To the ring | You are a noble little ring

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sometimes misattributed to Adelbert von Chamisso (1781 - 1838) and by Friedrich Rückert (1788 - 1866)

Translation © by Sharon Krebs

An den Ring

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG FRE

Du bist ein edles Ringelein,
     O Ringelein von Gold.
     Steck' ich dich ihr ans Fingerlein;
     Ums Fingerlein von Elfenbein
     Ich selbst gern ringeln mich wollt.

Nun hüte du mir das Fingerlein,
     O Ringelein von Gold,
     Hüt' mir samt Fingerlein 's Händelein,
     Hüt' mir samt Händelein 's Mägdelein,
     So bleib' ich dir lieb und hold.

Und hütst du mir nicht das Fingerlein,
     O Ringelein von Gold,
     Mir nicht samt Fingerlein 's Händelein
     Mir nicht samt Händelein 's Mägdelein;
     Von Blech du mir werden sollt!

Note: author given as Chamisso in a catalog of Reinecke's music

Text Authorship:

sometimes misattributed to Adelbert von Chamisso (1781 - 1838)
by Friedrich Rückert (1788 - 1866), "An den Ring" [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 Karl Heinrich Carsten Reinecke (1824 - 1910), "An den Ring", op. 10 (Sechs Lieder) no. 4 (1846) [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]

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

ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "To the ring", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "À un anneau", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Sharon Krebs [Senior Associate Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2010-12-27
Line count: 15
Word count: 83

To the ring

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

Add this translation to the Basket

You are a noble little ring,
     Oh little ring of gold,
     When I place you upon her little finger,
     Around the finger of ivory
     I would dearly love to entwine myself.

Now you mind the little finger for me,
    Oh little ring of gold,
    And mind with the finger the little hand,
    And mind with the hand the maiden,
    Then I will remain kindly inclined to you.

And if you don't mind the little finger for me,
    Oh little ring of gold,
    And don't mind with the finger the little hand,
    And don't mind with the hand the maiden;
    Then may you turn to brass.

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2010 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.
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Based on:

a text in German (Deutsch) misattributed to Adelbert von Chamisso (1781 - 1838) and by Friedrich Rückert (1788 - 1866), "An den Ring"
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2010-12-27
Line count: 15
Word count: 105