LiederNet logo

CONTENTS

×
  • Home | Introduction
  • Composers (20,117)
  • Text Authors (19,508)
  • Go to a Random Text
  • What’s New
  • A Small Tour
  • FAQ & Links
  • Donors
  • DONATE

UTILITIES

  • Search Everything
  • Search by Surname
  • Search by Title or First Line
  • Search by Year
  • Search by Collection

CREDITS

  • Emily Ezust
  • Contributors (1,114)
  • Contact Information
  • Bibliography

  • Copyright Statement
  • Privacy Policy

Follow us on Facebook

×

Attention! Some of this material is not in the public domain.

It is illegal to copy and distribute our copyright-protected material without permission. It is also illegal to reprint copyright texts or translations without the name of the author or translator.

To inquire about permissions and rates, contact Emily Ezust at licenses@email.lieder.example.net

If you wish to reprint translations, please make sure you include the names of the translators in your email. They are below each translation.

Note: You must use the copyright symbol © when you reprint copyright-protected material.

by Georg Friedrich Daumer (1800 - 1875)
Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Wozu, wozu mir sein
Language: German (Deutsch)  after the Slovenian (Slovenščina) 
Our translations:  ENG
  Wozu, wozu mir sein
Sollte das Haar, das schöne, lange mein,
Soll nicht damit im Putze gepranget sein? --

  Wozu, wozu mir sein
Sollte der Fuß, der leichte, flinke mein,
Soll nicht damit im Tanze geflogen sein? --

  Wozu, wozu mir sein
Sollte das Aug', das helle, klare mein,
Soll nicht damit mein Liebster beäugelt sein? --

  Wozu, wozu mir sein
Sollte die Hand, die zarte, weiße mein,
Soll nicht damit mein Liebster gestreichelt sein? --

  Wozu, wozu mir sein
Sollte der Arm, der runde, weiche mein,
Soll nicht damit mein Liebster umschlungen sein?

  Wozu, wozu mir sein
Sollte das Herz, das volle, heiße mein,
Soll nicht damit mein Liebster geliebet sein?

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

•   R. Franz 

R. Franz sets stanzas 3-6

About the headline (FAQ)

Confirmed with G. Fr. Daumer, Hafis: Eine Sammlung persischer Gedichte. Nebst poetischen Zugaben aus verschiedenen Völkern und Ländern, Hamburg: Bei Hoffmann und Campe, 1846, page 225.


Text Authorship:

  • by Georg Friedrich Daumer (1800 - 1875), no title, appears in Hafis - Eine Sammlung persischer Gedichte, in Poetische Zugaben aus verschiedenen Ländern und Völkern, in Aus Krain, first published 1846 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Based on:

  • a text in Slovenian (Slovenščina) from Volkslieder (Folksongs) , from Carniola (German: Krain) [text unavailable]
    • Go to the text page.

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

  • by Robert Franz (1815 - 1892), "Volkslied", op. 42 (Aus Osten, sechs Gesänge) no. 1, published 1867, stanzas 3-6 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig, Siegel (formerly Whistling) [sung text checked 1 time]
  • by Eduard Schütt (1856 - 1933), "Wozu, wozu mir sein sollte das Haar!", op. 23 (Vier Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianofortebegleitung) no. 4, published 1887 [ voice and piano ], Hamburg, Rahter [sung text not yet checked]

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

  • ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , copyright © 2019, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2009-01-07
Line count: 18
Word count: 109

Of what use, of what use would
Language: English  after the German (Deutsch) 
  Of what use, of what use would 
My hair be to me, my lovely long hair,
If not to be flaunted with all its finery? --

  Of what use, of what use would
My foot be to me, my light, quick foot,
If not to fly in the dance? --

  Of what use, of what use would
My eyes be to me, my bright, clear eyes,
If not to glance flirtatiously at my beloved? --

  Of what use, of what use would
My hand be to me, my delicate, white hand,
If not to caress my beloved? --

  Of what use, of what use would
My arm be to me, my round, white arm,
If not to embrace my beloved?

  Of what use, of what use would
My heart be to me, my full, fervent heart,
If not to cherish my beloved?

About the headline (FAQ)

Translations of title(s):
"Volkslied" = "Folksong"
"Wozu, wozu mir sein sollte das Haar!" = "Of what use, of what use would my hair be to me!"


Text Authorship:

  • Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2019 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 Georg Friedrich Daumer (1800 - 1875), no title, appears in Hafis - Eine Sammlung persischer Gedichte, in Poetische Zugaben aus verschiedenen Ländern und Völkern, in Aus Krain, first published 1846
    • Go to the text page.

Based on:

  • a text in Slovenian (Slovenščina) from Volkslieder (Folksongs) , from Carniola (German: Krain) [text unavailable]
    • Go to the text page.

 

This text was added to the website: 2019-03-05
Line count: 18
Word count: 139

Gentle Reminder

This website began in 1995 as a personal project by Emily Ezust, who has been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your help is greatly appreciated!
–Emily Ezust, Founder

Donate

We use cookies for internal analytics and to earn much-needed advertising revenue. (Did you know you can help support us by turning off ad-blockers?) To learn more, see our Privacy Policy. To learn how to opt out of cookies, please visit this site.

I acknowledge the use of cookies

Contact
Copyright
Privacy

Copyright © 2025 The LiederNet Archive

Site redesign by Shawn Thuris