Have I ever counselled you | Have I ever counselled you

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by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832)

Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Hab' ich euch denn je geraten

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: CAT ENG FRE

Hab' ich euch denn je geraten,
Wie ihr Kriege führen solltet?
Schalt ich euch nach euren Taten,
Wenn ihr Frieden schließen wolltet?

Und so hab' ich auch den Fischer
Ruhig sehen Netze werfen,
Brauchte dem gewandten [Tischer]¹
Winkelmaß nicht einzuschärfen.

Aber ihr wollt besser wissen,
Was ich weiß, da ich bedachte,
Was Natur für mich beflissen,
Schon zu meinem Eigen machte.

Fühlt ihr auch dergleichen Stärke?
Nun, so fördert eure Sachen!
Seht ihr aber meine Werke,
Lernet erst: so wollt' er's machen.

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• R. Strauss

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)
¹ Strauss: "Tischler"

Text Authorship:

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832), no title, written 1815, appears in West-östlicher Divan, in 5. Buch des Unmuts -- Rendsch Nameh [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

by Richard Georg Strauss (1864 - 1949), "Hab' ich euch denn je geraten", op. 67 (Sechs Lieder), Heft 2 no. 2 (1918) [sung text checked 1 time]

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "Us he mai aconsellat", copyright © 2019, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "Have I ever counselled you", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Alberto Pedrotti

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 83

Have I ever counselled you

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

Have I ever counselled you
About how you should wage war?
Did I chide you according to your acts
When you wished to make peace?

Thus have I also looked quietly upon
The fisher casting his nets,
I did not need to harp upon the importance of the square
To the skilled carpenter.

But you think you know better,
What I knew, when I pondered
What nature, assiduously busy on my behalf,
Already made my own.

Do you also feel such strength?
Well, then promote your own concerns!
But if you look upon my works,
Then first learn: that is how he wanted to do it.

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2014 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 Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832), no title, written 1815, appears in West-östlicher Divan, in 5. Buch des Unmuts -- Rendsch Nameh
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2014-03-11
Line count: 16
Word count: 106