And if you see your lover die | And if you see your lover die

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by Paul Heyse (1830 - 1914)

Translation © by Donna (Bareket) Breitzer

Und willst du deinen Liebsten sterben...

Language: German (Deutsch) after the Italian (Italiano)

Our translations: CAT ENG FRE HEB

Und willst du deinen Liebsten sterben sehen,
So trage nicht dein Haar gelockt, du Holde.
Laß von den Schultern frei sie niederwehen;
Wie Fäden sehn sie aus von purem Golde.
Wie goldne Fäden, die der Wind bewegt - 
  Schön sind die Haare, schön ist, die sie trägt!
Goldfäden, Seidenfäden ungezählt -
  Schön sind die Haare, schön ist, die sie strählt!

About the headline (FAQ)

Confirmed with Paul Heyse, Italienisches Liederbuch, Berlin: Verlag von Wilhelm Hertz (Bessersche Buchhandlung), 1860, page 34.

Text Authorship:

by Paul Heyse (1830 - 1914), no title, appears in Italienisches Liederbuch, in Rispetti, in Toscanisch, no. 67, first published 1860 [author's text checked 2 times against a primary source]

Based on:

a text in Italian (Italiano) from Volkslieder (Folksongs) , "Se vuoi vedere il tuo servo morire", appears in Canti popolari toscani, corsi, illirici, greci, raccolti ed illustrati da Niccolò Tommaseo, Venezia, G. Tasso, first published 1841
- 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 Hugo Wolf (1860 - 1903), "Und willst du deinen Liebsten sterben sehen", 1890-6, from Italienisches Liederbuch, no. 17 [sung text checked 1 time]

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

CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2021, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English (Donna (Bareket) Breitzer) , "And if you see your lover die", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
HEB Hebrew (עברית) (Max Mader) , "ואם את רוצה לראות את אהובך מת", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this page: Alberto Pedrotti , Sharon Krebs [Senior Associate Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2003-12-29
Line count: 8
Word count: 58

And if you see your lover die

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

And if you see your lover die,
Don't wear your hair in curls, darling.
Let it tumble free from  your shoulders;
Like golden threads it looks like pure gold.
Like golden threads, stirred by the wind -
Beautiful is the hair,  beautiful is she who bears it!
Golden threads, silken threads  innumerable -
Beautiful is the hair, beautiful is she who combs it!

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © by Donna (Bareket) Breitzer, (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 Paul Heyse (1830 - 1914), no title, appears in Italienisches Liederbuch, in Rispetti, in Toscanisch, no. 67, first published 1860
- Go to the text page.

Based on:

a text in Italian (Italiano) from Volkslieder (Folksongs) , "Se vuoi vedere il tuo servo morire", appears in Canti popolari toscani, corsi, illirici, greci, raccolti ed illustrati da Niccolò Tommaseo, Venezia, G. Tasso, first published 1841
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2003-12-29
Line count: 8
Word count: 61