Was weinst du, meine Geige?
Language: German (Deutsch)
Available translation(s): ENG
Was weinst du, meine Geige?
Hat man dir weh getan?
Die Leute wollen lachen,
und sehn uns staunend an.
Einst sangen deine Saiten
nur Liebe, Lieb' und Glück,
und funkensprühend jagte
sich Tollheit Stück um Stück.
Wie flog so leicht der Bogen,
von ihr sang jedes Lied.
Heut' ist so schwer mein Herze,
und meine Hand so müd'.
Ein Silberreif am Finger,
der sprang mir jäh entzwei,
es zittert von den Saiten
wie todeswunder Schrei:
Herab von meinem Finger,
s'war doch nur Lüge dran.
Hei! seht, wie ich nun trinken
und lustig fideln kann!
Was weinst du, meine Geige?
Authorship:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Bertram Kottmann) , "Why are you weeping, my violin?", copyright © 2013, (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: 21
Word count: 99
Why are you weeping, my violin?
Language: English  after the German (Deutsch)
Why are you weeping, my violin?
Have you been hurt?
People want to have fun,
and they are looking at us in disbelief.
At one time your strings sang solely
of love, love and happiness,
and spirited follies took turns
piece by piece.
How lightly flew the bow,
of her each song did sing.
Now my heart sinks
and my arm1 is so tired.
A silver ring on my finger
quite suddenly broke asunder,
the strings tremolo
like a death cry:
Off from my finger,
only falsehood has stuck to it anyway.
Hey! Look, how I can drink now
and fiddle merrily.
Why are you weeping, my violin?