St. Francis | Once Francis, the saint, sat

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by Ignaz Heinrich Freiherr von Wessenberg (1774 - 1860)

Translation © by David Wyatt

Franziskus einst, der Heil'ge, saß

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: CAT ENG ITA

Franziskus einst, der Heil'ge, saß
Vor seiner Zell' und Psalmen las.
Der Abend durch die [Blätter]¹ glüht,
Als durch der Dämmrung Stille
Mit hellem Flügelschlag ihr Lied
[Jetzt tönen]² läßt die Grille.

Gott preist das Grillchen für den Tau,
Der es erquickt auf [schöner]³ Au
Der Heil'ge schlägt den Psalter zu;
Denn schöner, wollt's ihm scheinen,
Ruf' ihm das fromme Grillchen zu:
"Wie groß ist Gott im Kleinen!"

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• C. Loewe

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Ignaz Heinrich Freiherr von Wessenberg, Neue Gedichte, Constanz: M. Wallis., 1826, page 264.

¹ Loewe: "Wipfel"
² Loewe: "Ertönen"
³ Loewe: "grüner"

Text Authorship:

by Ignaz Heinrich Freiherr von Wessenberg (1774 - 1860), "Das Lob Gottes", appears in Neue Gedichte [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 Carl Loewe (1796 - 1869), "Der heilige Franziskus", op. 75 no. 3 (1837), published 1840 [sung text checked 1 time]

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

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Melanie Trumbull

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 68

St. Francis

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

Once Francis, the saint, sat
Before his cell and read a psalm.
The evening through the treetops glowed
When through the dusk's stillness
With bright wing-beats
The cricket sang his song.   
 
The little cricket praised God for the dew
Which refreshed him on his green outside
The saint shut his psalter;
For more prettily, it seemed to him,
Did the devout little cricket call:
"How great is God in small things!"

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2007 by David Wyatt, (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:

a text in German (Deutsch) by Ignaz Heinrich Freiherr von Wessenberg (1774 - 1860), "Das Lob Gottes", appears in Neue Gedichte
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2007-11-16
Line count: 12
Word count: 71