The pigeon post | In my pay I have a carrier-pigeon

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by Johann Gabriel Seidl (1804 - 1875)

Translation © by Emily Ezust

Die Taubenpost

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: CAT DUT ENG FIN FRE GRE ITA KOR LIT SPA

Ich hab' eine Brieftaub' in meinem Sold,
Die ist gar ergeben und treu,
Sie nimmt mir nie das Ziel zu kurz,
Und fliegt auch nie vorbei.

Ich sende sie vieltausendmal
Auf Kundschaft täglich hinaus,
Vorbei an [manchem]¹ lieben Ort,
Bis zu der Liebsten Haus.

Dort schaut sie zum Fenster heimlich hinein,
Belauscht ihren Blick und Schritt,
Gibt meine Grüße scherzend ab
Und nimmt die ihren mit.

Kein Briefchen brauch' ich zu schreiben mehr,
Die Thräne selbst geb' ich ihr:
O sie verträgt sie sicher nicht,
Gar eifrig dient sie mir.

Bei Tag, bei Nacht, im [Wachen und]² Traum,
Ihr gilt das alles gleich:
Wenn sie nur wandern, wandern kann,
Dann ist sie überreich!

Sie wird nicht müd, sie wird nicht matt,
Der Weg ist stets ihr neu;
Sie braucht nicht Lockung, braucht nicht Lohn,
Die Taub' ist so mir treu!

Drum heg' ich sie auch so treu an der Brust,
Versichert des schönsten Gewinns;
Sie heißt - die Sehnsucht! Kennt ihr sie? -
Die Botin treuen Sinns.

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• F. Schubert

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Natur und Herz. (Lyrische Nachlese.) Von Johann Gabriel Seidl. Stuttgart. Druck und Verlag von Eduard Hallberger. 1853, pages 209-210; and with Joh. Gabr. Seidl's gesammelte Schriften. Mit einer Einleitung von Julius von der Traun. Herausgegeben von Hans Max. Vierter Band. Almer. - Natur und Herz. Wien, 1879. Wilhelm Braumüller k.k. Hof- und Universitätsbuchhändler, pages 338-339.

¹ Seidl (1879 edition): "manchen" (misprint?)
² Schubert: "Wachen, im"

Text Authorship:

by Johann Gabriel Seidl (1804 - 1875), "Die Taubenpost", appears in Natur und Herz [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), "Die Taubenpost", D 965A (1828), published 1829, first performed 1829 [ voice and piano ], Tobias Haslinger, VN 5370, Wien [sung text checked 1 time]

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

CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "El colom missatger", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "De duivenpost", copyright © 2005, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English (Emily Ezust) , "The pigeon post", copyright ©
FIN Finnish (Suomi) (Erkki Pullinen) , "Kirjekyyhky", copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
FRE French (Français) (Odile Bénassy) , "Le pigeon voyageur", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
GRE Greek (Ελληνικά) (Athanasios Papaisiou) , "Το ταχυδρομικό περιστέρι", copyright © 2020, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ITA Italian (Italiano) (Amelia Maria Imbarrato) , "La posta della colomba", copyright © 2005, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
KOR Korean (한국어/조선말) [singable] (곽명규 Myung-Kew Kwack) , "우편 비둘기", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
LIT Lithuanian (Lietuvių kalba) (Giedrius Prunskus) , "Pašto balandis", copyright © 2022, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
SPA Spanish (Español) (Saúl Botero Restrepo) , "La paloma mensajera", copyright © 2015, (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: 28
Word count: 165

The pigeon post

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

In my pay I have a carrier-pigeon
Who is utterly loyal and true.
She never stops too short of her goal,
Nor ever flies too far.

A thousand times I send her out
To gather everyday information,
Past many of my favorite places
To my beloved's house.

There she peeps in secretly at the window,
Eavesdropping on every look and step;
Banteringly she conveys my greetings
And brings my beloved's back to me.

I don't even need to write a note any longer;
Tears alone I give her.
Oh, she hardly tolerates those,
So fervently does she serve me.

By day, by night, awake or in a dream,
It is all the same to her:
Only when she is in flight, and can be in flight,
Then she is happy!

She never grows tired, she never feels dull,
The way always feels new to her;
She needs no enticement, needs no reward,
So true to me is this pigeon!

And so I cherish her so truly in my heart,
Assured of the fairest prize;
Her name is -- Longing! Do you know her? --
The messenger of a devoted heart.

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © by Emily Ezust
Emily Ezust permits her translations to be reproduced without prior permission for printed (not online) programs to free-admission concerts only, provided the following credit is given:
Translation copyright © by Emily Ezust,
from the LiederNet Archive
For any other purpose, please write to the e-mail address below to request permission and discuss possible fees.
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Based on:

a text in German (Deutsch) by Johann Gabriel Seidl (1804 - 1875), "Die Taubenpost", appears in Natur und Herz
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2015-01-01
Line count: 28
Word count: 188