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by Christian Morgenstern (1871 - 1914)

Der Papagei
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Our translations:  FRE
Es war einmal ein Papagei,
der war beim ersten Schöpfungsakt dabei
und lernte gleich am rechten Ort
des ersten Menschen erstes Wort.

Des Menschen erstes Wort war A
und hieß fast alles was er sah,
z.B. Fisch, z.B. Brot,
z.B. Leben oder Tod.

Erst nach Jahrhunderten voll Schnee
erfand der Mensch zum A das B
und dann das L und dann das Q
und schließlich noch das Z dazu.

Gedachter Papagei indem
ward älter als Methusalem,
bewahrend treu in Brust und Schnabel
die erste menschliche Vokabel.

Zum Schlusse starb auch er am Zips.
Doch heut noch steht sein Bild in Gips,
geschmückt mit einem grünen A
im Staatsschatz zu Ekbatana.

Text Authorship:

  • by Christian Morgenstern (1871 - 1914), "Der Papagei", appears in Nachlese zur Galgenpoesie [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 Ernest Vietor (fl. 1905-1930), "Der Papagei", op. 8 no. 3 (1930-1). [
     text not verified 
    ]

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

  • FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , title 1: "Le perroquet", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2004-07-10
Line count: 20
Word count: 110

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