The Fiddler | I am a fiddler, poor as poor

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by Adolf Heyduk (1835 - 1923)

Translation © by Patrick John Corness

Huslař

Language: Czech (Čeština)

Our translations: ENG

Já jsem huslař přeubohý,
nemám jen tu hřivnu,
a přec všudy se mi daří,
kam širákem kývnu,

Kam paličku poodložím,
trávník pučí avete,
a když slačik strunky hladí,
radost letí světem.

Mé píseňky polní kvítí,
ono ňadra zdobí,
děvčátka z těch sladkých zvuků
pérečka si zrobí.

Nedbám věru o nikoho,
třeba bez osochu,
je v kytici dozajista
plných květů trochu.

A v každičkém takém květu
pohar šumné vůně,
by se těsil, kdo na lásku
v srdélenku stůně.

By se těsil, komu slzy
Napadaly k líčku,
pro tu milou, milučičkou
naši svobodičku.

Text Authorship:

by Adolf Heyduk (1835 - 1923) [author's text not yet checked 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 Antonín Dvořák (1841 - 1904), "Huslař", B. 66 no. 3 (1877) [ men's chorus ], from Sborove pisne pro muzske hlasy, no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]

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

ENG English (Patrick Corness) , "The Fiddler", copyright © 2023, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Ferdinando Albeggiani

This text was added to the website: 2007-11-26
Line count: 24
Word count: 91

The Fiddler

Language: English after the Czech (Čeština)

I am a fiddler, poor as poor. 
I can but play, no more; 
wherever whim may take me, though, 
I prosper with my bow,

for wherever my fiddle plays, 
the meadow blooms, always, 
and when my bow touches a string 
far and wide joy takes wing. 

My songs are flowers of the glade, 
on breasts proudly displayed, 
those charming sounds that all young girls 
weave as lovely posies. 

For no-one need I have a care; 
no use to man or beast, 
those posies contain, certain sure, 
a few full blooms at least. 

And each one contains a present; 
its cup of sparkling scent, 
and to them it comfort imparts 
who crave love in their hearts, 

it comforts also those whose tears 
spill down their graceful face, 
for our free, for our footloose state, 
that brings such sweet solace.

Translator's note: This translation first published in ‘Překladatelská strategie přebásnění Dvořákových Mužských sborů bez doprovodu do angličtiny’ [A Strategy for Czech-English Verse Translation] (Patrick John Corness), in Časopis pro moderní filologii [Journal for Modern Philology] 2018 (100): 225-249. https://casopispromodernifilologii.ff.cuni.cz/en/magazin/2018-100-2/

Text Authorship:

Translation from Czech (Čeština) to English copyright © 2023 by Patrick John Corness, (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 Czech (Čeština) by Adolf Heyduk (1835 - 1923)
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2023-06-27
Line count: 24
Word count: 138