A song before my mistress | How my fingers fly through the strings

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by Friedrich Heinrich Karl, Freiherr de La Motte-Fouqué (1777 - 1843)

Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Ein Lied vor der Herrin

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG

Wie durch die Saiten fliegt mein Finger,
   Und Lieder strömen ohne Zahl,
   Denkt mancher hier beim Freudenmahl:
   "Ei Singer [sic]!
   Dir weckt die Liebessonne Schall;
   Verliebt nur schlägt so Nachtigall."
 
Du riethest recht in deinem Sinne,
   Wenn also du gerathen hast.
   Drum preise mein verständ'ger Gast,
   Die Minne!
   Die zieht so rein durch Sängerbrust,
   Darf bergen nicht die keusche Lust.
 
Ach wohl ist meine Liebessonne
   Mit hier in edler Frauen Reih'n,
   Und ahnt, ich meine sie allein -
   O Wonne!
   Zwei holde Lippen lächeln mild;
   Da schweigt das Lied, das Herze schwillt.

Confirmed with Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué, "Folko und Isula. Lieder eines Troubadours," Taschenbuch für das Jahr 1814. Der Liebe und Freundschaft gewidmet, herausgegeben von Dr. St. Schütze, Frankfurt am Mayn: bei Friedrich Wilman, [1814], page 99

Text Authorship:

by Friedrich Heinrich Karl, Freiherr de La Motte-Fouqué (1777 - 1843), "Ein Lied vor der Herrin" [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

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

by Conradin Kreutzer (1780 - 1849), "Ein Lied vor der Herrin", from Folko und Isula: Sieben Lieder eine Troubadours von Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]

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

ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "A song before my mistress", copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2016-03-08
Line count: 18
Word count: 91

A song before my mistress

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

How my fingers fly through the strings,
   And songs without number stream forth;
   Many a person here at the joyful feast thinks:
   "Well, singer!
   The sun of love awakens sounds for you;
   Thus sings only the nightingale, lost in love."
 
You guessed well in your mind
   If you guessed thus.
   Therefore, my knowledgeable guest, praise
   Courtly love!
   It passes so purely through a singer’s breast,
   It cannot conceal the chaste passion.
 
Ah, truly the sun of my love
   Is here in the midst of noble women,
   And discerns that I mean her alone -
   Oh bliss!
   A pair of lovely lips smile gently;
   Then my song falls silent, my heart swells.

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2016 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.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

a text in German (Deutsch) by Friedrich Heinrich Karl, Freiherr de La Motte-Fouqué (1777 - 1843), "Ein Lied vor der Herrin"
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2016-03-08
Line count: 18
Word count: 110