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!
About the headline (FAQ)
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: 98
Leis' rudern hier
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
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Robert Emmerich (1836 - 1891), "Venetianisches Gondellied", op. 21 (Acht Gesänge) no. 8, published 1861 [ voice and piano ], Frankfurt a/M., Henkel [sung text not yet checked]
- by C. Hruby , "Gondellied", op. 7 (Zwei venezianische Lieder von Thomas Moore), published 1891 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Adolf Jensen (1837 - 1879), "Leis rudern hier, mein Gondolier", op. 50 no. 4, published 1876 [ voice and piano ], from Sieben Lieder von Thomas Moore, no. 4, Breslau, Hainauer [sung text not yet checked]
- by Bruno Ramann (1832 - 1897), "Gondellied", op. 18 (Fünf Lieder für eine Singstimme mit Begleitung des Piano) no. 3, published 1871 [ voice and piano ], Dresden, Hoffarth [sung text not yet checked]
- by Robert Schumann (1810 - 1856), "Venetianisches Lied I", op. 25 no. 17 (1840), published 1840 [ voice and piano ], from Myrten, no. 17, Leipzig, Kistner [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Alexander Winterberger (1834 - 1914), "Gondelfahrer", op. 10 (20 Gesänge) no. 18, published 1862 [ soprano or tenor and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Marta Garcia Cadena) , copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "Venetiaans lied I: Zacht roeien hier", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Chant vénitien I", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Amelia Maria Imbarrato) , copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2003-11-19
Line count: 19
Word count: 84