The owls | Two owls, 'twas a barn - and a screech owl

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by Friedrich von Hagedorn (1708 - 1754)

Translation © by Bertram Kottmann

Die Eulen

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG

Der Uhu, der Kauz und zwo Eulen,
Beklagten erbärmlich ihr Leid:
Wir singen; doch heißt es, wir heulen.
So grausam belügt uns der Neid!

Wir hören der Nachtigall Proben,
Und weichen an Stimme nicht ihr: 
Wir selber, wir müssen uns loben,
Es lobt uns ja keiner, als wir!

Text Authorship:

by Friedrich von Hagedorn (1708 - 1754) [author's text not yet checked 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 Johann Rudolf Zumsteeg (1760 - 1802), "Die Eulen", published 1805, from the collection Kleine Balladen und Lieder, Heft VII, no. 18. [
text verified 1 time
]

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

ENG English (Bertram Kottmann) , title 1: "The owls", copyright © 2007, (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: 8
Word count: 48

The owls

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

Two owls, 'twas a barn - and a screech owl
bewailed their deplorable lot:
we sing; but it's said to be mere howl.
It's envy that hatches this plot.

Rehearsals of nightingales singing -
we match them in ev'ry regard!
When nobody's praises are ringing,
it's ours to take over that part!

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2007 by Bertram Kottmann, (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.
Bertram Kottmann. Contact: BKottmann (AT) t-online.de
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Based on:

a text in German (Deutsch) by Friedrich von Hagedorn (1708 - 1754)
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2007-02-24
Line count: 8
Word count: 50