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Die Frauen sind oft fromm und still, wo wir ungebärdig toben, Und [wann sich eine Stärken will, dann blickt sie stumm nach oben. Ihr' Kraft und Stärke ist gering, ein Lüftchen kann sie knicken, Doch ist's ein eignes, starkes Ding, wenn sie gen Himmel blicken. Oft hab' ich selbst mit aufgesehn, sah die Mutter so nach oben: Ich sah nur graue Wolken gehn und blaue Luft da droben: Sie aber, wenn sie niedersah, war voller Kraft und Hoffen: -- -- Mir ist, die Frauen hie und da sehn noch den Himmel offen.
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)Confirmed with Felix Dahn's Sämtliche Werke poetischen Inhalts, Band XVI, Leipzig: Breitkopf und Härtel, 1898, page 72.
1 Strauss "wenn"Authorship
- by Felix Ludwig Julius Dahn (1834 - 1912), no title, appears in Schlichte Weisen, no. 22 [author's text checked 2 times 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 Richard Georg Strauss (1864 - 1949), "Die Frauen sind oft fromm und still", op. 21 no. 5 (1887-8), from Schlichte Weisen, no. 5 [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "Les dones són sovint pietoses i silents", copyright © 2019, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "De vrouwen zijn vaak braaf en stil", copyright © 2018, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Emily Ezust) , no title, copyright ©
- FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Amelia Maria Imbarrato) , copyright © 2005, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 8
Word count: 90
Women are often pious and quiet when we [men] rage about wildly; and whenever they need some strength, they gaze up silently to the heavens. Their power and strength is slight: a breeze can push them over; yet it is a singular, powerful thing when they gaze up to heaven. Often have I myself, with a stir, seen my mother looking up so; I saw only gray clouds moving, and blue air above up there, but when she lowered her eyes, she was full of power and hope. It seems to me that now and then, women are clearly still looking at heaven [in their hearts].
About the headline (FAQ)
Translation of title "Die Frauen sind oft fromm und still" = "Women are often pious and quiet"Authorship
- Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © by Emily Ezust
Emily Ezust permits her translations to be reproduced without prior permission for printed (not online) programs to free-admission concerts only, provided the following credit is given:
Translation copyright © by Emily Ezust,
from the LiederNet Archive -- https://www.lieder.net/For any other purpose, please write to the e-mail address below to request permission and discuss possible fees.
- a text in German (Deutsch) by Felix Ludwig Julius Dahn (1834 - 1912), no title, appears in Schlichte Weisen, no. 22
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 8
Word count: 106