Es war ein alter König, sein Herz war schwer, sein [Haupt]1 war grau; der arme alte König, er nahm eine junge Frau. Es war ein [schöner]2 Page, blond war sein [Haupt]3, leicht war sein Sinn; er trug die [seid'ne]4 Schleppe der jungen Königin. Kennst du das alte Liedchen? Es klingt so süß, es klingt so trüb! Sie mußten beide sterben, sie hatten sich viel zu lieb.
Text Authorship:
- by Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856), no title, written 1830, appears in Neue Gedichte, in Neuer Frühling, no. 29
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View original text (without footnotes)Confirmed with Neue Gedichte von H. Heine, Zweite Auflage, Hamburg, bei Hoffmann und Campe, 1844, page 28.
1 Diepenbrock: "Haar"2 Schnorr von Carolsfeld, Zemlinsky: "junger"
3 Wolfrum: "Haar"
4 Goldschmidt: "seidene"
There was an old king, his heart was heavy, his head was gray; the poor, old king, he took a young wife. There was a handsome pageboy, blond was his hair, light was his manner; he carried the silk train of the young queen. Do you know this old song? It sounds so sweet, it sounds so troubled! They both had to die, for they loved each other too much.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © by Emily Ezust
Emily Ezust permits her translations to be reproduced without prior permission for printed (not online) programs to free-admission concerts only, provided the following credit is given:
Translation copyright © by Emily Ezust,
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Based on:
- a text in German (Deutsch) by Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856), no title, written 1830, appears in Neue Gedichte, in Neuer Frühling, no. 29
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This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 71
Du bist wie eine Blume [So hold und schön und rein;]1 Ich [schau']2 dich an, und Wehmut Schleicht mir ins Herz hinein. Mir ist, als [ob ich]3 die Hände Aufs Haupt [dir]4 legen sollt', [Betend]5, daß [Gott dich]6 erhalte [So rein und schön und hold]7.
Text Authorship:
- by Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856), no title, appears in Buch der Lieder, in Die Heimkehr, no. 47, first published 1825
See other settings of this text.
View original text (without footnotes)Confirmed with: Heinrich Heine’s sämtliche Werke in vier Bänden, herausgegeben von Otto F. Lachmann, Erster Band, Leipzig: Druck und Verlag von Philipp Reclam jun, [1887], page 136.
1 Ander: "So schön, so rein und hold"; Chadwick: "So schön, so hold, so rein"; Mayer: "So hold, so schön und rein"; Becker, Thuille: "So hold, so schön, so rein"; Unger: "So rein so schön und hold"2 Becker: "seh'"
3 Hinrichs: "ob"
4 Hinrichs: "ich dir"
5 Dreyschock: "und beten"
6 Liszt: "dich Gott"
7 Ander: "So hold und schön und rein"; Chadwick, Thuille: "So schön, so hold, so rein"; Mayer: "So rein, so schön und hold"; Becker: "So rein, so schön, so hold"
Thou art, as is a flower, so meek and pure and fine, I look at thee and sadness steals o'er the heart of mine. I feel that both my hands softly thy hair, thy head should seek, praying that God may preserve thee so pure and fine and meek.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2009 by Bertram Kottmann, (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.
Bertram Kottmann. Contact: BKottmann (AT) t-online.de
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Based on:
- a text in German (Deutsch) by Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856), no title, appears in Buch der Lieder, in Die Heimkehr, no. 47, first published 1825
Go to the general single-text view
This text was added to the website: 2009-08-10
Line count: 8
Word count: 49