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by Abraham Cowley (1618 - 1667)
Translation by Josef Franz von Ratschky (1757 - 1810)

Language: German (Deutsch)  after the English 
Our translations:  CAT DUT ENG FRE ITA
Noch fand von Evens Töchterschaaren
Ich keine, die mir nicht gefiel:
Von fünfzehn bis zu fünfzig Jahren
Ist jede meiner Wünsche Ziel.

Durch Farb' und Form, durch Witz und Güte,
Durch alles fühl' ich mich entzückt:
Ein Ebenbild der Aphrodite
Ist jede, die mein Aug' erblickt.

Selbst die vermag mein Herz zu angeln,
Bei der man jeden Reiz vermißt:
Mag immerhin ihr alles mangeln,
Wenn's nur ein weiblich Wesen ist!

Bei blonden, runden Dindonetten
Preis' ich die Fülle der Natur:
An hagern schmächtigen Brünetten 
Reizt mich verliebter Sehnsucht Spur.

Bezaubernd ist die schlanke Schöne:
Doch auch der Krummen huldig' ich;
An Amors Pfeil erinnert jene,
Und die an seinen Bogen mich.

So flattr' ich rastlos, gleich den Bienen,
Durch Amors Lustgefilde hin,
Und selbst das Unkraut muß mir dienen,
Um süßen Honig draus zu ziehn.

Note: Ratschky published a revised version of this poem in his Neuere Gedichte of 1805, where he also changed the sequence of the stanzas (stanza 3 is now next-to-last); see below.

Composition:

    Set to music by Franz Peter Schubert (1797 - 1828), "Der Weiberfreund", D 271 (1815), published 1895

Text Authorship:

  • by Josef Franz von Ratschky (1757 - 1810), "Der Weiberfreund", subtitle: "Nach dem Englischen des Cowley", written 1794, first published 1795 [an adaptation]

Based on:

Go to the general single-text view

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

  • CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "L'amic de les dones", copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "De vrouwengek", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ENG English (Malcolm Wren) , "The friend of women", copyright © 2020, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "L'ami des femmes", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "L'amico delle donne", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Richard Morris , Peter Rastl [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2003-11-05
Line count: 24
Word count: 135