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by John Donne (1572 - 1631)
Translation © by Walter A. Aue

The bait
Language: English 
Our translations:  GER
Come live with me, and be my love,
And we will some new pleasures prove
Of golden sands, and crystal brooks,
With silken lines and silver hooks.

There will the river whisp'ring run
Warm'd by thy eyes, more than the sun;
And there th' enamour'd fish will stay,
Begging themselves they may betray.

When thou wilt swim in that live bath,
Each fish, which every channel hath,
Will amorously to thee swim,
Gladder to catch thee, than thou him.

If thou, to be so seen, be'st loth,
By sun or moon, thou dark'nest both,
And if myself have leave to see,
I need not their light, having thee.

Let others freeze with angling reeds,
And cut their legs with shells and weeds,
Or treacherously poor fish beset,
With strangling snare, or windowy net.

Let coarse bold hands from slimy nest
The bedded fish in banks out-wrest;
Or curious traitors, sleeve-silk flies,
Bewitch poor fishes' wand'ring eyes.

For thee, thou need'st no such deceit,
For thou thyself art thine own bait:
That fish, that is not catch'd thereby,
Alas! is wiser far than I.

Text Authorship:

  • by John Donne (1572 - 1631), "The bait" [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 David Vassall Cox (1916 - 1997), "The bait", 1959, published 1962 [tenor and piano], from The Humours of Love [
     text not verified 
    ]

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

  • GER German (Deutsch) (Walter A. Aue) , title 1: "Der Köder", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2009-01-05
Line count: 28
Word count: 183

Der Köder
Language: German (Deutsch)  after the English 
Komm, leb mit mir und werde mein,
daß neue Freuden unser sei'n
von goldnem Sand, kristall'ner Flut
und Silberhaken, Seidengut.

Es wärmt des Flusses Flüstern schon
Dein Auge mehr wie selbst die Sonn',
und liebestrunk'ne Fische dort
erflehen Selbstbetrug zu Ort.

Wenn in belebtem Bad Du bist,
der Fisch jedweger Strömung ist
verliebt und wird zu Dir hin ziehn,
mehr Dich zu fangen als Du ihn.

Wenn Du, gesehn nicht werden meinst
von Sonn' und Mond, viel heller scheinst;
wenn's sei, daß ich Dich sehen kann,
vergeht ihr Licht, blick' Dich ich an.

Wo and'rer friert mit Angelschnur,
verletzt den Fuß an Muscheln nur;
auch trugvoll arme Fisch' bedrängt,
mit Schling' und offnem Netze fängt;

wo grobe Hand dann schlüpfrig dreist
den Fisch vom Bett des Flusses reißt;
wo Fliegen Muffenseid' zuletzt
der armen Fische Aug' behext.

Für Dich, da braucht's nicht solcher List,
weil Du Dein eig'ner Köder bist:
der Fisch, der sich nicht fängt darin,
ist klüger, ach, als ich es bin.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from English to German (Deutsch) copyright © 2010 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

    If you wish to commission a new translation, please contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

  • a text in English by John Donne (1572 - 1631), "The bait"
    • Go to the text page.

 

This text was added to the website: 2010-03-23
Line count: 28
Word count: 164

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–Emily Ezust, Founder

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