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A little bird, with plumage brown, Beside my window flutters down, A moment chirps its little strain, Ten taps upon my window-pane, And chirps again, and hops along, To call my notice to its song; But I work on, nor heed its lay, Till, in neglect, it flies away. So birds of peace and hope and love Come fluttering earthward from above, To settle on life's window-sills, And ease our load of earthly ills; But we, in traffic's rush and din Too deep engaged to let them in, With deadened heart and sense plod on, Nor know our loss till they are gone.
Text Authorship:
- by Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872 - 1906), "The sparrow", first published 1913 [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 Robert Owens (1925 - 2017), "The sparrow", op. 31 no. 3 [ coloratura-soprano and piano ], from 3 Songs for Coloratura-Soprano and Piano, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Bertram Kottmann , "Der Sperling", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission ; composed by Gary Bachlund.
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2010-10-26
Line count: 16
Word count: 103
Ein Vöglein klein mit braun' Gefieder lässt sich an meinem Fenster nieder; es zwitschert seine kleine Weise, zehn Mal klopft es ans Fenster leise und tschilpt aufs Neu und hüpft entlang, auf dass ich achte seinen Sang; Doch ich fahr fort, missacht' sein Lied, bis still und leis' davon es fliegt. Solch Friedens-, Hoffnungs-, Liebesboten flattern erdenwärts von oben auf die Fensterbank des Lebens, ird'sche Last von uns zu nehmen; jedoch in unserm lauten Sein, und zu gehetzt für ein "Herein", trotten wir stumpf von hier nach dort, merken es erst, wenn sie sind fort.
G. Bachlund sets stanza 1
Text Authorship:
- by Bertram Kottmann , "Der Sperling", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in English by Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872 - 1906), "The sparrow", first published 1913
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), "Der Sperling", 2013, stanza 1 [medium voice and piano] [ sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this page: Bertram Kottmann
This text was added to the website: 2013-04-10
Line count: 16
Word count: 95