To the lyre | I wish of the Atrides, I wish of Kadmus to sing

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by Johann Heinrich Friedrich Meinecke (1745 - 1825)

Translation © by John H. Campbell

Ich will von den Atriden

Language: German (Deutsch) after the Greek (Ελληνικά)

Our translations: CAT ENG ITA SPA

Ich will von den Atriden, 
Ich will von Kadmus singen:
Doch meiner Leyer Saiten 
Ertönen nur vom Amor.

Jüngst wechselt' ich die Saiten, 
Und dann die Leyer selber,
Und wollte nun die Kämpfe
Des Herkules [besingen]¹:

Allein die Leyer tönte 
Ein Lied von Liebe wieder.
So lebt denn wohl, ihr Helden! 
Denn meine Leyer singet
[Von nichts als Liebesgöttern]².

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• C. Loewe

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Johann Heinrich Friedrich Meinecke: Anakreons Gedichte, nebst zwey andern anakreonitschen Gedichten, und den Oden der Sappho. Aus dem Griechischen in die Versarten des Originals übersetzt. Leipzig, bey Weidmanns Erben und Reich. 1776, page 21.

¹ Loewe: "singen"
² Loewe: "Allein die Liebesgötter"

Text Authorship:

by Johann Heinrich Friedrich Meinecke (1745 - 1825), "Die Leyer" [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Based on:

a text in Greek (Ελληνικά) possibly by Anacreon (c582BCE - c485BCE)
- 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 Carl Loewe (1796 - 1869), "An die Leier", 1815?, also set in Greek (Ελληνικά) [sung text checked 1 time]

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

CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2022, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English (John H. Campbell) , "To the lyre", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ITA Italian (Italiano) (Amelia Maria Imbarrato) , "Alla lira", copyright © 2006, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
SPA Spanish (Español) (Elisa Rapado) , copyright © 2018, (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: 2003-10-20
Line count: 13
Word count: 62

To the lyre

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

 I wish of the Atrides, I wish of Kadmus to sing:
 however my lyre strings speak only of Amor.
 Recently, I changed the strings, and then the lyre itself,
 and wanted now to sing of the struggles of Hercules:
 but the lyre only sang a song of love again.
 So fare well then, you heroes! because my lyre sings
 only of the God of Love, only the God of Love.

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © by John H. Campbell, (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 Johann Heinrich Friedrich Meinecke (1745 - 1825), "Die Leyer"
- Go to the text page.

Based on:

a text in Greek (Ελληνικά) possibly by Anacreon (c582BCE - c485BCE)
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2003-10-20
Line count: 7
Word count: 71