I sang throughout the German lands | I sang throughout the German lands

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by Albert Sergel (1876 - 1946)

Translation © by Alexander K. Puhrer

Ich sang mich durch das deutsche Land

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG

Ich sang mich durch das deutsche Land
vom Belt zu den Donauquellen,
und manch Dukatlein steckte man 
ins Wams dem lustigen Gesellen.

Und war ein Leben hier wie dort:
bei Weibervolk und kühlem Wein,
da musste all das blanke Gold
in einer Nacht verschlemmet sein.

So lass ich nichts auf dieser Welt
als eine Handvoll roter Lieder:
die streut ich in den losen Wind
und fand sie auf den Gassen wieder.

Und lieg ich einst im Heidegrund,
dann pfeift noch über meinem Grabe
ein Wanderbursch die Melodie,
die ich einmal gesungen habe.

About the headline (FAQ)

Confirmed with Sehnen und Suchen, Vierte Auflage, Rostock: C.J.E. Volckmann (Volckman & Wetter), 1905, page 69.

Text Authorship:

by Albert Sergel (1876 - 1946), no title, appears in Sehnen und Suchen: Gedichte, in Schweifen, o Schweifen!, in Vagus Scholasticus, no. 9 [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 Yrjö Henrik Kilpinen (1892 - 1959), "Ich sang mich durch das deutsche Land", op. 77 no. 8 (1932-3), from Spielmannslieder, no. 8 [sung text checked 1 time]

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

ENG English (Alexander K. Puhrer) , "I sang throughout the German lands", copyright ©, (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 between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 92

I sang throughout the German lands

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

I sang throughout the German lands
from the Baelt to the Danube springs,
and many a ducat was placed 
in the purse of the entertaining fellow.

And life was here as it was there:
with women and cool wine,
all the shining gold 
had to be squandered in one night.

Thus I leave nothing on this earth
but a handful of red songs:
I scattered them in the wind
and found them again on the streets.

And when I finally lie under the heath,
upon my grave a wandering boy
will still be whistling that tune
which I once sang.

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © by Alexander K. Puhrer, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you must ask the copyright-holder(s) directly for permission. If you receive no response, you must consider it a refusal.
Alexander K. Puhrer. We have no current contact information for the copyright-holder.
If you wish to commission a new translation, please contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

a text in German (Deutsch) by Albert Sergel (1876 - 1946), no title, appears in Sehnen und Suchen: Gedichte, in Schweifen, o Schweifen!, in Vagus Scholasticus, no. 9
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 100