by Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856)
Translation © by Pierre Mathé

Und wüßten's die Blumen, die kleinen
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Available translation(s): CAT DUT DUT ENG FIN FRE GRE HEB IRI ITA SPA
Und wüßten's die Blumen, die kleinen,
Wie tief verwundet mein Herz,
Sie würden mit mir weinen,
Zu heilen meinen Schmerz.

Und wüßten's die Nachtigallen,
Wie ich so traurig und krank,
Sie ließen fröhlich erschallen
Erquickenden Gesang.

Und wüßten sie mein Wehe,
Die [goldnen]1 Sternelein,
Sie kämen aus ihrer Höhe,
Und sprächen Trost mir ein.

[Die]2 alle können's nicht wissen,
Nur [eine]3 kennt meinen Schmerz;
[Sie]4 hat ja selbst zerrissen,
Zerrissen mir das Herz.

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Heinrich Heine, Buch der Lieder, Hoffmann und Campe, Hamburg, 1827, page 128.

Note: Christian Jost's setting begins "Zerrissen mir das Herz" (the last line) and then follows the rest of the text.

1 Jost, Schumann: "goldenen"
2 Jost, Schumann: "Sie"
3 Hensel: "einer"
4 Hensel: "Er"

Authorship:

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


The text above (or a part of it) is used in the following settings:

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

  • Also set in English, a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Wilhelm Baerwolf.
  • Also set in English, a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Frederick Brandeis.
  • Also set in English, a translation by John Troutbeck, Rev. Dr. (1832 - 1899) ; composed by Rosalind Frances Ellicott.
  • Also set in English, a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Flora.
  • Also set in English, a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Henry Kimball Hadley.
  • Also set in English, a translation by Ernest Radford (1857 - 1919) , "Und wüßten's die Blumen, die kleinen", appears in Old and New. A Collection of Poems by Ernest Radford, London: T. Fisher Unwin, page 156, first published 1895 ; composed by Richard Harvey Loehr.
  • Also set in English, a translation by Eugene Field (1850 - 1895) , "Love Song -- Heine" [an adaptation] ; composed by Elizabeth R. Mitchell, Ella May Smith.
  • Also set in English, a translation by L. du P. Style ; composed by Nathaniel Clifford Page.
  • Also set in English, a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Alexander Reichardt.
  • Also set in French (Français), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Fanny, Baronesse d'Avout.
  • Also set in French (Français), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Berthold Damcke.
  • Also set in French (Français), a translation by Jeanne de Tallenay , appears in Premières Rimes, Paris, Éd. Paul Ollendorff, first published 1894 ; composed by E. Savenay.
  • Also set in Italian (Italiano), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Salvatore Auteri-Manzocchi.
  • Also set in Russian (Русский), a translation by Mikhail Larionovich Mikhailov (1829 - 1865) , no title, first published 1874 ; composed by Evgenii Fedorovich Alenev.
  • Also set in Russian (Русский), a translation by Aleksey Nikolayevich Pleshcheyev (1825 - 1893) ; composed by Otto Johann Anton Dütsch, as Оттон Иванович Дютш.
  • Also set in Swedish (Svenska), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by John [Jacques] Jacobsson.

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

  • CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "I si les flors, les petites, sabessin", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • DUT Dutch (Nederlands) (Jan Rot) , "En stel dat de bloemetjes raadden", copyright © 2000, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ENG English (Paul Hindemith) , "And if the blooms - the small ones - knew", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ENG English (Alma Strettell) , "Und wüßten's die Blumen, die kleinen", appears in Poems Selected from Heinrich Heine, ed. by Kate Freiligrath Kroeker, London: Walter Scott, Limited, page 64, first published 1887
  • FIN Finnish (Suomi) (Erkki Pullinen) , copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • FRE French (Français) (Charles Beltjens) , no title, appears in Intermezzo lyrique, no. 22, first published 1827
  • FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • GRE Greek (Ελληνικά) (Effimia Gianniou) , "Κι αν τα μικρά λουλούδια γνώρ&", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • HEB Hebrew (עברית) (Assaf Levitin) (Michal Levitin) , copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • IRI Irish (Gaelic) [singable] (Gabriel Rosenstock) , copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ITA Italian (Italiano) (Amelia Maria Imbarrato) , "Se sapessero i fiorellini", copyright © 2006, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • POL Polish (Polski) (Stanisław Budziński) , no title, first published 1886
  • SPA Spanish (Español) (Wilson Hidalgo) , "Si supieran las florecitas", copyright © 2007, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Research team for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Pierre Mathé [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 73

Et si les petites fleurs savaient
Language: French (Français)  after the German (Deutsch) 
Et si les petites fleurs savaient
Combien mon cœur fut blessé,
Elles pleureraient avec moi
Pour apaiser ma douleur.

Et si les rossignols savaient
Combien je suis triste et malade,
Ils laisseraient gaiement retentir
Un chant réconfortant.

Et si ma douleur était connue
Des petites étoiles d'or,
Elles viendraient du firmament
Et me diraient des mots réconfortants.

Tous ceux-là ne peuvent pas savoir,
[Une seule ]1 connaît ma douleur ;
Car c'est [elle ]2-même qui a déchiré,
Déchiré mon cœur.

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)
1 Mendelssohn-Hensel: "Un seul"
2 Mendelssohn-Hensel: "lui"

Authorship:

  • Translation from German (Deutsch) to French (Français) copyright © 2016 by Pierre Mathé, (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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Based on:

 

This text was added to the website: 2016-12-02
Line count: 16
Word count: 80