What do you sing and tell me, little birds

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by Friedrich Rückert (1788 - 1866)

Translation © by Michael P Rosewall

Was singt ihr und sagt ihr mir, Vögelein

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG

Was singt ihr und sagt ihr mir, Vögelein,
Von Liebe?
Was klingt ihr und klagt ihr ins Herz mir hinein
Von Liebe?
Ihr habt mir gesagt und gesungen genug,
Ich hab' euch gehört und verstanden genug
Von Liebe,
Von Liebe, von Liebe.

O singt nun, o sagt nun dem Mägdelein
Von Liebe!
O klingt nun, o klagt nun ins Herz ihr hinein
Von Liebe!
Und wenn ihr des Mägdeleins Herz mir ersingt,
Dann ewig, o Vögelein, sagt mir und singt
Von Liebe,
Von Liebe, von Liebe!

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• J. Mendel

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Text Authorship:

by Friedrich Rückert (1788 - 1866), "Liebespredigt", appears in Jugendlieder, Zweite Abtheilung, no. 11 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

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Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Johann Winkler

This text was added to the website: 2011-07-24
Line count: 16
Word count: 88

What do you sing and tell me, little...

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Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

What do you sing and tell me, little birds,
About love?
What do you twitter and sob into my heart
About love?
You have sung and told me enough,
I have heard and grasped enough from you
About love,
About love, about love.

O sing now, O tell the maiden
About love!
O twitter now, O sob into her heart
About love!
And if your singing might win me the maiden’s heart,
Then forever, O little birds, tell me and sing
About love,
About love, about love!

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Translations of titles
"Liebespredigt" = "Love sermon"
"Jugendliebe" = "Youthful love"

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2022 by Michael P Rosewall, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
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Based on:

a text in German (Deutsch) by Friedrich Rückert (1788 - 1866), "Liebespredigt", appears in Jugendlieder, Zweite Abtheilung, no. 11
- Go to the text page.

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This text was added to the website: 2022-07-12
Line count: 16
Word count: 88