by Christian Felix Weisse (1726 - 1804)
Translation © by Malcolm Wren

Der Zauberer
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Our translations:  DUT ENG FRE ITA NOR SPA
Ihr Mädchen, flieht Damöten ja!
Als ich zum erstenmal ihn sah,
Da fühlt' ich, so was fühlt' ich nie,
Mir ward, mir ward, ich weiß nicht wie,
Ich seufze, zitterte, und schien mich doch zu freu'n;
Glaubt mir, er muß ein Zaub'rer sein.

Sah ich ihn an, so ward mir heiß,
Bald ward ich rot, bald ward ich weiß,
Zuletzt nahm er mich bei der Hand;
Wer sagt mir, was ich da empfand?
Ich sah, ich hörte nichts, 
Sprach nichts als ja und nein;
Glaubt mir, er muß ein Zaub'rer sein.

Er führte mich in dies Gesträuch,
Ich wollt' ihm flieh'n und folgt' ihm gleich;
Er setzte sich, ich setzte mich; 
Er sprach, nur Sylben stammelt' ich;
Die Augen starrten ihm, die meinen wurden klein;
Glaubt mir, er muß ein Zaub'rer sein.

Entbrannt drückt' er mich an sein Herz,
Was fühlt' ich Welch ein süßer Schmerz!
Ich schluchzt', ich atmete sehr schwer,
Da kam zum Glück die Mutter her;
Was würd', o Götter, sonst nach so viel Zauberei'n,
Aus mir zuletzt geworden sein!

Text 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):

  • DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "De tovenaar", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ENG English (Malcolm Wren) , "The magician", copyright © 2018, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Le magicien", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "L'incantatore", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • NOR Norwegian (Bokmål) (Marianne Beate Kielland) , "Tryllekunstneren", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • SPA Spanish (Español) (Elisa Rapado) , "El mago", copyright © 2007, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2003-10-14
Line count: 25
Word count: 173

The magician
Language: English  after the German (Deutsch) 
Girls, just keep your distance from Damoetas!
When I saw him for the first time
I felt something that I had never felt before,
I became, I became, I don't know what it was like,
I sighed, I trembled, and I even got the impression that I was enjoying it,
Believe me, he must be a magician.

When I set eyes on him I became hot,
One moment I turned red, the next I turned white,
Eventually he took me by the hand;
Who can tell me what it was that I experienced there?
I looked, I heard nothing,
I said nothing but yes and no;
Believe me, he must be a magician.

He led me into this clump of bushes,
I wanted to get away from him but that didn't stop me following him;
He sat down; I sat down.
He spoke; I just muttered syllables.
His eyes seemed to stare out; mine shrank.
Believe me, he must be a magician.

Fired up, he pressed me to his heart;
What a sweet pain it was that I felt!
I sobbed, it was hard for me to breathe,
Then luckily my mother turned up;
Otherwise, oh ye gods, after all that magic
What might have happened to me in the end!

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2018 by Malcolm Wren, (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: 2018-04-11
Line count: 25
Word count: 211