Sie führten ihn durch den grauen Hof,
Daß ihm sein Spruch gescheh';
Am Fenster stand sein junges Gemahl,
Die schöne Königin Grey.

Sie bog ihr [Köpflein zum Gitter]1 heraus,
Ihr [Hals]2 erglänzte wie Schnee;
Er hob die Fessel klirrend auf
Und grüßte sein Weib Jane Grey.

Und als man den Toten vorübertrug,
Sie stand damit sie ihn seh';
Drauf ging sie freudig denselben Gang,
Die junge Königin Grey.

Der Henker, als ihm ihr Antlitz schien,
Er weinte [laut auf vor]3 Weh,
Dann eilte nach in die Ewigkeit
Dem Gatten Königin Grey.

Viel junge Damen starben schon
Vom Hochland bis zur See,
Doch keine war schöner und keuscher noch
Als Dudleys Weib Jane Grey.

Und wenn der Wind in den Blättern spielt
Und er spielt in [Blumen]4 und Klee,
Dann flüstert's noch oft vom frühen Tod
Der jungen Königin Grey.

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Neuer deutscher Balladenschatz, Berlin, A. Scherl, G.m.b.H, 1906, page 1.

¹ Schoenberg, Zemlinsky: "Köpfchen zum Fenster"
² Schoenberg, Zemlinsky: "Haar"
³ Sinding: "laut vor"
⁴ Sinding: "Blättern"

Text Authorship:

• by Heinrich Ammann (1864 - 1950), "Jane Grey", first published 1906 [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 Jean Paul Ertel (1865 - 1933), "Jane Grey", op. 18 (5 Lieder und Balladen) no. 3, published 1909 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig, F.E.C. Leuckart [sung text not yet checked]
• by Felix Petyrek (1892 - 1951), "Jane Grey", op. 1, published 191-? [sung text not yet checked]
• by Arnold Franz Walter Schoenberg (1874 - 1951), "Jane Grey", op. 12 (2 Balladen) no. 1 (1907) [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Christian Sinding (1856 - 1941), "Jane Grey", op. 109 (Vier Balladen und Lieder) no. 3, published 1911 [ mezzo-soprano or baritone and orchestra ], Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Alexander Zemlinsky (1871 - 1942), "Jane Grey", 1907, from Zwei Balladen, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]

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

• ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "Jane Grey", copyright © 2020, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Jane Grey", copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 24
Word count: 143

They led him through the grey courtyard
In order to carry out his sentence;
At the window stood his young wife,
The lovely Queen Grey.

She bent her dear head out of the [screen]1,
Her [neck]2 shone as radiantly as snow;
He lifted chains with a rattling sound
And greeted his wife Jane Grey.

And when they carried the dead man past,
She stood so that she could see him;
Thereupon she cheerfully went the same way,
The young Queen Grey.

The executioner, when her face shone upon him,
He cried out loudly for woe,
Then she swiftly followed [her spouse]
Into eternity, did Queen Grey.

Many young ladies have already died
From the highland to the sea,
But none was more beautiful or more chaste
Than Dudley's wife Jane Grey.

And when the wind plays in the leaves,
And plays in [flowers]3 and clover,
Then it often whispers still of the early death
Of the young Queen Grey.