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In Kümmernis und Dunkelheit,
Da mußten wir sie bergen!
Nun haben wir sie doch befreit,
Aus ihren dunkeln Särgen!
Ei, wie das blitzt und rauscht und rollt!
Hurrah, du Schwarz, du Roth, du Gold!
Pulver ist schwarz,
Blut ist roth,
Golden flackert die Flamme!
Das ist das alte Reichspanier,
Das sind die alten Farben!
Darunter hau'n und holen wir
Uns bald wohl junge Narben!
Denn erst der Anfang ist gemacht,
Noch steht bevor die letzte Schlacht!
Pulver ist schwarz,
Blut ist roth,
Golden flackert die Flamme!
...
Zum Kampfe denn, zum Kampfe jetzt!
Der Kampf nur gibt die Weihe!
Und kehrst du rauchig und zerfetzt,
So stickt man dich auf's Neue!
Nicht wahr, ihr deutschen Jungfräulein?
Hurrah, das wird ein Sticken sein!
Pulver ist schwarz,
Blut ist roth,
Golden flackert die Flamme!
Und der das Lied für euch erfand
In einer dieser Nächte,
Der wollte, daß ein Musikant
Es bald in Noten brächte!
Heißt das: ein rechter Musikant!
Dann kläng' es hell durch's deutsche Land:
Pulver ist schwarz,
Blut ist roth,
Golden flackert die Flamme!
Note: the text above is taken from stanzas 1-2,11-12 of the original text.
Composition:
- Set to music by Wilhelm Volckmar (1812 - 1887), "Schwarz, Rot, Gold", stanzas 1-2,11-12
Text Authorship:
- by Ferdinand Freiligrath (1810 - 1876), "Schwarz-Rot-Gold"
See other settings of this text.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "Black-Red-Gold", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Noir-rouge-doré", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Dr. Gerrit den Hartogh , Sharon Krebs [Senior Associate Editor], Johann Winkler
This text was added to the website: 2004-07-03
Line count: 108
Word count: 499
In times of trouble and darkness,
We had to hide the flag away!
But now we have freed it,
Freed it from its coffin!
Ha, how it flashes, flaps and rolls!
Hurrah, you black, you red, you gold!
Gunpowder is black,
Blood is red,
Golden flickers the flame!
That is the old banner of the realm,
Those are the old colours!
Under those we hit and surely
Soon acquire fresh scars!
For only a beginning has been made,
The last battle is still before us!
Gunpowder is black,
Blood is red,
Golden flickers the flame!
...
To battle then, to battle now!
The battle itself gives me the benediction!
And if you flag return smoky and tattered
You shall be stitched anew!
That's right, isn't it, you German maidens?
Hurray, that will be a stitching!
Gunpowder is black,
Blood is red,
Golden flickers the flame!
And he who thought up this poem for you
In one of these nights,
He wished that a musician
Would soon clothe it in notes!
He would be called a true musician!
Then it would ring out brightly through the German lands:
Gunpowder is black,
Blood is red,
Golden flickers the flame!
Note: the text above is taken from stanzas 1-2,11-12 of the original text.
Translator's note: For information on the meaning of the various political events depicted in this poem (particularly those in the sixth stanza), see http://www.liederlexikon.de/lieder/in_kuemmernis_und_dunkelheit/editiona.
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.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
Based on:
- a text in German (Deutsch) by Ferdinand Freiligrath (1810 - 1876), "Schwarz-Rot-Gold"
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This text was added to the website: 2013-07-26
Line count: 108
Word count: 564