by Thomas Moore (1779 - 1852)
Translation by Ferdinand Freiligrath (1810 - 1876)
Row gently here
Language: English
Row gently here,
My gondolier,
So softly wake the tide,
That not an ear,
On earth, may hear,
But hers to whom we glide.
Had Heaven but tongues to speak, as well
As starry eyes to see,
Oh, think what tales 'twould have to tell
Of wand'ring youths like me!
Now rest thee here,
My gondolier,
Hush, hush, for up I go,
To climb yon light
Balcony's height,
While thou keep'st watch below.
Ah! did we take for Heaven above
But half such pains as we
Take, day and night, for woman's love,
What Angels we should be!
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See also Marceline Desbordes-Valmore's Barcarolle imitée de Thomas Moore.
Text Authorship:
- by Thomas Moore (1779 - 1852), "Row gently here", subtitle: "Venetian air", appears in National Airs, first published 1822 [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 Benjamin Carr (1769 - 1831), "The gondolier" [ voice and piano ], from Carr's Canzonetts [sung text not yet checked]
- by Edward L. Hopkins , "Row gently here", published 1871 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Paul van Katwijk (1885 - 1974), "Row gently", published 1918 [ medium voice and piano ], from Four Songs [sung text not yet checked]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Ferdinand Freiligrath (1810 - 1876) , "Row gently here" ; composed by Robert Emmerich, C. Hruby, Adolf Jensen, Bruno Ramann, Robert Schumann, Alexander Winterberger.
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by W. Herzberg , "Der Gondolier" ; composed by Friedrich Klose.
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2003-11-19
Line count: 20
Word count: 99
Leis' rudern hier
NOTE: the footnotes have been removed from this text; return to general view
Language: German (Deutsch) after the English
Leis' rudern hier, mein Gondolier! Die Flut vom Ruder sprühn so leise laß, daß sie uns nur vernimmt, zu der wir zieh'n! O könnte, wie er schauen kann, der Himmel reden -- traun, Er spräche vieles wohl von dem, was Nachts die Sterne schau'n! Nun rasten hier, mein Gondolier! Ins Boot die Ruder! sacht! Auf zum Balkone schwing' ich mich, doch du hältst unten Wacht, O, wollten halb so eifrig nur dem Himmel wir uns weih'n, Als schöner Weiber Dienste -- trau'n, wir könnten Engel sein!
About the headline (FAQ)
View text with all available footnotesNote: in Freiligrath's published form, this is a poem of two stanzas with four lines each.
Text Authorship:
- by Ferdinand Freiligrath (1810 - 1876), "Row gently here" [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in English by Thomas Moore (1779 - 1852), "Row gently here", subtitle: "Venetian air", appears in National Airs, first published 1822
Go to the general view
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2003-11-19
Line count: 19
Word count: 86