Woman, you sweet one | I never knew what love is

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by Ludwig Finckh (1876 - 1964)

Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Fraue, du Süße

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: CAT ENG FRE NOR

Ich hab' es nie gewußt, was Liebe ist.
Es ist so, daß man Tod und Welt vergißt,
Und Glück und Leid und alles was es gibt,
Und daß man liebt.

Und ist so, daß die leichte Siegerkraft
Im Arm sich reckt, die Königreiche schafft,
Daß man im Kissen liegt die ganze Nacht
Und weint und lacht.

Was ist die Welt? Ein Stäubchen auf der Hand.
Der größte Berg, ein kleines Körnchen Sand.
Kein Hauch. Kein Laut. Nur ein Gedanke da:
Du bist mir nah!

Confirmed with Rosen von Ludwig Finckh, mit einer Einführung von Otto Julius Bierbaum, Vierte Auflage, Stuttgart und Berlin: Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, 1912, page 142

Text Authorship:

by Ludwig Finckh (1876 - 1964), appears in Rosen, no. 6 [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 Alban Maria Johannes Berg (1885 - 1935), "Fraue, du Süße", 1906 [ voice and piano ], from Jugendlieder, Vol. II (1904-08), no. 50 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Karl Weigl (1881 - 1949), "Fraue, du Süße", op. 3 (Fünf Lieder) no. 2 (1903-5), published 1910 [ tenor and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]

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

CAT Catalan (Català) (Manuel Capdevila i Font) , "Tu, dona estimada", copyright © 2025, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "Woman, you sweet one", copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Femme, douce", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
NOR Norwegian (Bokmål) (Marianne Beate Kielland) , "Kvinne, du vakre", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this page: Jakob Kellner , Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 84

Woman, you sweet one

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

I never knew what love is.
It is thus: that one forgets death and the world,
And happiness and sorrow and everything there is,
And that one loves.

And is thus: that in one’s arms the gentle power 
Of victory stirs, which creates kingdoms,
That one lies upon one’s pillow the whole night long
And weeps and laughs.

What is the world? A speck of dust upon one’s hand.
The greatest mountain, a little grain of sand.
A breath. No sound. Only one thought is present:
You are near me!

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2017 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 Ludwig Finckh (1876 - 1964), appears in Rosen, no. 6
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2017-04-28
Line count: 12
Word count: 90