I threw a rose into the sea

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by Richard Fedor Leopold Dehmel (1863 - 1920)

Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Ich warf eine Rose ins Meer

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG FRE

Ich warf eine Rose ins Meer,
eine blühende Rose ins grüne Meer.
Und weil die Sonne schien, Sonne schien,
sprang das Licht hinterher,
mit hundert zitternden Zehen hinterher.
Als die erste Welle kam,
wollte die Rose, meine Rose ertrinken.
Als die zweite sie sanft auf ihre Schultern nahm,
mußte das Licht, das Licht ihr zu Füßen sinken.
Da faßte die dritte sie am Saum,
und das Licht sprang hoch, zitternd hoch, wie zur Wehr;
aber hundert tanzende Blütenblätter
wiegten sich rot, rot, rot um mich her,
und es tanzte mein Boot,
und mein Schatten auf dem Schaum,
und das grüne Meer, das Meer - -

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• R. Geutebrück

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Confirmed with Richard Dehmel, Gesammelte Werke in drei Bänden. Zweiter Band, S. Fischer Verlag, Berlin, 1913, pages 48-49.

Text Authorship:

by Richard Fedor Leopold Dehmel (1863 - 1920), "Wellentanzlied", appears in Weib und Welt [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

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Research team for this page: Sharon Krebs [Senior Associate Editor], Harry Joelson

This text was added to the website: 2007-07-04
Line count: 16
Word count: 107

I threw a rose into the sea

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Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

I threw a rose into the sea,
a blooming rose into the green sea.
And because the sun shone, sun shone,
The light leapt after it,
after it with a hundred trembling toes.
As the first wave came,
the rose, my rose was about to drown.
As the second wave gently took it upon its shoulders,
the light, the light was forced to sink down at my rose's feet.
Thereupon the third one caught it at its edge,
and the light sprang up, tremblingly up, as if in defense;
but a hundred dancing blossom-petals
swayed red, red, red about me
and my boat danced,
and my shadow upon the foam
and the green sea, the sea - -

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Translations of titles:
"Tanzlied" = "Dancing song"
"Wellentanzlied" = "The waves' dancing song"

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2025 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 Richard Fedor Leopold Dehmel (1863 - 1920), "Wellentanzlied", appears in Weib und Welt
- Go to the text page.

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This text was added to the website: 2025-01-02
Line count: 16
Word count: 119