LiederNet logo

CONTENTS

×
  • Home | Introduction
  • Composers (20,102)
  • Text Authors (19,442)
  • Go to a Random Text
  • What’s New
  • A Small Tour
  • FAQ & Links
  • Donors
  • DONATE

UTILITIES

  • Search Everything
  • Search by Surname
  • Search by Title or First Line
  • Search by Year
  • Search by Collection

CREDITS

  • Emily Ezust
  • Contributors (1,114)
  • Contact Information
  • Bibliography

  • Copyright Statement
  • Privacy Policy

Follow us on Facebook

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832)

Spottlied aus Wilhelm Meister
 (Sung text for setting by H. Wolf)
 Matches original text
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Our translations:  CAT ENG FRE GRE ITA
Ich armer Teufel, Herr Baron,
Beneide Sie um Ihren Stand,
Um Ihren Platz so nah dem Thron
Und um manch schön' Stück Ackerland,
Um Ihres Vaters festes Schloß,
Um seine Wildbahn und Geschoß.

Mich armen Teufel, Herr Baron,
Beneiden Sie, so wie es scheint,
Weil die Natur vom Knaben schon
Mit mir es mütterlich gemeint.
Ich ward, mit leichtem Mut und Kopf,
Zwar arm, doch nicht ein armer Tropf.

Nun dächt ich, lieber Herr Baron,
Wir ließen's bleiben wie wir sind:
Sie blieben des Herrn Vaters Sohn,
Und ich blieb' meiner Mutter Kind.
Wir leben ohne Neid un Haß,
Begehren nicht des andern Titel,
Sie keinen Platz auf dem Parnaß,
Und keinen ich in dem Kapitel.

About the headline (FAQ)

Composition:

    Set to music by Hugo Wolf (1860 - 1903), "Spottlied aus Wilhelm Meister", published 1891 [ voice and piano ], from Goethe-Lieder, no. 4, Mainz, Schott

Text Authorship:

  • by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832), no title, appears in Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre

See other settings of this text.

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

  • CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2021, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ENG English (Knut W. Barde) , "Poor devil that I am, my Baron", copyright © 2006, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Chanson satirique de Wilhelm Meister", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • GRE Greek (Ελληνικά) [singable] (Christakis Poumbouris) , copyright © 2018, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Io povero diavolo, mio signor barone", copyright © 2009, (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: 20
Word count: 116

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

Donate

We use cookies for internal analytics and to earn much-needed advertising revenue. (Did you know you can help support us by turning off ad-blockers?) To learn more, see our Privacy Policy. To learn how to opt out of cookies, please visit this site.

I acknowledge the use of cookies

Contact
Copyright
Privacy

Copyright © 2025 The LiederNet Archive

Site redesign by Shawn Thuris