by Johann Ludwig Uhland (1787 - 1862)
Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Das Schifflein
 (Sung text for setting by R. Schumann)
 See original
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Our translations:  CAT DUT ENG FRE ITA
Ein Schifflein ziehet leise
Den Strom hin seine Gleise.
Es schweigen, die drin wandern,
Denn keiner kennt den Andern.

Was zieht hier aus dem Felle
Der braune Waidgeselle?
Ein Horn, das sanft erschallet;
Das Ufer widerhallet.

Von seinem Wanderstabe
Schraubt jener Stift und Habe,
Und mischt mit Flötentönen
Sich in des Hornes Dröhnen.

Das Mädchen saß so blöde,
Als fehlt' ihr gar die Rede,
Jetzt stimmt sie mit Gesange
Zu Horn und Flötenklange.

Die Rudrer auch  sich regen
Mit taktgemäßen Schlägen.
Das Schiff hinunter flieget,
Von Melodie gewieget.

Hart stößt es auf am Strande,
Man trennt sich in die Lande:
Wann treffen wir uns, Brüder?
Auf einem Schifflein wieder?

Note: Josephine Lang composed two different unpublished settings of this text, neither of which is dated. The setting with only one manuscript has been designated "first setting" and the one with four manuscript versions has been designated "second setting." In the first setting the last line of stanza 5 is not in the score, although there vocal notes to which it could fit. For the second setting, footnotes have been provided for V4 only.

Composition:

    Set to music by Robert Schumann (1810 - 1856), "Das Schifflein", op. posth. 146 no. 5 (1849), published 1860, Elberfeld, Arnold

Text Authorship:

See other settings of this text.

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

  • CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "La barqueta", copyright © 2021, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "Het scheepje", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "The little ship", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Le petit bateau", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ITA Italian (Italiano) (Gianni Franceschi) , "La barchetta", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


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

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 24
Word count: 118

Language: English  after the German (Deutsch) 
A little ship quietly travels
Its path along the current.
Those travelling on it are silent
For they do not know each other.

What is it that from beneath his pelts
The brown forester
fieldsman pulls out?
It is a horn that softly sounds:
The shore echoes its sounding.

From his walking stick
Another unscrews prong and possessions,
And mixes the tones of a flute
Into the droning of the horn.

The maiden who had sat so bashfully,
As if she were incapable of speech,
Now lifts her voice in song
To the sounds of the horn and the flute.

The rowers, too, bestir themselves
With rhythmic strokes.
The ship beneath them flies
Rocked by melody.

The shore is reached with a hard bump,
The passengers prepare to go their separate ways into the land:
When, brethren, shall we all be together again
Upon the same little ship?

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2013 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.
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Based on:

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This text was added to the website: 2013-07-03
Line count: 24
Word count: 150