by Wilhelm Müller (1794 - 1827)
Translation © by Erkki Pullinen

Der greise Kopf
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Available translation(s): AFR CAT DUT ENG ENG FIN FRE FRI HEB ITA KOR LIT SPA
Der Reif [hatt']1 einen weißen Schein
Mir über's Haar gestreuet.
Da [meint']2 ich schon ein Greis zu sein,
Und hab' mich sehr gefreuet.

Doch bald ist er hinweggethaut,
Hab' wieder schwarze Haare,
Daß mir's vor meiner Jugend graut -
Wie weit noch bis zur Bahre!

Vom Abendroth zum Morgenlicht
Ward mancher Kopf zum Greise.
Wer glaubt's? Und meiner ward es nicht
Auf dieser ganzen Reise!

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Gedichte aus den hinterlassenen Papieren eines reisenden Waldhornisten. Herausgegeben von Wilhelm Müller. Zweites Bändchen. Deßau 1824. Bei Christian Georg Ackermann, page 91; and with Deutsche Blätter für Poesie, Litteratur, Kunst und Theater. Herausgegeben von Karl Schall und Karl von Holtei. Breslau 1823, bei Graß, Barth und Comp. No. XLI. 13. März 1823, page 161.

First published in Deutsche Blätter(see above) as no. 1 of the installment of Die Winterreise. Lieder von Wilhelm Müller.

1 Schubert (autograph and Alte Gesamtausgabe): "hat"
2 Schubert: "glaubt'"

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):

  • AFR Afrikaans [singable] (Robert Schall) , "Die grys kop", copyright © 2020, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "Cabells blancs", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "Het grijze hoofd", copyright © 2005, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ENG English (Arthur Rishi) , "The grey head", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ENG English [singable] (David Paley) , "The grey head", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • FIN Finnish (Suomi) (Erkki Pullinen) , "Harmaantunut pää", copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "La tête du vieillard", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • FRI Frisian [singable] (Pieter Wiersma) , "It Grize Hier", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • HEB Hebrew (עברית) (Max Mader) , "ראש שיבה", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ITA Italian (Italiano) (Amelia Maria Imbarrato) , "La testa bianca", copyright © 2005, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • KOR Korean (한국어/조선말) [singable] (곽명규 Myung-Kew Kwack) , "은빛 머리", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • LIT Lithuanian (Lietuvių kalba) (Giedrius Prunskus) , "Žila galva", copyright © 2022, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • SPA Spanish (Español) (Saúl Botero Restrepo) , "La cabeza gris", copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Research team for this text: Ofer Sheinberg , Peter Rastl [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 65

Harmaantunut pää
Language: Finnish (Suomi)  after the German (Deutsch) 
Kuura ripotteli hohtavaa valkeuttaan
tukkani ylle;
minä jo luulin olevani vanhus
ja iloitsin siitä suuresti.
 
Mutta pian se haihtui pois kuin kaste,
tukkani on taas musta,
ja niin minua kauhistaa nuoruuteni –
miten pitkä matka onkaan ruumispaareille!
 
Iltaruskon ja aamun sarastuksen välillä
on monikin pää harmaantunut.
Kukapa uskoisi, ettei minun päälleni
käynyt niin tämän matkan aikana.

Authorship:

  • Translation from German (Deutsch) to Finnish (Suomi) copyright © 2015 by Erkki Pullinen, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you must ask the copyright-holder(s) directly for permission. If you receive no response, you must consider it a refusal.

    Erkki Pullinen.  Contact: erkki (DOT) pullinen (AT) uniarts (DOT) fi

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Based on:

 

This text was added to the website: 2015-12-27
Line count: 12
Word count: 56