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[O]1 Schmetterling sprich, Was fliehest du mich? Warum doch so eilig, Jetzt fern und dann nah? Jetzt fern und dann nah, Jetzt hier und dann da -- Ich will dich nicht haschen, Ich thu' dir kein Leid. Ich thu' dir kein Leid: O bleib allezeit! Und wär ich ein Blümchen, So spräch' ich zu dir, So spräch' ich zu dir: Komm, komm doch zu mir! Ich schenk' dir mein Herzchen, Wie gut bin ich dir!
About the headline (FAQ)
View text without footnotesConfirmed with Gedichte von Hoffmann von Fallersleben, Leipzig, Weidmann'sche Buchhandlung, 1843, page 533.
1 omitted by Schumann
Text Authorship:
- by August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben (1798 - 1874), "Wie gut bin ich dir!", appears in Kinderlieder [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 Otto Dresel (1826 - 1890), "Schmetterling", 1849 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Robert Schumann (1810 - 1856), "Schmetterling", op. 79 no. 2 (1849), published 1849 [ voice and piano ], from Liederalbum für die Jugend, no. 2, Leipzig, Breitkopf und Härtel
Score: IMSLP [external link]  [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2020, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "Vlinder", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "How fond I am of you!", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Le papillon", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: John Versmoren , Sharon Krebs [Senior Associate Editor]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 75
[Oh] butterfly tell, Why do you flee me? Why are you in such haste, Now far and then near? Now far and then near, Now here and then there -- I shall not catch you, I shall not harm you. I shall not harm you: O stay here always! And I were a little flower, I would say to you, I would say to you: Come, come to me! I give you my little heart, How fond I am of you!
Text Authorship:
- Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2013 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) by August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben (1798 - 1874), "Wie gut bin ich dir!", appears in Kinderlieder
This text was added to the website: 2013-07-03
Line count: 16
Word count: 80
