by Friedrich Heinrich Oser (1820 - 1891)
Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Waldvöglein
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Our translations:  ENG
   Das Vöglein hat ein schönes Loos,
Wenn's Gott vertrauend, sorgenlos,
Im hellen Frühlingssonnenstrahl
Die Schwingen [probt]1 zum ersten Mal,
Zu singen anhebt wie im Traum,
Und neckisch hüpft von Baum zu Baum,
Wenn's immer höher dann sich hebt,
Und in den blauen Lüften schwebt.
 
   Das Vöglein hat ein schönes Loos:
Auf neue Lieder sinnt's nun bloß;
O horch! wie's jubelnd aus der Brust
Ausschmettert all die Wonn' und Lust,
Die in der grünen Zaubernacht
Im jungen Herzen ihm erwacht,
Und wie's die erste süße Qual
Im Busche klagt dem Mondenstrahl!
 
   Das Vöglein hat ein schönes Loos:
Wohin's nur will, fliegt's kummerlos;
Husch! wandert's durch die Lüfte fort
Mit seinem Lied von Ort zu Ort,
Dort überfliegt's den wilden Strom,
Und dort umkreist's den schlanken Dom:
Du glücklich Vöglein! was ich bitt,
Halt' an, halt' an! und nimm mich mit!

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

•   J. Lang 

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Liederbuch von Friedrich Oser, 1842-1874, mit einem biographischen Verzeichnis der Componisten, Basel: Benno Schwabe, Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1875, pages 90-91.

1 Lang: "hebt", but this word is what is found on the handwritten copy sent to her by Oser.

Text Authorship:

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

  • Also set in German (Deutsch), [adaptation] ; composed by Benedikt Randhartinger.

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

  • ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "Forest bird", copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Researcher for this page: Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2015-04-30
Line count: 24
Word count: 141

Forest bird
Language: English  after the German (Deutsch) 
   The little bird has a happy lot,
When, trusting in God, without anxiety,
[It tries out]1 its wings for the first time
In the bright sunbeam of spring,
Begins to sing as in a dream,
And teasingly hops from tree to tree,
When it lifts itself ever higher
And hovers in the blue heavens.
 
   The little bird has a happy lot,
All it thinks about is new songs;
Oh listen, how from its breast, rejoicingly,
It pours forth all the bliss and joy
That awoke in its young heart
In the green, magical night,
And how it sings of the first sweet anguish,
In the bush, lamenting to the moonbeam.
 
   The little bird has a happy lot:
Wherever it wishes to go, it flies without care;
Whoosh! it takes off into the winds
With its song from place to place,
There it flies across the wild river,
And there it circles about the slender [spire of the] cathedral:
You happy little bird! what I ask of you:
Stop, stop! and take me with you!

View original text (without footnotes)
1Lang: "lifts", but this word is what is found on the handwritten copy of the poem sent to her by Oser.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2015 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.
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This text was added to the website: 2015-04-30
Line count: 24
Word count: 176