Look not into my songs! | Look not into my songs!

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by Friedrich Rückert (1788 - 1866)

Translation © by Emily Ezust

Blicke mir nicht in die Lieder

(Sung text for setting by G. Mahler)

See original

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: CAT ENG FIN FRE ITA NOR POR SPA SWE

Blicke mir nicht in die Lieder!
Meine Augen schlag' ich nieder,
Wie ertappt auf böser That;
Selber darf ich nicht getrauen,
Ihrem Wachsen zuzuschauen:
Deine Neugier ist Verrath.

Bienen, wenn sie Zellen bauen,
Lassen auch nicht zu sich schauen,
Schauen selber auch nicht zu.
Wenn die reichen Honigwaben
Sie zu Tag gefördert haben,
Dann vor allen nasche du!

Composition:

Gustav Mahler

Fünf Rückertlieder

Text Authorship:

by Friedrich Rückert (1788 - 1866), "Verbotener Blick", appears in Lyrische Gedichte, in 4. Haus und Jahr, in 1. Erste Reihe. Eigner Herd

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

CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "No miris les meves cançons!", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English (Emily Ezust) , "Look not into my songs!", copyright ©
FIN Finnish (Suomi) (Erkki Pullinen) , copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Non curiosare fra i miei canti!", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
NOR Norwegian (Bokmål) (Marianne Beate Kielland) , "Kikk ikke på mine sanger!", copyright © 2018, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
POR Portuguese (Português) (Caê Vieira) , copyright © 2019, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
SPA Spanish (Español) (Elena María Accinelli) , "¡No miréis mis canciones!", copyright © 2007, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
SWE Swedish (Svenska) (Yvonne Helander) , "Tjuvkika inte på mina sånger", copyright © 2006, (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: 12
Word count: 59

Look not into my songs!

(Sung text translation for setting by G. Mahler)

See original

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

Look not into my songs!
My eyes I lower,
as if I've been caught in an evil deed.
I can't even trust myself
to watch them grow.
Your curiosity is a betrayal!

Bees, when they build their cells,
also do not let anyone observe them;
even themselves.
When
 the rich honeycombs
are brought out to the light of day,
then you shall taste them before everyone else!

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © by Emily Ezust
Emily Ezust permits her translations to be reproduced without prior permission for printed (not online) programs to free-admission concerts only, provided the following credit is given:
Translation copyright © by Emily Ezust,
from the LiederNet Archive
For any other purpose, please write to the e-mail address below to request permission and discuss possible fees.
licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

a text in German (Deutsch) by Friedrich Rückert (1788 - 1866), "Verbotener Blick", appears in Lyrische Gedichte, in 4. Haus und Jahr, in 1. Erste Reihe. Eigner Herd
- Go to the text page.

Go to the general single-text view

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 68