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Ich frage keine Blume, Ich frage keinen Stern, Sie können [mir]1 nicht sagen, Was ich erführ' so gern. Ich bin ja auch kein Gärtner, Die Sterne stehn zu hoch; Mein Bächlein will ich fragen, Ob mich mein Herz belog. O Bächlein meiner Liebe, Wie bist du heut so stumm! Will ja nur Eines wissen, Ein Wörtchen um und um. Ja, heißt das eine Wörtchen, Das andre heißet Nein, Die beiden Wörtchen schließen Die ganze Welt mir ein. O Bächlein meiner Liebe, Was bist du wunderlich! Will's ja nicht weiter sagen, Sag', Bächlein, liebt sie mich?
R. Gernlein sets stanzas 3-5
J. Lang sets stanza 1
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)Confirmed with Gedichte aus den hinterlassenen Papieren eines reisenden Waldhornisten. Herausgegeben von Wilhelm Müller. Erstes Bändchen. Zweite Auflage. Deßau 1826. Bei Christian Georg Ackermann, pages 14-15; and with Sieben und siebzig Gedichte aus den hinterlassenen Papieren eines reisenden Waldhornisten. Herausgegeben von Wilhelm Müller. Dessau, 1821. Bei Christian Georg Ackermann, pages 15-16.
First published in a slightly different version with the title Am Bach in Der Gesellschafter oder Blätter für Geist und Herz. Herausgegeben von F. W. Gubitz. Zweiter Jahrgang. Berlin, 1818. In der Maurerschen Buchhandlung. Montag den 25. Mai. 83stes Blatt, page 329.
1 Müller (1821 edition), and Schubert: "mir alle"Authorship:
- by Wilhelm Müller (1794 - 1827), "Der Neugierige", appears in Gedichte aus den hinterlassenen Papieren eines reisenden Waldhornisten 1, in Die schöne Müllerin, no. 7, first published 1818 [author's text checked 2 times 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 Louis Dames (b. 1815), "Der Neugierige", op. 3 (Sechs Lieder und Gesänge für Sopran mit Pianoforte) no. 6, published 1838 [ soprano and piano ], Berlin, Bote und Bock [sung text not yet checked]
- by Rudolf Gernlein (flourished c1836), "Frage an's Bächlein", published 1831, stanzas 3-5 [ voice and piano or guitar ], from Romanzen- und Liederkranz, no. 7 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Fanny Hensel (1805 - 1847), "Der Neugierige", 1823 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Josephine Lang (1815 - 1880), "Ich frage keine Blume", stanza 1 [ voice and piano ], unpublished, undated, incomplete [sung text not yet checked]
- by Emilie Mayer (1821 - 1883), "Der Neugierige", op. 10 no. 1, published [1845] [ voice and piano ], Berlin, bei Stern & Co. [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Karl Gottlieb Reissiger (1798 - 1859), "Der Neugierige", op. 53 (6 Lieder und Gesänge für eine Bass- oder Bariton-Stimme mit Begleitung des Pianoforte ) no. 3, published [1829] [ bass or baritone and piano ], Dresden: Bei Wilhelm Paul [sung text not yet checked]
- by Franz Peter Schubert (1797 - 1828), "Der Neugierige", op. 25 no. 6, D 795 no. 6 (1823), from Die schöne Müllerin, no. 6 [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , copyright © 2005, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Emily Ezust) , no title, copyright ©
- FIN Finnish (Suomi) (Erkki Pullinen) , copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GRE Greek (Ελληνικά) (Athanasios Papaisiou) , copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Amelia Maria Imbarrato) , copyright © 2005, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- KOR Korean (한국어/조선말) [singable] (곽명규 Myung-Kew Kwack) , copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- POR Portuguese (Português) (Caê Vieira) , copyright © 2019, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Peter Rastl [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 20
Word count: 95
I ask no flower, I ask no star; None of them can tell me, What I so eagerly want to know. I am surely not a gardener, The stars stand too high; My brooklet will I ask, Whether my heart has lied to me. O brooklet of my love, Why are you so quiet today? I want to know just one thing - One little word again and again. The one little word is "Yes"; The other is "No", Both these little words Make up the entire world to me. O brooklet of my love, Why are you so strange? I'll surely not repeat it; Tell me, o brooklet, does she love me?
About the headline (FAQ)
Translations of titles"Der Neugierige" = "Curiosity"
"Frage an's Bächlein" = "Question for the Brooklet"
Authorship:
- Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © by Emily Ezust
Emily Ezust permits her translations to be reproduced without prior permission for printed (not online) programs to free-admission concerts only, provided the following credit is given:
Translation copyright © by Emily Ezust,
from the LiederNet Archive -- https://www.lieder.net/For any other purpose, please write to the e-mail address below to request permission and discuss possible fees.
Based on:
- a text in German (Deutsch) by Wilhelm Müller (1794 - 1827), "Der Neugierige", appears in Gedichte aus den hinterlassenen Papieren eines reisenden Waldhornisten 1, in Die schöne Müllerin, no. 7, first published 1818
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 20
Word count: 113