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Da ich ein Knabe war, rettet' ein Gott mich oft vom Geschrei und der Rufe der Menschen, da spielt' ich sicher und gut mit den Blumen des Hains, und die Lüftchen des Himmels spielten mit mir. Und wie du das Herz der Planzen erfreust, wenn sie entgegen dir die zarten Arme strecken, so hast du mein Herz erfreut, Vater Helios! und, wie Endymion, war ich dein Liebling, heilige Luna! O all ihr Treuen freundlichen Götter! Daß ihr wüßtet, wie euch meine Seele geliebt! Zwar damals rief ich noch nicht Euch mit Nahmen, auch ihr Nanntet mich nie, wie die Menschen sich nennen Als kennten sie sich. Doch kannt' ich euch besser, Als ich je die Menschen gekannt Ich verstand die Stille des Aethers Der Menschen Worte verstand ich nie. Mich erzog der Wohllaut des säuselnden Hains, und lieben lernt' ich unter den Blumen. Im Arme der Götter wuchs ich groß.
B. Britten sets stanzas 1-3, 5-7
A. Gabryś sets stanzas 1, 6-7
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by Friedrich Hölderlin (1770 - 1843), "Da ich ein Knabe war", appears in Gedichte 1784-1800 [author's text not yet checked 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 (Edward) Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976), "Die Jugend", op. 61 no. 4, published 1963, stanzas 1-3, 5-7, from Sechs Hölderlin-Fragmente, no. 4 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Aleksander Gabryś (b. 1974), "Da ich ein Knabe war", 2003, first performed 2003, stanzas 1,6-7 [ soprano, horn, clarinet, violin, violoncello, and piano ], in memoriam Robert Walser [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Josef Matthias Hauer (1883 - 1959), "Jugend", op. 21 no. 5, copyright © 1924 [ voice and piano ], from Hölderlin Lieder, no. 5, confirmed with a CD bookletBerlin, Schlesinger [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "La joventut", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Emily Ezust) , "The youth", copyright ©
- FRE French (Français) (Stéphane Goldet) (Pierre de Rosamel) , copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 33
Word count: 150
When I was a boy a god would often rescue me from the screams and shouts of men; there I would play, secure and good, with the flowers of the grove, and the breezes of the sky would play with me. And as you cheer the hearts of plants when toward you they reach their tender arms, so did you gladden my heart, Father Helios! and, like Endymion, I was your beloved, sacred Luna! O all you constant, amiable gods! Would that you knew how my soul loved you! Though at that time I hardly called you by name, nor did you ever call me by my name as men do when they know each other. But I knew you better than I ever knew any man; I understood the silence of the Ether, but the words of mankind I never understood. I was brought up by the pleasind sound of the rustling grove, and I learned to love beneath the flowers. In the arms of the gods I became a man.
Text 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,
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Based on:
- a text in German (Deutsch) by Friedrich Hölderlin (1770 - 1843), "Da ich ein Knabe war", appears in Gedichte 1784-1800
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 33
Word count: 172