Kind! Es wäre dein Verderben,
Und ich geb' mir selber Mühe,
Daß dein liebes Herz [in Liebe]1
Nimmermehr [für mich]2 erglühe.

Nur daß mir's so leicht gelinget,
[Will]3 mich dennoch fast betrüben,
Und ich denke [manchmal dennoch]4:
Möchtest du mich dennoch lieben!

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)
¹ White: "für mich"
² White: "in Lieb"
³ White: "will's"
⁴ White: "dennoch manchmal"

Text Authorship:

• by Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856), no title, appears in Buch der Lieder, in Die Heimkehr, no. 48 [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 Boleslav Viktorovich Grodzky (1865 - 1923), "Kind! Es wäre dein Verderben", op. 12 no. 1, also set in Russian (Русский) [sung text not yet checked]
• by (Isador) George Henschel (1850 - 1934), "Kind! Es wäre dein Verderben", op. 37 (Vier Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianofortebegleitung) no. 4, published 1885 [ voice and piano ], Hamburg, Rahter [sung text not yet checked]
• by Korstiaan Stougie (1908 - 1988), "Kind", op. 1 (124 liederen : 1925-1969) no. 68 (1936), published 1972 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Johann Vesque von Püttlingen (1803 - 1883), "Kind! Es wäre dein Verderben", published 1851, from Die Heimkehr : 88 Gedichte aus H. Heine's Reisebildern, no. 48 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Maude Valérie White (1855 - 1937), "Kind! Es wäre dein Verderben", published 1888? [ voice and piano ], from New Albums of Songs with German and English Words, Volume 1, no. 5, London: Pitt & Hatzfeld, also set in English [sung text checked 1 time]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

• Also set in English, a translation by Maude Valérie White (1855 - 1937) , "Child it were thine utter ruin" ; composed by Maude Valérie White.
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• Also set in Russian (Русский), a translation (after Heine ) by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Boleslav Viktorovich Grodzky.
  • Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
    

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

• ENG English [singable] (Charles Godfrey Leland) , no title, appears in The works of Heinrich Heine, Volume II, London: William Heinemann, page 35, first published 1891
• ENG English (Emma Lazarus) , appears in Poems and Ballads of Heinrich Heine, first published 1881
• FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• POL Polish (Polski) (Aleksander Kraushar) , "Dziecko!", Warsaw, first published 1880

Researcher for this page: Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2008-02-24
Line count: 8
Word count: 42