There were two children, young and good

Attention! Some of this material is not in the public domain.

It is illegal to copy and distribute our copyright-protected material without permission. It is also illegal to reprint copyright texts or translations without the name of the author or translator.

To inquire about permissions and rates, contact Emily Ezust at licenses@email.lieder.example.net

If you wish to reprint translations, please make sure you include the names of the translators in your email. They are below each translation.

Note: You must use the copyright symbol © when you reprint copyright-protected material.

by Christian Morgenstern (1871 - 1914)

Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Da waren zwei Kinder

(Sung text for setting by A. Zemlinsky)

See original

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG

Da waren zwei Kinder, jung und gut,
aber ihr Blut
floß gar zu schnelle.
Sie lachten sich zu,
da warf ihre Ruh'
die erste harmlose Welle.

Doch jeden Tag warf sie eine mehr,
bis gar wild hin und her
Wogen wallten.
Da ging es zum Sterben,
gradaus ins Verderben --
sie konnten ihr Herz nicht halten.

Composition:

Alexander Zemlinsky

Text Authorship:

by Christian Morgenstern (1871 - 1914), "Volksweise", appears in Ein Sommer, Verse

See other settings of this text.

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

ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

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

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 55

There were two children

(Sung text translation for setting by A. Zemlinsky)

See original

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

There were two children, young and good,
but their blood
flowed all too quickly.
They smiled at each other,
at which their peace
was troubled by the first, harmless wave.

Yet every day another came,
until wildly back and forth
waves surged.
Thereupon it came to dying,
straight into doom --
they could not contain their hearts.

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2017 by Sharon Krebs, (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 Christian Morgenstern (1871 - 1914), "Volksweise", appears in Ein Sommer, Verse
- Go to the text page.

Go to the general single-text view

This text was added to the website: 2017-10-15
Line count: 12
Word count: 56