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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

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by Johann Nepomuk Vogl (1802 - 1866)
Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Das blutende Herz
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Our translations:  ENG
"Und hast du verwundet mein Herz so tief,
Du rosig aufblühende Maid,
So heil' mir's auch wieder, doch thu' es bald,
Sonst bricht es vor innerem Leid."

Die Maid aber schüttelt ihr lockigtes Haupt
Und lächelt: "du thörichter Knab',
Wie sollt' ich erfüllen die Wünsche dein,
Da ich längst meinen Treuen schon hab',"

"Und hast du zu Scherz oder Kurzweil nur
Verwundet das Herze mein,
So mög' es doch nie und nimmermehr
Deinem Herzen vergolten seyn!"

Mit dem blutenden Herzen eilt d'rauf der Knab'
Und mit weinenden Augen hinaus,
Und wandelt die Straße wohl auf und ab
Bis er kommt zu des Arzten Haus.

Und wie er nun kommt zu des Arzten Haus
So tritt er zum Alten hinein
Und spricht: "O heilt mir mein blutendes Herz,
Nicht länger ertrag' ich die Pein."

Der Arzt aber schüttelt sein schneeweißes Haupt
Und spricht: "Du armer Knab',
So viel ich auch Mittel, für dieß allein
Kein einziges Mittel ich hab'."

Und wieder wandelt der Knabe fort,
Im Innern so düster und graus,
Er wandelt die Straßen wohl auf und ab,
Bis er kommt zu dem Friedhof hinaus.

Und wie er d'raußen am Friedhof steht,
Da gräbt just der Gräber ein Grab,
"Kannst du mir nicht heilen mein blutendes Herz,
O Gräber?" so frägt ihn der Knab'.

Der Gräber, trüb lächelnd, nickt d'rauf mit dem Haupt,
Und spricht: "Tritt immer herein,
Ich leg' nur ein paar Schaufel Erde d'rauf,
Da wird dir geholfen wohl sein."

Confirmed with Balladen, Romanzen, Sagen und Legenden von Johann N. Vogl, Wien: Verlag und Druck von J.B. Wallishausser, 1846, pages 203-205.


Text Authorship:

  • by Johann Nepomuk Vogl (1802 - 1866), "Das blutende Herz", appears in Balladen, Romanzen, Sagen und Legenden, in Liebelieben [author's text checked 2 times 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 Walter von Goethe (1817 - 1885), "Das blutende Herz" [sung text not yet checked]

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

  • ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "The bleeding heart", copyright © 2025, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


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

This text was added to the website: 2011-02-08
Line count: 36
Word count: 242

The bleeding heart
Language: English  after the German (Deutsch) 
"And since you wounded my heart so deeply,
You rosy, blossoming maiden,
Then heal it again for me, but do it soon,
Else it shall break from internal pain."

But the maiden shook her curly head
And smiled: "You foolish boy,
How should I fulfil your wishes
When I have long had my own faithful one already,"

"And if it was only in jest or boredom 
That you wounded my heart,
May your heart never and nevermore
Have to pay the price for that!"

Thereupon the lad with his bleeding heart
Hurried off with weeping eyes,
And wandered up and down the street
Until he came to the doctor’s house.

As he now arrived at the doctor's house,
He entered in to see the old man
And said: "Oh, heal my bleeding heart for me,
I cannot bear the agony any longer."

But the doctor shook his snow-white head
And said: “You poor boy,
Although I [have] many medicines, for this [ailment] alone
I have not a single one."

And again the lad wandered off,
So gloomy and horrid within,
He wandered up and down the streets,
Until he came out to cemetery.

And as he was standing by the cemetery,
The gravedigger was just digging a grave,
"Can you not heal my bleeding heart for me,
Oh gravedigger?" thus the lad asked him.

The gravedigger, smiling bleakly, then nodded his head,
And said: "Just come in here,
I shall simply place a few shovelfuls of earth over it,
Then I reckon you shall be cured."

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.
    Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

  • a text in German (Deutsch) by Johann Nepomuk Vogl (1802 - 1866), "Das blutende Herz", appears in Balladen, Romanzen, Sagen und Legenden, in Liebelieben
    • Go to the text page.

 

This text was added to the website: 2025-11-20
Line count: 36
Word count: 256

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This website began in 1995 as a personal project by Emily Ezust, who has been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your help is greatly appreciated!
–Emily Ezust, Founder

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