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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.
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 against a primary source]
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
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