Wer hat das erste Lied erdacht
Language: German (Deutsch)
Our translations: ENG ENG
Wer hat das erste Lied erdacht,
Das in die Lüfte scholl?
Der Frühling fand's in lauer Nacht,
Das Herz von Wonne voll;
Er sang es früh im Fliederbaum
Und schlug den Tact dazu:
"O Maienzeit, o Liebestraum,
Was ist so süß wie Du?"
Da kamen Mück' und Käferlein,
Waldvöglein sonder Zahl;
Die übten sich die Weise ein,
Wohl an die tausend Mal.
Sie trugen's durch den Himmelsraum
Und durch die Waldesruh:
"O Maienzeit, o Liebestraum,
Was ist so süß wie Du?"
Mir sang's am Bach die Nachtigall,
Da ward mir wonnig weh;
Nun folgt das Lied mir überall
Durch Duft und Blütenschnee.
Ich pflück' den Zweig vom Fliederbaum
Und sing' es immerzu:
"O Maienzeit, o Liebestraum,
Was ist so süß wie Du?"
About the headline (FAQ)
View text with all available footnotes
Confirmed with Die Gartenlaube. Illustrirtes Familienblatt, Band XXVII, Nr. 23 (1879), page 386.
Text Authorship:
Go to the general view
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust
[Administrator] , John H. Campbell , Sharon Krebs
[Senior Associate Editor], Johann Winkler
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 24
Word count: 128
Who devised the first song
Language: English after the German (Deutsch)
Who devised the first song
That rang out into the breezes?
'Twas springtime that found it in the balmy night,
Its heart full of bliss;
Early on Spring sang it to the lilac tree
And beat time to it:
"Oh May-time, oh Love’s dream,
What is as sweet as you are?"
Along came mosquitos and little beetles,
Forest birds without number;
They practised the melody until they knew it,
Well nigh a thousand times.
They carried it through the expanses of the sky
And through the peace of the forest:
"Oh May-time, oh Love’s dream,
What is as sweet as you are?"
A nightingale sang it to me by the brook,
Thereupon I felt so blissfully heartsore;
Now the song follows me everywhere
Through scent and blossom-snow.
I pick a branch from the lilac tree
And I sing it incessantly:
"Oh May-time, oh Love’s dream,
What is as sweet as you are?"
About the headline (FAQ)
View text with all available footnotes
Translations of title(s):
"Wer hat das erste Lied erdacht" = "Who devised the first song"
"O Maienzeit, o Liebestraum" = "Oh May-time, oh Love’s dream"
"Das erste Lied" = "The first song"
"Maienzeit und Liebestraum" = "May-time and Love’s dream"
Text Authorship:
- Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2019 by Sharon Krebs, (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.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
Based on:
Go to the general view
This text was added to the website: 2019-12-10
Line count: 24
Word count: 153
