The flower of the flowers | A beautiful flower blooms

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by Philipp Otto Runge (1777 - 1810)

Translation © by Amy Pfrimmer

Es blüht eine schöne Blume

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG

Es blüht eine schöne Blume
  in einem weiten Land,
Die ist so selig geschaffen
  [und]¹ wenigen bekannt,
Ihr Duft erfüllet die Tale,
  ihr Glanz erleuchtet den Wald,
Und wo, ein Kranker sie siehet,
  die Krankheit entweichet bald.

Wo kommt im Morgenwinde
  die blitzende Sonne her?
Was glüht am kühlen Abend
  auf Bergen, an Wolken, im Meer?
Die Bäch' und Seen erglänzen
  im klaren [Mondesschein]²;
Am Himmel sind [unsre]³ Hütten,
  drinn' leuchten Sternelein.

Drei Könige kamen gezogen
  zu einem Heiligtum,
Der Stern stand über dem Hause,
  drinn' lag die süße Blum';
Wenn ich [zweien]⁴ Augen erblicke
  die funkeln hin und her,
So wünsch' ich: daß im Herzen
  dies süße Blümlein wär!

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• A. Mergner • L. Reichardt

About the headline (FAQ)

View text without footnotes
¹ Mergner: "nur"
² Mergner: "Mondenschein"
³ Mergner: "unsere"
⁴ Mergner: "zwei"

Text Authorship:

by Philipp Otto Runge (1777 - 1810) [author's text not yet checked 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 Adam Christoph Friedrich Mergner (1818 - 1891), "Die süße Blume" [ voice and piano ], from Sechs Lieder für eine Singstimme mit Begleitung des Piano-Forte, no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Luise Reichardt (1779 - 1826), "Die Blume der Blumen" [sung text checked 1 time]

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

ENG English (Amy Pfrimmer) , "The flower of the flowers", copyright © 2019, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Johann Winkler

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 24
Word count: 114

The flower of the flowers

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

Add this translation to the Basket

A beautiful flower blooms 
in a faraway country, 
It is created blessed 
and known to few, 
Its scent fills the valley, 
its brightness illuminates the wood, 
And when an invalid sees it, 
the affliction is soon gone for good.  

Where does the sparkling sun come from 
in the morning breeze? 
What glows in the cool evening 
on mountains, on clouds, in the sea? 
The streams and lakes glisten 
in the clear moonlight; 
Our shelter is in the heavens, 
and stars shine from it.  

Three kings came to a shrine, 
the star stood over the house, 
Where the sweet flower lay;
When I behold two twinkling eyes, 
I wish: 
That in my heart 
this sweet little flower would be!

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2019 by Amy Pfrimmer, (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 Philipp Otto Runge (1777 - 1810)
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2019-07-13
Line count: 23
Word count: 118