The soldier | Although my horse may not look so handsome

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by Joseph Karl Benedikt, Freiherr von Eichendorff (1788 - 1857)

Translation © by Emily Ezust

Der Soldat

(Sung text for setting by H. Sommer)

See original

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: CAT ENG FRE FRE ITA

  Ist auch schmuck nicht mein Rößlein,
So ist's doch recht klug,
Trägt im Finstern zu 'nem Schlößlein
Mich rasch noch genug.

  Ist das Schloß auch nicht prächtig,
Zum Garten aus der Thür
Tritt ein Mädchen allnächtig
Dort freundlich herfür.

  Und ist auch die Kleine
Nicht die Schönst' auf der Welt,
So gibt's doch just Keine,
Die mir besser gefällt.

  Und spricht sie vom Freien:
So schwing' ich mich auf mein Roß --
Ich bleibe im Freien,
Und sie auf dem Schloß.

Composition:

Hans Sommer

Text Authorship:

by Joseph Karl Benedikt, Freiherr von Eichendorff (1788 - 1857), no title, appears in Gedichte, in 1. Wanderlieder, in Der Soldat, no. 1

See other settings of this text.

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

CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "El soldat I", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English (Emily Ezust) , "The soldier", copyright ©
FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Le soldat", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
FRE French (Français) (Stéphane Goldet) (Pierre de Rosamel) , copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Anche se non è elegante il mio cavallo", 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: 16
Word count: 93

The soldier

(Sung text translation for setting by H. Sommer)

See original

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

 Although my horse may not look so handsome,
 he is actually quite clever,
 and will carry me through the dark to a certain little castle
 quickly enough.
 
 Although the castle is not very splendid,
 out of her door and into the garden 
 steps a maiden who, all night,
 will be friendly to me.
 
 And although this small girl
 is not the fairest in the world,
 there is still no other
 that I like better.
 
 But if she speaks of marriage,
 I'll leap onto my horse -
 I'll stay free
 and she'll stay at the castle.

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 Joseph Karl Benedikt, Freiherr von Eichendorff (1788 - 1857), no title, appears in Gedichte, in 1. Wanderlieder, in Der Soldat, no. 1
- 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: 16
Word count: 95