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[Ich]1 träumt', ich war ein Vögelein, Und flog auf ihren Schooß, Und zupft' ihr, um nicht laß zu seyn, Die Busenschleifen los. Und flog, mit gaukelhaftem Flug, Dann auf die weiße Hand, Dann wieder auf das Busentuch, Und pickt' am rothen Band. Dann schwebt' ich auf ihr blondes Haar, Und zwitscherte vor Lust, Und ruhte, wann ich müde war, An ihrer weißen Brust. Kein Veilchenbett' im Paradies Geht diesem Lager vor. Wie schlief sichs da so süß, so süß, [Auf]2 ihres Busens Flor! Sie spielte, wie ich tiefer sank, Mit leisem Fingerschlag, Der mir durch [Leib und Leben]3 drang, [Mich]4 frohen Schlummrer wach; Sah mich so wunderfreundlich an, Und bot den Mund mir dar, Daß ich es nicht beschreiben kann, Wie froh, wie froh ich war. Da trippelt' ich auf einem Bein, Und hatte so mein Spiel, Und spielt' ihr mit dem Flügelein Die rothe Wange kühl. Doch ach! kein Erdenglück besteht, [Es sey Tag]5 oder Nacht! Schnell war mein süßer Traum verweht, Und ich war aufgewacht.
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)Confirmed with Poetische Blumenlese Für das Jahr 1776. Von den Verfassern der bisherigen Göttinger Blumenlese, nebst einem Anhange die Freymaurerey betreffend; Herausgegeben von J.H. Voß. Lauenburg, gedruckt bey Johann Georg Berenberg, pages 230-231; with Ludwig Christoph Heinrich Hölty's Sämtliche Werke kritisch und chronologisch herausgegeben von Wilhelm Michael, Erster Band, Weimar, Gesellschaft der Bibliophilen, 1914, pages 180-181; with Gedichte von Ludewig Heinrich Christoph Hölty. Nebst Briefen des Dichters herausgegeben von Karl Halm. Leipzig: F.A. Brockhaus, 1869, pages 35-36; and with Gedichte von Ludewig Heinrich Christoph Hölty. Besorgt durch seine Freunde Friederich Leopold Grafen zu Stolberg und Johann Heinrich Voß. Hamburg, bei Carl Ernst Bohn. 1783, pages 105-106.
First published in the Hamburger Musenalmanach 1776 by Voß with the original title "Ballade". Voß subsequently changed the title into "Der Traum" in his editions of Hölty's collected poems.
1 Voß' editions, and Schubert: "Mir"2 Voß' editions, and Schubert: "An"
3 original version (Halm edition): "jede Nerve"
4 original version (Halm and Michael editions): "Den"
5 Voß' editions since 1804, and Schubert: "Tag sei es"
Authorship:
- by Ludwig Heinrich Christoph Hölty (1748 - 1776), title 1: "Ballade", title 2: "Der Traum", written 1775, first published 1776 [author's text checked 2 times 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 J. F. Greis , "Hölty's Traum" [sung text not yet checked]
- by Franz Peter Schubert (1797 - 1828), "Der Traum", op. posth. 172 (Sechs Lieder) no. 1, D 213 (1815), published 1865 [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2018, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "De droom", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Emily Ezust) , "The dream", copyright ©
- FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Richard Morris , Peter Rastl [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 32
Word count: 167
I dreamed that I was a little bird and that I flew onto her lap and, so as not to be idle, undid the bow on her bosom; and then I flitted clownlike onto her white hand, then again onto her bosom kerchief, where I pecked at the red ribbon. Then I hovered over her blonde hair, and twittered with joy, and rested when I was weary, against her white breast. No bed of violets in paradise would I prefer to those lodgings! How sweetly I slept, how sweetly, against the gauze on her bosom! As I sank deeper, she played a light rhythm by drumming her fingers, and it penetrated me body and soul until it merrilly awakened my slumber; she gazed at me with such wondrous friendliness and bade me give her my mouth, so that I cannot describe how cheerful, how cheerful I was. I hopped along on one leg and had my game thus; and with my wings played with her cool cheeks; but ah! no earthly pleasure can last day and night! My sweet dream quickly vanished and I woke up.
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 Ludwig Heinrich Christoph Hölty (1748 - 1776), title 1: "Ballade", title 2: "Der Traum", written 1775, first published 1776
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 32
Word count: 186