LiederNet logo

CONTENTS

×
  • Home | Introduction
  • Composers (20,102)
  • Text Authors (19,442)
  • Go to a Random Text
  • What’s New
  • A Small Tour
  • FAQ & Links
  • Donors
  • DONATE

UTILITIES

  • Search Everything
  • Search by Surname
  • Search by Title or First Line
  • Search by Year
  • Search by Collection

CREDITS

  • Emily Ezust
  • Contributors (1,114)
  • Contact Information
  • Bibliography

  • Copyright Statement
  • Privacy Policy

Follow us on Facebook

by Christian Morgenstern (1871 - 1914)

Das Wasser rinnt, das Wasser spinnt
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Das Wasser rinnt, das Wasser spinnt,
bis es die ganze Welt gewinnt.
            Das Dorf ersäuft,
            die Eule läuft,
und auf der Eiche sitzt ein Kind.

Dem Kind sind schon die Beinchen nass,
es ruft: das Wass, das Wass, das Wass!
            Der Walfisch weint
            und sagt, mir scheint,
es regnet ohne Unterlass.

Das Wasser rann mit zasch und zisch,
die Erde ward zum Wassertisch.
            Und Kind und Eul',
            o greul, o greul -
sie frissifraß der Walfafisch. 

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

  • by Christian Morgenstern (1871 - 1914), "Der Walfafisch oder Das Oberwasser" [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 Dieter Bäumle (1935 - 1981), "Der Walfafisch", first performed 1973 [ chorus and chamber orchestra ], from Galgenlieder, no. 11 [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Erik Bergman (1911 - 2006), "Der Walfafisch", op. 51a (Drei Galgenlieder) no. 1 (1959), first performed 1960 [ baritone, 2 speakers and men's chorus ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Richard Farber (b. 1945), "Der Walfisch oder Das Überwasser", from Galgenlieder, no. 25 [sung text not yet checked]

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2008-07-30
Line count: 15
Word count: 75

Gentle Reminder

This website began in 1995 as a personal project by Emily Ezust, who has been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your help is greatly appreciated!
–Emily Ezust, Founder

Donate

We use cookies for internal analytics and to earn much-needed advertising revenue. (Did you know you can help support us by turning off ad-blockers?) To learn more, see our Privacy Policy. To learn how to opt out of cookies, please visit this site.

I acknowledge the use of cookies

Contact
Copyright
Privacy

Copyright © 2025 The LiederNet Archive

Site redesign by Shawn Thuris