by Vítězslav Hálek (1835 - 1874)
Translation by Josef Štýbr (1864 - 1938)

Ten ptáček, ten se nazpívá
Language: Czech (Čeština) 
Ten ptáček, ten se nazpívá,
jak by byl píseň živá;
ba kdo v svém srdci lásku má,
nedivte se, že zpívá!

A ptáček ten tak od srdce
a k srdci mluvit umí,
že div by člověk neplakal,
když srdcem porozumí.

Ba často mně to připadá,
že jsem mu druhem vlkání,
neb i ty moje písně jsou
jen jemné naří kání.

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Text Authorship:

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

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

  • ENG English (Josef Štýbr) , first published 1920


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: 60

That little bird sings all the time
Language: English  after the Czech (Čeština) 
That little bird sings all the time
As one song with life ringing;
So wonder not, if one does love,
That he’ll pass life in singing.

And that bird speaks from heart to heart,
And it knows how, directly,
So that man hardly keeps back tears,
If he knows hearts perfectly.

Yes, often it appears to me
That I am as its fellow,
For my songs, too, can move to tears,
So soft they are, and mellow.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

Based on:

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

    [ None yet in the database ]


Researcher for this page: Andrew Schneider [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2020-04-19
Line count: 12
Word count: 77