El noi | Si tan sols pogués ser un ocell

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by Friedrich von Schlegel (1772 - 1829)

Translation © by Salvador Pila

Der Knabe

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: CAT DUT ENG FRE ITA

Wenn ich nur ein Vöglein wäre,
Ach wie wollt' ich lustig fliegen,
Alle Vögel weit besiegen.

Wenn ich so ein Vogel bin,
Darf ich alles alles haschen,
Und die höchsten Kirschen naschen,
Fliege dann zur Mutter hin.
Ist sie bös' in ihrem Sinn,
Kann ich lieb mich an sie schmiegen,
Ihren Ernst gar bald besiegen.

Bunte Federn, leichte Flügel,
Dürft' ich in der Sonne schwingen,
Daß die Lüfte laut erklingen,
Weiß nichts mehr von Band und Zügel.
Wär ich über jene Hügel,
Ach dann wollt' ich lustig fliegen,
Alle Vögel weit besiegen.

Confirmed with Musen-Almanach für das Jahr 1802. Herausgegeben von A. W. Schlegel und L. Tieck. Tübingen, in der Cotta'schen Buchhandlung, 1802, page 136; and with Friedrich Schlegel's sämmtliche Werke. Erster Band. Gedichte. Berlin, bei Julius Eduard Hitzig, 1809, page 15.

Text Authorship:

by Friedrich von Schlegel (1772 - 1829), "Der Knabe", appears in Abendröte, in Erster Teil, no. 4, first published 1802 [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 Franz Peter Schubert (1797 - 1828), "Der Knabe", D 692 (1820?), published 1872 [ voice, piano ], J. P. Gotthard, VN 346, Wien [sung text checked 1 time]
by Václav Jan Křtitel Tomášek (1774 - 1850), "Der Knabe", op. 33 no. 3 [ voice and piano ], confirmed with a CD booklet [sung text checked 1 time]

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

CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "El noi", copyright © 2018, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "De jongen", copyright © 2007, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English (Emily Ezust) , "The boy", copyright ©
FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Le garçon", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Il fanciullo", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Peter Rastl [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 17
Word count: 92

El noi

Language: Catalan (Català) after the German (Deutsch)

Si tan sols pogués ser un ocell,
ai, com volaria joiós,
avançant tots els altres ocells.

Si de veritat fos un ocell,
podria atrapar-ho tot, tot,
llepolejar les més altes cireres,
llavors volaria vers la mare.
I si ella estigués de mal humor,
amb ella m’arrauliria afectuós  
i aviat pal•liaria la seva severitat.

Plomes de colors, ales lleugeres,
podria batre a la llum del sol
perquè l’aire ressonés més fort,
no sabria res de lligams ni aturalls.
Si estigués damunt d’aquell tossal,
ai, llavors volaria joiós
avançant tots els altres ocells.

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to Catalan (Català) copyright © 2018 by Salvador Pila, (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 von Schlegel (1772 - 1829), "Der Knabe", appears in Abendröte, in Erster Teil, no. 4, first published 1802
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2018-10-02
Line count: 17
Word count: 91