by Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856)
Translation © by Amelia Maria Imbarrato

Und wüßten's die Blumen, die kleinen
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Available translation(s): CAT DUT DUT ENG FIN FRE GRE HEB IRI ITA SPA
Und wüßten's die Blumen, die kleinen,
Wie tief verwundet mein Herz,
Sie würden mit mir weinen,
Zu heilen meinen Schmerz.

Und wüßten's die Nachtigallen,
Wie ich so traurig und krank,
Sie ließen fröhlich erschallen
Erquickenden Gesang.

Und wüßten sie mein Wehe,
Die [goldnen]1 Sternelein,
Sie kämen aus ihrer Höhe,
Und sprächen Trost mir ein.

[Die]2 alle können's nicht wissen,
Nur [eine]3 kennt meinen Schmerz;
[Sie]4 hat ja selbst zerrissen,
Zerrissen mir das Herz.

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Heinrich Heine, Buch der Lieder, Hoffmann und Campe, Hamburg, 1827, page 128.

Note: Christian Jost's setting begins "Zerrissen mir das Herz" (the last line) and then follows the rest of the text.

1 Jost, Schumann: "goldenen"
2 Jost, Schumann: "Sie"
3 Hensel: "einer"
4 Hensel: "Er"

Authorship:

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):


The text above (or a part of it) is used in the following settings:

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

  • Also set in English, a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Wilhelm Baerwolf.
  • Also set in English, a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Frederick Brandeis.
  • Also set in English, a translation by John Troutbeck, Rev. Dr. (1832 - 1899) ; composed by Rosalind Frances Ellicott.
  • Also set in English, a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Flora.
  • Also set in English, a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Henry Kimball Hadley.
  • Also set in English, a translation by Ernest Radford (1857 - 1919) , "Und wüßten's die Blumen, die kleinen", appears in Old and New. A Collection of Poems by Ernest Radford, London: T. Fisher Unwin, page 156, first published 1895 ; composed by Richard Harvey Loehr.
  • Also set in English, a translation by Eugene Field (1850 - 1895) , "Love Song -- Heine" [an adaptation] ; composed by Elizabeth R. Mitchell, Ella May Smith.
  • Also set in English, a translation by L. du P. Style ; composed by Nathaniel Clifford Page.
  • Also set in English, a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Alexander Reichardt.
  • Also set in French (Français), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Fanny, Baronesse d'Avout.
  • Also set in French (Français), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Berthold Damcke.
  • Also set in French (Français), a translation by Jeanne de Tallenay , appears in Premières Rimes, Paris, Éd. Paul Ollendorff, first published 1894 ; composed by E. Savenay.
  • Also set in Italian (Italiano), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Salvatore Auteri-Manzocchi.
  • Also set in Russian (Русский), a translation by Mikhail Larionovich Mikhailov (1829 - 1865) , no title, first published 1874 ; composed by Evgenii Fedorovich Alenev.
  • Also set in Russian (Русский), a translation by Aleksey Nikolayevich Pleshcheyev (1825 - 1893) ; composed by Otto Johann Anton Dütsch, as Оттон Иванович Дютш.
  • Also set in Swedish (Svenska), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by John [Jacques] Jacobsson.

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

  • CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "I si les flors, les petites, sabessin", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • DUT Dutch (Nederlands) (Jan Rot) , "En stel dat de bloemetjes raadden", copyright © 2000, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ENG English (Paul Hindemith) , "And if the blooms - the small ones - knew", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ENG English (Alma Strettell) , "Und wüßten's die Blumen, die kleinen", appears in Poems Selected from Heinrich Heine, ed. by Kate Freiligrath Kroeker, London: Walter Scott, Limited, page 64, first published 1887
  • FIN Finnish (Suomi) (Erkki Pullinen) , copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • FRE French (Français) (Charles Beltjens) , no title, appears in Intermezzo lyrique, no. 22, first published 1827
  • FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • GRE Greek (Ελληνικά) (Effimia Gianniou) , "Κι αν τα μικρά λουλούδια γνώρ&", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • HEB Hebrew (עברית) (Assaf Levitin) (Michal Levitin) , copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • IRI Irish (Gaelic) [singable] (Gabriel Rosenstock) , copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ITA Italian (Italiano) (Amelia Maria Imbarrato) , "Se sapessero i fiorellini", copyright © 2006, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • POL Polish (Polski) (Stanisław Budziński) , no title, first published 1886
  • SPA Spanish (Español) (Wilson Hidalgo) , "Si supieran las florecitas", copyright © 2007, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Research team for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Pierre Mathé [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 73

Se sapessero i fiorellini
Language: Italian (Italiano)  after the German (Deutsch) 
Se sapessero i fiorellini, i piccoli,
come profondo è ferito il mio cuore,
piangerebbero con me,
per risanare il mio dolore.

Se sapessero gli usgnoli,
quanto sono triste e malato,
farebbero risuonare il canto
lieto e consolatore.

Se sapessero il mio tormento 
le stelline d'oro,
verrebbero giù dal loro cielo
e mi direbbero parole di conforto.

Tutti loro non possono saperlo,
Una sola conosce il mio dolore;
lei che mi ha spezzato,
mi ha spezzato il cuore.

Authorship:

  • Translation from German (Deutsch) to Italian (Italiano) copyright © 2006 by Amelia Maria Imbarrato, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you must ask the copyright-holder(s) directly for permission. If you receive no response, you must consider it a refusal.

    Amelia Maria Imbarrato. We have no current contact information for the copyright-holder.
    If you wish to commission a new translation, please contact:

Based on:

 

This text was added to the website: 2006-03-27
Line count: 16
Word count: 77