Why will you question others | Why will you question others

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by Friedrich Rückert (1788 - 1866)

Translation © by David Kenneth Smith

Warum willst du And're fragen

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: CAT CHI DUT ENG FRE ITA

Warum willst du And're fragen,
  Die's nicht meinen treu mit dir?
  Glaube [nichts]¹, als was dir sagen
  Diese beiden Augen hier.

Glaube nicht den fremden Leuten,
  Glaube nicht dem eig'nen Wahn;
  Nicht mein Thun auch sollst du deuten,
  Sondern sieh' die Augen an.

Schweigt die Lippe deinen Fragen,
  Oder zeugt sie gegen mich?
  Was auch meine Lippen sagen,
  Sieh' mein Aug' -- ich liebe dich.

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• C. Schumann

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Friedrich Rückert, Liebesfühling, Elfte Auflage. Frankfurt am Main: J. D. Sauerländer's Verlag, 1880, pages 217-218.

¹ C. Schumann: "nicht"

Text Authorship:

by Friedrich Rückert (1788 - 1866), no title, appears in Lyrische Gedichte, in 3. Liebesfrühling, in 4. Vierter Strauß. Wiedergewonnen [or Entfremdet], no. 39 [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 Pauline von Decker (1811 - 1882), as Paul Friedrich Merxhausen, "Volkslied", published 1870? [ voice and piano ], from Drei Lieder, no. 1, Berlin: Verlag von Wilhelm Müller [sung text checked 1 time]
by Alexandrina Esterházy-Rossi (1844 - 1919), "Warum", published 1899 [ voice and piano ], from Zehn Lieder, no. 3, Leipzig: Hofbauer; note: in some online catalogs the text is erroneously attributed to Friedrich Hahn but the Hofmeister Musikalisch-literarischer Monatsbericht shows an incipit matching this text [sung text not yet checked]
by Philipp Rüfer (1844 - 1919), "Warum willst du And're fragen", op. 12 no. 3, published 1871 [ voice and piano ], from 4 Gedichte aus Rückert's Liebesfrühling, no. 3, Offenbach, André [sung text not yet checked]
by Clara Schumann (1819 - 1896), "Warum willst du and're fragen", op. 12 no. 11, published 1841 [ voice and piano ], from Zwölf Gedichte aus Friedrich Rückerts Liebesfrühling [nos. 2,4,11 by Clara Schumann; the rest by Robert Schumann], no. 11, Leipzig, Breitkopf und Härtel [sung text checked 1 time]
by Julius Stern (1820 - 1883), "Die Botschaft", op. 15 (3 Duette für Sopran und Alt, oder Tenor und Bass mit Pianoforte) no. 2, published 1843 [ vocal duet with piano ], Magdeburg, Heinrichshofen [sung text not yet checked]
by Carl Friedrich Zöllner (1800 - 1860), "Zweifle nicht", published 1841 [ voice and piano ], from Liebesfrühling von Fr. Rückert. 9 Lieder , no. 5, Leipzig, Kistner [sung text not yet checked]

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

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

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 66

Why will you question others

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

Why will you question others,
Who are not faithful to you?
Believe nothing but what
Both these eyes say!

Believe not strange people,
Believe not peculiar fancies;
Even my actions you shouldn't interpret,
But look in these eyes!

Will lips silence your questions,
Or turn them against me?
Whatever my lips may say,
See my eyes: I love you!

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 1996 by David Kenneth Smith, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., please ask the copyright-holder(s) directly.
David Kenneth Smith. Contact: dksmith (AT) geneva.edu

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Based on:

a text in German (Deutsch) by Friedrich Rückert (1788 - 1866), no title, appears in Lyrische Gedichte, in 3. Liebesfrühling, in 4. Vierter Strauß. Wiedergewonnen [or Entfremdet], no. 39
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 59