Little leaf, tossing playfully in the

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by Ernst Karl Engelhardt (1788 - 1835), as Orion Julius

Translation © by Laura Stanfield Prichard

Lied. Das Laubblatt

(Sung text for setting by G. Gerson)

See original

Language: German (Deutsch) after the French (Français)

Our translations: ENG

    Blättchen, das im losen Spiel
    Winde durch die Lüfte jagen,
    Blättchen! Kannst du mir nicht sagen:
    Wo ist deiner Wandrung Ziel?

Wo? ward mir noch selbst nicht kund;
Von dem Stamm, der mich getragen,
Durch der Stürme Macht verschlagen
Pilgr’ ich auf der Erde Rund.

Ohne Willen, ohne Wahl
Schweb’ ich sorglos durch die Wälder;
Durch Gebüsche, über Felder,
Über Hügel, Strom und Thal.

Dort, wo Alles hin muß gehn,
Wie der Lorbeer so die Rose
Dort in der Vernichtung Schooße
Werden wir uns wiedersehn!

Note: The first stanza is quoted in Mörike's poem Meiner Schwester.

Composition:

Georg Gerson

Text Authorship:

by Ernst Karl Engelhardt (1788 - 1835), as Orion Julius, "Das Laubblatt" [an adaptation]

Based on:

a text in French (Français) by Antoine Vincent Arnault (1766 - 1834), "La feuille", appears in Œuvres de A.V. Arnault, in Fables et poésies diverses, no. 16, first published 1825
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Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

ENG English (Laura Stanfield Prichard) , copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Melanie Trumbull

This text was added to the website: 2014-05-26
Line count: 16
Word count: 87

Little leaf, tossing playfully in the

(Sung text translation for setting by G. Gerson)

See original

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

    Little leaf, tossing playfully in the
    winds rushing through the air,
    Little leaf! Can’t you tell me:
    What’s the goal of your wandering path?

Where? I haven’t found this out about myself;
From the trunk that supported me,
Torn off by the power of storms
I’m a pilgrim on this great Earth.

Without will, without choice,
I float carefree through the woods;
Through brush, over fields,
over hills, streams und valleys.

There, as everything goes,
Like the laurel and the rose
There, in death’s womb
Will we see each other again!

About the headline (FAQ)

Translator's note: The first stanza is the voice of the poet, and the rest of the lines (after the first stanza) are the voice of the leaf.

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2024 by Laura Stanfield Prichard, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

a text in German (Deutsch) by Ernst Karl Engelhardt (1788 - 1835), as Orion Julius, "Das Laubblatt" [an adaptation]
- Go to the text page.

Based on:

a text in French (Français) by Antoine Vincent Arnault (1766 - 1834), "La feuille", appears in Œuvres de A.V. Arnault, in Fables et poésies diverses, no. 16, first published 1825
- Go to the text page.

Go to the general single-text view

This text was added to the website: 2024-10-31
Line count: 16
Word count: 95