Il vecchio Goethe | Quando ero un giovanotto

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by Friedrich Christoph Förster (1791 - 1868)

Translation © by Amelia Maria Imbarrato

Als ich ein junger Geselle war

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG ITA

Als ich ein junger Geselle war, 
lustig und guter Dinge,
da hielten die Maler offenbar 
mein Gesicht für viel zu geringe;
dafür war mir manch schönes Kind
dazumal von Herzen treu gesinnt.

Nun ich hier als Altmeister sitz', 
rufen sie mich aus auf Straßen und Gaßen,
zu haben bin ich, wie der alte Fritz, 
auf Pfeifenköpfen und Tassen.
Doch die schönen Kinder die bleiben fern.
O Traum der Jugend! O goldner Stern!

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Text Authorship:

by Friedrich Christoph Förster (1791 - 1868) [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 Carl Loewe (1796 - 1869), "Der alte Goethe", op. 9, Heft 9 no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Wendelin Weißheimer (1838 - 1910), "Lauf der Welt" [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]

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

ENG English (David Wyatt) , "Old Goethe", copyright © 2007, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ITA Italian (Italiano) (Amelia Maria Imbarrato) , "Il vecchio Goethe", copyright © 2006, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 72

Il vecchio Goethe

Language: Italian (Italiano) after the German (Deutsch)

Quando ero un giovanotto, 
allegro e di buon umore,
i pittori evidentemente 
non consideravano il mio volto un gran che;
invece tante belle ragazze
spasimavano per me.

Ora che sono un vecchio maestro,
mi chiamano da strade e stradine
 per farmi il ritratto, come al vecchio Fritz, 
su pipe e tazze.
Ma le belle ragazze restano lontane.
O sogno di gioventù! O stella d'oro!

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to Italian (Italiano) copyright © 2006 by Amelia Maria Imbarrato, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you must ask the copyright-holder(s) directly for permission. If you receive no response, you must consider it a refusal.
Amelia Maria Imbarrato. We have no current contact information for the copyright-holder.
If you wish to commission a new translation, please contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

a text in German (Deutsch) by Friedrich Christoph Förster (1791 - 1868)
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2006-05-08
Line count: 12
Word count: 64