Sie hatten sich Beide so herzlich lieb,
Spitzbübin war sie, er war ein Dieb.
Wenn [er Schelmenstreiche]1 machte,
[Sie warf sich aufs Bett]2 und lachte.

Der Tag verging in Freud' und Lust,
Des Nachts lag sie an seiner Brust.
Als man ins Gefängnis ihn brachte,
Sie stand am Fenster und lachte.

Er ließ ihr sagen: «O komm zu mir,
Ich sehne mich so sehr nach dir,
Ich rufe nach dir, ich schmachte» --
Sie schüttelt' das Haupt und lachte.

Um Sechse des Morgens ward er gehenkt,
Um Sieben ward er ins Grab gesenkt;
Sie aber schon um Achte
Trank rothen Wein und lachte.

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)
Note: in Schreiter's setting, the singer sings laughter after each stanza.
¹ Schreiter: "Schelmenstreiche er"
² Schreiter: "Warf sie auf's Bett sich"

Text Authorship:

• by Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856), "Ein Weib", appears in Neue Gedichte, in Romanzen, no. 1 [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 Wolf Biermann (b. 1936), "Ein Weib" [ voice and guitar ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by David Leonard Blake (b. 1936), "Ein Weib", published 1981 [ high voice and instrumental ensemble (11 players) ], from From the mattress grave : a cycle of twelve songs to poems by Heine, no. 5, also set in English by Peter Palmer [sung text checked 1 time]
• by David Leonard Blake (b. 1936), "Ein Weib", published 1978 [ voice and piano ], from Nine Songs, no. 4 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Yehezkel Braun (b. 1922), "Ein Weib", 2006, published 2006 [ baritone and piano ], from Spätlese aus Heinrich Heines Gedichte, no. 5 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Don Forsythe (1932 - 2015), "Ein Weib", 2008, published c2008 [ high voice and piano ], from Romanzen, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Géza Frid (1904 - 1989), "Ein Weib (Sie hatten sich beide so herzlich lieb)", op. 41a (Drie Romances voor sopraan en orkest) no. 2, published 1952, orchestrated 1955 [ soprano and voice ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Gerald M. Ginsburg (b. 1933), "Romanze", 2001, published c2003, from Aus Schmerzen zu Lieder, no. 24 [sung text not yet checked]
• by A. Kaiser , "Sie hatten sich beide so herzlich lieb", from Lieder, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Ernst Friedrich Kauffmann (1803 - 1856), "Ein Weib", published 1852-9, from Lieder und Gesänge : 36 Lieder nach verschiedenen Dichtern, Heft 4, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Adalbert (Béla) Laszky (1867 - 1935), "Sie hatten sich beide so herzlich lieb", <<1908 [ voice and piano ], from Lieder für eine Singstimme mit Klavier, no. 18 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Gerhard Rühm (b. 1930), "Ein Weib", 1952, from Zwei Bänkellieder nach Gedichten von Jean Richepin und Heinrich Heine, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Winfried Schreiter (b. 1930), "Das Weib", 2006 [ mezzo-soprano and piano ], from Vier Frauen, Lieder für Mezzosopran und Klavier, no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Kurt Schwaen (1909 - 2007), "Sie hatten sich beide so herzlich lieb" [sung text not yet checked]
• by Christian Sinding (1856 - 1941), "Ein Weib", op. 11 (Lieder und Gesänge) no. 5 (1888), published 1890 or 1907 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

• Also set in French (Français), a translation by Léon-Émile Petitdidier (1839 - 1927) ; composed by Sylvio Lazzari.
  • Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
    
• Also set in Russian (Русский), a translation by Apollon Nikolayevich Maykov (1821 - 1897) , no title, written 1857, appears in Переводы и вариации Гейне (Perevody i variaciji Gejne) ; composed by Grigory Andreyevich Lishin.
  • Go to the text.
    

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

• ENG English [singable] (Peter Palmer) , "A woman", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: John Versmoren

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 104

Eyo v gryazi on podobral;
Chtob vsyo dostat` ej - krast` on stal;
Ona v dovol`stve utopala
I nad bezumcem xoxotala.

I shli piry'... no dni tekli -
Vot utrom raz za nim prishli:
Vedut v tyur`mu... Ona stoyala
Pered oknom i - xoxotala.

On iz tyur`my' eyo molil:
«Ya bez tebya dushoj izny'l,
Pridi ko mne!» -- Ona kachala
Lish` golovoj i - xoxotala.

On v shest` poutru by'l kaznen
I v sem` vo rvu poxoronen, -
A uzh k vos`mi ona plyasala,
Pila vino i xoxotala.