An die Günstigen
Language: German (Deutsch)
Dichter lieben nicht zu schweigen,
Wollen sich der Menge zeigen;
Lob und Tadel muß ja seyn!
Niemand beichtet gern in Prosa;
Doch vertraun wir oft sub Rosa
In der Musen stillem Hain.
Was ich irrte, was ich strebte,
Was ich litt und was ich lebte,
Sind hier Blumen nur im Strauß;
Und das Alter wie die Jugend,
Und der Fehler wie die Tugend
Nimmt sich gut in Liedern aus.
R. Bischof sets stanza 2
Confirmed with Goethe's Poetische und Prosaische Werke in zwei Bänden, Des Ersten Bandes Erste Abtheilung, Stuttgart und Tübingen: Verlag der J.G. Cotta'schen Buchhandlung, 1836, page 2.
Text Authorship:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Rainer Bischof , "An die Günstigen", 1998, stanza 2 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Otto Klemperer (1885 - 1973), "An die Günstigen" [sung text not yet checked]
- by Johannes Martin Kränzle (b. 1962), "An die Günstigen", 2020 [ soprano and piano ], from Drei Dichter-Lieder, no. 1, confirmed with a CD booklet [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Heinrich Panofka (1807 - 1887), "An die Günstigen ", op. 1 no. 1 [ voice and piano ], from Drei Lieder von Goethe für eine Singstimme mit Clavier-Begleitung, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Edgar Alfred Bowring) , "To the Kind Reader"
- ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "To the favoured ones", copyright © 2022, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust
[Administrator] , Sharon Krebs
[Guest Editor] This text was added to the website: 2008-04-04
Line count: 12
Word count: 69
To the favoured ones
Language: English after the German (Deutsch)
Poets do not like to be silent,
They want to show themselves to the multitude;
For there must be praise and censure!
No one likes to confess in prose;
But we often confide secretly
In the quiet grove of the Muses.
My erring, my striving,
What I suffered and what I lived [through],
Are here only flowers in my bouquet;
And old age like youth,
And faults like virtues
Show to good effect in poetry.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2022 by Sharon Krebs, (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:
This text was added to the website: 2022-12-11
Line count: 12
Word count: 75