The siskin | It is May, child

Attention! Some of this material is not in the public domain.

It is illegal to copy and distribute our copyright-protected material without permission. It is also illegal to reprint copyright texts or translations without the name of the author or translator.

If you wish to reprint translations, please use the Reprint Basket (upper right hand corner).

Reminder: You must always use the copyright symbol © when you reprint copyright-protected material.

by Elisabeth Kulmann (1808 - 1825)

Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Der Zeisig

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: CAT DUT ENG FRE FRE

Wir sind ja, Kind, im Maie,
Wirf Buch und Heft von dir!
Komm' einmal her in's Freie,
Und sing' ein Lied mit mir.

Komm, singen fröhlich beide
Wir einen Wettgesang,
Und wer da will, entscheide,
Wer von uns besser sang!

Note: at the top of the Schumann score is the following text: "Ein Lied aus ihrem frühsten Mädchenalter, vielleicht schon im elften Jahre gedichtet. So reizend naive enthalten die Dichtungen jener Zeit an die Hundert. Auf das tiefste spiegelt sie überall die Wirklichkeit ab."

Text Authorship:

by Elisabeth Kulmann (1808 - 1825), "Der Zeisig", appears in Gemäldesammlung in vierundzwanzig Sälen, in 2. Zweiter Saal, no. 4, first published 1819 [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 Robert Schumann (1810 - 1856), "Der Zeisig", op. 104 no. 4 (1851), published 1851 [ voice and piano ], from Sieben Lieder von Elisabeth Kulmann zur Erinnerung an die Dichterin, no. 4, Leipzig, Kistner
Score: IMSLP [external link] [sung text checked 1 time]

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

CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "El lluer", copyright © 2020, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "Het sijsje", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "The siskin", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Le serin", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
FRE French (Français) (Stéphane Goldet) (Pierre de Rosamel) , "Le chardonneret", copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Ted Perry

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 8
Word count: 40

The siskin

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

Add this translation to the Basket

It is May, child,
Cast aside your schoolbooks!
Come here into the outdoors
And sing a song with me.
 
Come, let us cheerfully compete
With each other in song,
And whoever wishes to, may decide
Which of us sang better!

Note: the original title of the translation was "The finch" (a more familiar type of bird)
Translation of the text at the top of the Schumann score: "A poem from her earliest girlhood, perhaps written already in her eleventh year. There are close to a hundred such delightfully naive pieces in the poetry of that period. In every sense they reflect reality most profoundly."

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 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 Elisabeth Kulmann (1808 - 1825), "Der Zeisig", appears in Gemäldesammlung in vierundzwanzig Sälen, in 2. Zweiter Saal, no. 4, first published 1819
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2015-03-20
Line count: 8
Word count: 40