I have lost my horse

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by August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben (1798 - 1874)

Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Ich habe mein Roß verloren

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG

Ich habe mein Roß verloren, 
Mein apfelgraues Roß. 
Es war so treu im Leben, 
Kein treueres wird es geben
Im ganzen Zug und Troß.

Und als es wollte sterben,
Da blickt' es mich noch an, 
Als spräch's mit seinen Mienen:
Kann dir nicht weiter dienen, 
Ade mein Reitersmann! 

Und als es war gestorben
Da grub ich's ehrlich ein;
Wol unter grünen Matten 
In eines Lindenbaums Schatten,
Das soll sein Denkmal sein! 

Du sitzen die kleinen Vögel
Und halten das Todtenamt. 
Ihr braucht nicht erst zu lesen, 
Wie treu mein Roß gewesen --
Sie singen's insgesamt.

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• F. Lachner • L. Lenz

About the headline (FAQ)

View text with all available footnotes

Confirmed with Dr. Heinrich Gerstenberg (Hrsg.), Hoffmann's von Fallersleben Gesammelte Werke, 3. Bd.: Lyrische Gedichte, Berlin, 1891, page 217.

Text Authorship:

by August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben (1798 - 1874), "Das treue Roß", written 1826 [author's text checked 2 times against a primary source]

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Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Sharon Krebs [Senior Associate Editor], Johann Winkler

This text was added to the website: 2010-10-21
Line count: 20
Word count: 98

I have lost my horse

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

I have lost my horse,
My apple-grey horse.
He was so faithful in life,
There shall never be another so faithful
In the entire army camp and its followers.

And when he was about to die
He yet looked at me 
As if his face were saying:
I can serve you no more,
Farewell, my horseman!

And when he had died
I buried him honourably;
Under the green meadows
In the shadow of a linden tree,
Which shall be his memorial!

There sit the little birds
And hold his requiem mass.
You do not even have to read
How faithful my horse was, 
For they are singing all about it.

Available sung text translations: ← What is this?

• L. Lenz

About the headline (FAQ)

View text with all available footnotes

Translations of titles:
"Das treue Roß" = "The faithful horse"
"Das treue Ross" = "The faithful horse"
"Ich hab' mein Ross verloren" = "I have lost my horse"

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2026 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.
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Based on:

a text in German (Deutsch) by August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben (1798 - 1874), "Das treue Roß", written 1826
- Go to the text page.

Go to the general view

This text was added to the website: 2026-07-04
Line count: 20
Word count: 112