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by Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874 - 1936)
Translation © by Walter A. Aue
The donkey
Language: English
Our translations: GER
When fishes flew and forests walked And figs grew upon thorn, Some moment when the moon was blood Then surely I was born. With monstrous head and sickening cry And ears like errant wings, The devil's walking parody On all four-footed things. The tattered outlaw of the earth, Of ancient crooked will; Starve, scourge, deride me: I am dumb, I keep my secret still. Fools! For I also had my hour; One far fierce hour and sweet: There was a shout about my ears, And palms before my feet.
Text Authorship:
- by Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874 - 1936), "The donkey", appears in The Wild Knight and Other Poems, first published 1900 [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 Alexius Baas , "The donkey", published 1930 [ voice and piano ], Novello; New York: H. W. Gray ; in the British Library [sung text not yet checked]
- by Gary Bachlund (b. 1947), "The donkey", 2010 [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by (Edward) Maurice Besly (1888 - 1945), "The donkey", op. 24 no. 2, published 1923 [ voice and piano ], London: Boosey & Co.; in the British Library [sung text not yet checked]
- by Rutland Boughton (1878 - 1960), "The donkey", 1928, published 1929 [ chorus a cappella ], from Three Partsongs [sung text not yet checked]
- by Dora Estella Bright (1863 - 1951), "The donkey", published 1936 [ medium voice and piano ], London: Elkin & Co. [sung text not yet checked]
- by Vera (Winifred) Buck (1903 - 1986), "The donkey", published 1935 [ voice and piano ], London: Cary & Co.; two versions [sung text not yet checked]
- by Walter Joseph Buczynski (b. 1933), "The donkey", published c1954 [ high voice and piano ], from Cycle of Three Songs, no. 2, Toronto, ON: Canadian Music Centre [sung text not yet checked]
- by Erik Chisholm (1904 - 1965), "The Donkey", 1923 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Rebecca Clarke (1886 - 1979), "The donkey", copyright © 1928 [ voice and piano ], later published by Oxford University Press, 2002 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Henry Dixon Cowell (1897 - 1965), "The donkey", L. 695 (1946), published 1947, first performed 1946 [ high voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Richard Hageman (1881 - 1966), "The donkey", published 1934 [ high voice and piano ], London: Winthrop Rogers [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Mervyn, Lord Horder, the Second Baron of Ashford (1910 - 1998), "The donkey" [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Colin Mawby , "The donkey", published c2007 [ SATB chorus and organ ], Matfield: Encore Publications [sung text not yet checked]
- by Harold Noble (1903 - 1998), "The donkey", published c1948, J. & W. Chester [sung text not yet checked]
- by Hunter Purdie , "The donkey", published c1962 [ SATB chorus a cappella ], New York: G. Schirmer [sung text not yet checked]
- by Wilhelm Rettich (1892 - 1988), "The donkey", op. 132 no. 14, published c1960 [ voice and piano ], from Meditatio. Twenty-one more or less parabolic songs, no. 14, Astoria Verlag [sung text not yet checked]
- by Hugh Stevenson Roberton, Sir (1874 - 1952), "The donkey", published 1936 [ TTBB chorus a cappella ], London: J. Curwen & Sons [sung text not yet checked]
- by Joseph Roff (1910 - 1993), "The donkey", 1948 [ voice and chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Humphrey Searle (1915 - 1982), "The donkey", 1971, published 1974 [ medium male voice and piano ], self-published [sung text not yet checked]
- by Leo Smit (1921 - 1999), "The donkey" [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Greta Tomlins (1912 - 1972), "The donkey", published c1968 [ chorus and piano ], South Croydon: Alfred Lengnick & Co. [sung text not yet checked]
- by Bryceson Treharne (1879 - 1948), "The donkey", published 1917 [ voice and piano ], Boston, MA: Boston Music Co. [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- GER German (Deutsch) (Walter A. Aue) , "Der Esel", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this page: Barbara Miller
This text was added to the website: 2004-02-10
Line count: 16
Word count: 89
Der Esel
Language: German (Deutsch) after the English
Als flog der Fisch und schritt der Wald und Feige wuchs am Dorn, unter der blut'gen Mondsgestalt, da wurde ich geborn. Mit Monsterkopf und schrillem Ruf und Ohren flügelgleich: die Parodie der Teufel schuf vom Tetrapodenreich. Zerlumpt, geächtet rundherum in falschem Volkes Joch; Verlacht, verpeitscht mich: Ich bin dumm, doch stumm verbleib ich noch. Narr'n! Meine Stunde kam zuvor mit hellem, holdem Gruß: Hosannas barsten mir ins Ohr und Palmen mir zu Fuß.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from English to German (Deutsch) copyright © 2008 by Walter A. Aue, (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.
Walter A. Aue. Contact: waue (AT) dal (DOT) ca
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Based on:
- a text in English by Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874 - 1936), "The donkey", appears in The Wild Knight and Other Poems, first published 1900
This text was added to the website: 2008-06-01
Line count: 16
Word count: 73