Ah, if I could but play

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by Siegfried Kapper (1821 - 1879)

Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Ach, könnt' ich blasen

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG

  Ach, könnt' ich blasen 
Ein Lied so hold, 
Wie ich es gerne 
Ersinnen wollt';

  So tief aus der Seele, 
So tief aus der Brust, 
Mit all' meiner Sehnsucht 
Schmerz und Lust: 

  Ich wollt' es blasen 
Den ganzen Tag, 
Da sollt' es schmettern 
Durch Wald und Hag! 

  [Ich wollt' es]¹ blasen 
Die ganze Nacht, 
Da sollt' es verhallen
So sacht' -- so sacht!

  Und lernen müßten's 
Die Vöglein bald, 
Und singen müßt' es 
Der ganze Wald. 

  Da sollt' sie es hören 
Von jedem Baum, 
Und Nachts meine Lieb' sie 
Umklingen im Traum!

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• A. Titl

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Slavische Melodien von Siegfried Kapper, Leipzig: Wilhelm Einhorn, 1844, pages 61-62.

¹ Titl: "Da wollt' ich es"

Text Authorship:

by Siegfried Kapper (1821 - 1879), no title, appears in Slavische Melodien, in Aus Böhmen, in Aus dem Liederbuche eines Jägers, no. 5 [author's text checked 1 time 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), "Ach könnt' ich blasen", op. 22 (Slavische Bilder), Heft 1 no. 2, published [1851] [ voice and piano ], Bonn: N. Simrock [sung text checked 1 time]
by Anton Emil Titl (1809 - 1882), "Des Jägers Wunsch" [sung text checked 1 time]

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

ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , copyright © 2025, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this page: Sharon Krebs [Senior Associate Editor], Johann Winkler

This text was added to the website: 2021-10-18
Line count: 24
Word count: 92

Ah, if I could but play

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

  Ah, if I could but play
A song so lovely,
As I would 
Gladly devise it;

  From so deep in my soul,
So deep in my breast,
With all my yearning,
Pain, and joy:

  I would play it
All day long,
Then it should blare
Through wood and hedge!

  [I]¹ would play it
All night long,
Then it should echo away
So gently -- so gently!

  The birdlets would quickly
Have to learn it,
And the whole forest
Would have to sing it.

  Then she should hear it
From every tree,
And at night they would surround my love
With music in her dreams!

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)

Translations of titles:
"Ach könnt' ich blasen" = "Ah, if I could play"
"Des Jägers Wunsch" = "The hunter’s wish"

¹ Titl: "Then I"

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 Siegfried Kapper (1821 - 1879), no title, appears in Slavische Melodien, in Aus Böhmen, in Aus dem Liederbuche eines Jägers, no. 5
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2025-12-01
Line count: 24
Word count: 105