by Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856)
Translation by James Thomson (1834 - 1882)
Die Welt ist dumm, die Welt ist blind
Language: German (Deutsch)
Our translations: FRE
Die Welt ist dumm, die Welt ist blind, Wird täglich abgeschmackter! Sie spricht von dir, mein schönes Kind: Du hast keinen guten Charakter. Die Welt ist dumm, die Welt ist blind, Und dich wird sie immer verkennen; Sie weiß nicht, wie süß deine Küsse sind, Und wie sie beseligend brennen.
Confirmed with Heinrich Heine, Buch der Lieder, Hoffmann und Campe, Hamburg, 1827, page 123.
Text Authorship:
- by Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856), appears in Buch der Lieder, in Lyrisches Intermezzo, no. 15 [author's text checked 2 times 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 Vladimir Castrioto-Scanderberg (1820 - 1879), "Die Welt ist dumm, die Welt ist blind", from Andenken an Horodetz : Sechs Lieder von Heine, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Rudolf Horwitz , "Die Welt ist dumm, die Welt ist blind", op. 2 no. 1, from Aus Heine's lyrischem Intermezzo : Liederzyklus, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Norbert Linke (b. 1933), "Die Welt ist dumm, die Welt ist blind", published 1959 [ male voice and piano ], from Sechs Heine-Lieder, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Oscar Strasnoy (b. 1970), "Die Welt ist dumm, die Welt ist blind" [ duet for soprano and tenor with piano ], from Heine, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Joel Weiss , "Die Welt ist dumm, die Welt ist blind", 2016 [ voice and piano ], from Heine Lieder, no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in French (Français), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Arturo Buzzi-Peccia.
- Also set in Ukrainian (Українська), a translation by Maksim Antonivich Slavinsky (1868? - 1945?) ; composed by Mykola Vitaliyovych Lysenko.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (James Thomson) , "Die Welt ist dumm, die Welt ist blind", appears in Poems Selected from Heinrich Heine, ed. by Kate Freiligrath Kroeker, London: Walter Scott, Limited, page 61, first published 1887
- FRE French (Français) (Charles Beltjens) , no title, appears in Intermezzo lyrique, no. 15, first published 1827
- FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Pierre Mathé [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2008-02-21
Line count: 8
Word count: 50
Die Welt ist dumm, die Welt ist blind
Language: English after the German (Deutsch)
The world is dull, the world is blind And daily grows more silly! It says of you, my lovely child, You are not quite a lily. The world is dull, the world is blind And judges in stupid fashion; It knows not how sweet your kisses are And how they burn with passion.
Text Authorship:
- by James Thomson (1834 - 1882), "Die Welt ist dumm, die Welt ist blind", appears in Poems Selected from Heinrich Heine, ed. by Kate Freiligrath Kroeker, London: Walter Scott, Limited, page 61, first published 1887 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in German (Deutsch) by Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856), appears in Buch der Lieder, in Lyrisches Intermezzo, no. 15
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- [ None yet in the database ]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2009-03-14
Line count: 8
Word count: 53