If I could twine the loveliest bouquets

Attention! Some of this material is not in the public domain.

It is illegal to copy and distribute our copyright-protected material without permission. It is also illegal to reprint copyright texts or translations without the name of the author or translator.

To inquire about permissions and rates, contact Emily Ezust at licenses@email.lieder.example.net

If you wish to reprint translations, please make sure you include the names of the translators in your email. They are below each translation.

Note: You must use the copyright symbol © when you reprint copyright-protected material.

by Peter Cornelius (1824 - 1874)

Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Könnt' ich die schönsten Sträuße winden

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG

Könnt' ich die schönsten Sträuße winden,
Dir wünscht ich dennoch schönern Strauß;
Könnt ich die schönsten Lieder finden,
Sie sprächen doch mein Herz nicht aus.

Was auch aus freier Brust wir reden,
Ein Tiefstempfund'nes sagt sich nicht,
Es giebt ein reiches Blumeneden,
Aus dem man keine Sträuße bricht.

O nimm zum Strauß, den ich gebrochen,
Zum Worte, das umsonst sich müht,
Was ungepflückt, unausgesprochen
In meiner Seele Dir erblüht.

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• F. Draeseke • G. Witte

About the headline (FAQ)

View text with all available footnotes

Confirmed with Gedichte von Peter Cornelius, eingeleitet von Adolf Stern, Leipzig, C. F. Kahnt Nachfolger, 1890, page 4. Modern German would change "Sträuße" to "Sträusse", "giebt" to "gibt", etc.

Text Authorship:

by Peter Cornelius (1824 - 1874), "Könnt' ich die schönsten Sträuße winden", appears in Gedichte, in 1. Lieder [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Go to the general view

Researcher for this page: Sharon Krebs [Senior Associate Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2007-07-16
Line count: 12
Word count: 70

If I could twine the loveliest bouquets

NOTE: the footnotes have been removed from this text; return to general view

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

If I could twine the loveliest bouquets,
I would still wish you a more beautiful bouquet;
If I could find the loveliest songs,
They would yet not utter what is in my heart.

Whatever we may speak from unfettered hearts,
That which is most deeply felt cannot be uttered;
There is a rich Eden of flowers
From which one cannot pick bouquets.

Oh take with the bouquet that I plucked,
With the word that strives in vain,
That which, not plucked and unuttered,
Blooms for you within my soul.

About the headline (FAQ)

View text with all available footnotes

Translations of title(s):
"Könnt' ich die schönsten Sträuße winden" = "If I could twine the loveliest bouquets"
"Mit einem Strauß" = "With a bouquet"
"Widmung" = "Dedication"

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2022 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:

a text in German (Deutsch) by Peter Cornelius (1824 - 1874), "Könnt' ich die schönsten Sträuße winden", appears in Gedichte, in 1. Lieder
- Go to the text page.

Go to the general view

This text was added to the website: 2022-10-23
Line count: 12
Word count: 90