by Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856)
Translation by Charles Beltjens (1832 - 1890)

Warum sind denn die Rosen so blaß?
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Available translation(s): CAT DUT ENG FRE FRE POR
Warum sind denn die Rosen so blaß?
O sprich mein Lieb warum?
Warum sind denn im grünen Gras
Die blauen Veilchen so stumm?

Warum singt denn mit so kläglichem Laut,
Die Lerche in der Luft?
Warum steigt denn aus dem Balsamkraut
Verwelkter Blütenduft?

Warum scheint denn die Sonn' auf die Au,
So kalt und verdrießlich herab?
Warum ist denn die Erde so grau,
Und öde wie ein Grab?

Warum bin ich selbst so krank und so trüb?
Mein liebes Liebchen sprich
O sprich mein herzallerliebstes Lieb,
Warum verließest du mich?

P. Cornelius sets stanzas 1-2, 4

About the headline (FAQ)

Confirmed with Heinrich Heine, Buch der Lieder, Hoffmann und Campe, Hamburg, 1827, page 129.


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 J. Emory Shaw.
  • Also set in English, a translation possibly by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807 - 1882); composed by Hazel Cobb.
  • Also set in English, a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Victor Despommier.
  • Also set in English, a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Henry Kimball Hadley.
  • Also set in English, a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Francis Alexander Korbay.
  • Also set in English, a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by A. P. Lighthill.
  • Also set in English, a translation by C. Archer ; composed by Ross Oliver.
  • Also set in English, a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by George Rochberg.
  • Also set in English, a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Felix Schelling.
  • Also set in French (Français), a translation by Pierre-René Hirsch (1870 - 1891) and by Joseph Guy Marie Ropartz (1864 - 1955) ; composed by Joseph Guy Marie Ropartz.
  • Also set in French (Français), a translation by Gérard Labrunie (1808 - 1855) , no title, appears in Intermezzo lyrique, no. 23 ; composed by Marcel Bertrand, Georges Adolphe Hüe.
  • Also set in French (Français), a translation by Abel Nathan ; composed by Abel Nathan.
  • Also set in Italian (Italiano), a translation by Vincenzo Baffi ; composed by Ferruccio Busoni.
  • Also set in Italian (Italiano), a translation by Francesco Cipolla, Conte (1848 - 1914) , no title ; composed by Giovanni Sgambati.
  • Also set in Russian (Русский), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by César Antonovich Cui.
  • Also set in Russian (Русский), a translation by Lev Aleksandrovich Mey (1822 - 1862) , no title, written 1858 ; composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.
  • Also set in Russian (Русский), a translation by Ilya Fyodorovich Tyumenev (1855 - 1927) ; composed by Jules Bleichmann.
  • Also set in Ukrainian (Українська), a translation by Larisa Petrivna Kosach-Kvitka (1871 - 1913) , no title ; composed by Mykola Vitaliyovych Lysenko.

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

  • CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "Perquè són les roses tan pàl·lides", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ENG English (Emily Ezust) , "Why are the roses so pale?", copyright ©
  • ENG English (John Todhunter) , appears in Heine's Book of Songs, first published 1907
  • FRE French (Français) (Charles Beltjens) , no title, appears in Intermezzo lyrique, no. 23, first published 1827
  • FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Pourquoi les roses sont-elles si pâles?", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • POR Portuguese (Português) (Axel Bergstedt) , copyright © 2016, (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: 90

Dis‑le moi, mon amour, quel chagrin...
Language: French (Français)  after the German (Deutsch) 
Dis-le moi, mon amour, quel chagrin donne aux roses
Cet air pâle au milieu de la belle saison?
Violettes, pourquoi cachez-vous, si moroses,
Vos charmants petits yeux sous l'humide gazon?

Alouettes, pourquoi vos chansons matinales
Semblent-elles gémir à l'approche du jour?
Des jardins embaumés, pleins de fleurs virginales,
Quelle odeur funéraire envahit le séjour?

Pourquoi donc le soleil sur les mornes prairies
Laisse-t-il à regret trembloter son flambeau;
Et la terre, si triste, aux couleurs assombries,
Pourquoi donc semble-t-elle un immense tombeau?

Et moi-même, abattu, la poitrine meurtrie,
D'où me viennent ces pleurs, et ces cris de blessé?
-- Est-ce vrai, dis le moi, dis le moi, ma chérie,
Est-ce vrai qu'à jamais tu m'aurais délaissé?

About the headline (FAQ)

Authorship:

Based on:

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

    [ None yet in the database ]


Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2008-04-03
Line count: 16
Word count: 115