Give us this our daily bread | Thou who the little birds doth feed

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by Peter Cornelius (1824 - 1874)

Translation © by James B. Robinson

Unser täglich Brot gieb uns heute

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG

Der Du im Feld die Vöglein nährst
Und Speise mir und Trank gewährst,
Dir dank' ich, daß Du mein gedenkst,
Mir Deines Segens Fülle schenkst.
Doch leb' ich nicht von Brot allein,
Drum mögst Du, Herr, stets mit mir sein,
Weil jedes Wort der Seele frommt,
Das aus dem Munde Gottes kommt.
Und Speise, die mein Geist begehrt,
Sei mir im Tode noch gewährt:
Daß Liebe einst ein Kreuz mir setzt,
Und es mit Herzenstränen netzt.

Confirmed with Gedichte von Peter Cornelius, eingeleitet von Adolf Stern, Leipzig, C. F. Kahnt Nachfolger, 1890, page 123.

Text Authorship:

by Peter Cornelius (1824 - 1874), "Unser täglich Brot gieb uns heute", appears in Gedichte, in 2. Zu eignen Weisen, in Vater-Unser, no. 5 [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 Peter Cornelius (1824 - 1874), "Unser täglich Brot gieb uns heute", op. 2 no. 5 (1854-5), from Vater unser: Neun geistliche Lieder, no. 5 [sung text checked 1 time]

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

ENG English [singable] (James B. Robinson) , "Give us this our daily bread", copyright © 2006, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 76

Give us this our daily bread

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

Thou who the little birds doth feed
And gives to me my daily needs,
I thank Thee, that Thou thinks on me,
And to me grants full clemency.
I can not live by bread alone,
Thy nearness also would I own,
For on each word my soul doth feed,
That from the mouth of God proceeds.
That food which my soul doth desire,
For me by Thy death was procured:
That love once on a cross I placed,
Which with His heart's own tears He graced.

Text Authorship:

Singable translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2006 by James B. Robinson, (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.
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Based on:

a text in German (Deutsch) by Peter Cornelius (1824 - 1874), "Unser täglich Brot gieb uns heute", appears in Gedichte, in 2. Zu eignen Weisen, in Vater-Unser, no. 5
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2006-06-10
Line count: 12
Word count: 86