by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)
Translation by Ferdinand Mayerhofer von Grünbühel (1798 - 1869)

When daisies pied and violets blue
Language: English 
Our translations:  FIN FRE NOR
When daisies pied and violets blue
 [And lady-smocks all silver white,
And cuckoo-buds of yellow hue]1,
  Do paint the meadows with delight,
The cuckoo, then on ev'ry tree
Mocks married men, for thus sings he,
  Cuckoo,
Cuckoo, cuckoo: o word of fear,
Unpleasing to a married ear.

[ ... ]

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)
1 Stravinsky: "And cuckoo-buds of yellow hue,/ And lady-smocks all silver white"
2 Arne: "And"
3 Arne: "frocks"

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

  • FIN Finnish (Suomi) (Erkki Pullinen) , "Kevät", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • FRE French (Français) (François-Victor Hugo)
  • FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • GER German (Deutsch) (Anonymous/Unidentified Artist) , "Lied. Der Frühling", first published 1870
  • NOR Norwegian (Bokmål) (Arild Bakke) , "Når spraglet tusenfryd", copyright © 2004, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 18
Word count: 102

Language: German (Deutsch)  after the English 
Wenn Veilchen blau und bunter Klee
Und Kuckucksblümchen goldbestrahlt
Und Maienglöckchen, weiß wie Schnee,
Mit neuem Reitz die Wiesen mahlt.
Auf jedem Baum neckt singend dann
Der Kuckuck einen Ehemann.
Kuckuck, 
Kuckuck! O schlimmer Schall,
Vermählten Ohren bloß zur Qual.

 ...

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Research team for this page: Melanie Trumbull , Johann Winkler

This text was added to the website: 2020-07-18
Line count: 18
Word count: 86