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by Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856)

Es war ein alter König
 (Sung text for setting by E. Meyer-Helmund)
 Matches original text
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Our translations:  CAT ENG FRE
Es war ein alter König,
sein Herz war schwer, sein Haupt war grau;
der arme alte König,
er nahm eine junge Frau.

Es war ein schöner Page,
blond war sein Haupt, leicht war sein Sinn;
er trug die seid'ne Schleppe
der jungen Königin.

Kennst du das alte Liedchen?
Es klingt so süß, es klingt so trüb!
Sie mußten beide sterben,
sie hatten sich viel zu lieb.

Composition:

    Set to music by Erik Meyer-Helmund (1861 - 1932), "Es war ein alter König", op. 3 (Vier Lieder für 1 mittlere Singstimme mit Pianofortebegleitung) no. 2, published 1883 [ medium voice and piano ], Hamburg, Rahter

Text Authorship:

  • by Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856), no title, written 1830, appears in Neue Gedichte, in Neuer Frühling, no. 29

See other settings of this text.

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

  • CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ENG English (Emily Ezust) , "There was an old king", copyright ©
  • FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Il était un vieux roi", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • GER German (Deutsch) (Joost van der Linden) , copyright © 2022, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Johann Winkler

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 66

Gentle Reminder

This website began in 1995 as a personal project by Emily Ezust, who has been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your help is greatly appreciated!
–Emily Ezust, Founder

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