation(s): ENG

List of language codes

About the headline (FAQ)

Confirmed with Herders Volkslieder, ed. Carl Redlich, Berlin: Weidmannsche Buchhandlung, 1885, page 348.

Authorship

• by Johann Gottfried Herder (1744 - 1803), "Das Lied vom Schmetterlinge" [ author's text checked 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 Johann Karl Gottfried 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 against a primary source]
• by Wilhelm Pohl (fl. 1780), "Das Lied vom Schmetterlinge", published 1785. [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
• 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 against a primary source]

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

• ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , copyright © 2018, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

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

Gentle Reminder

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

Browse imslp.org (Petrucci Music Library) for Lieder or choral works