Poppies | They are poppies, those round

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by Felix Ludwig Julius Dahn (1834 - 1912)

Translation © by Emily Ezust

Mohnblumen

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: CAT DUT ENG FRE FRE JPN

Mohnblumen sind die runden,
rotblutigen gesunden,
die sommersproßgebraunten,
die immer froh gelaunten,
kreuzbraven, kreuzfidelen,
tanznimmermüden Seelen;
die unter'm Lachen weinen
und nur geboren scheinen,
die Kornblumen zu necken,
und dennoch oft verstecken
die weichsten, besten Herzen,
im Schlinggewächs von Scherzen;
die man, weiß Gott, mit Küssen
ersticken würde müssen,
wär' man nicht immer bange,
umarmest du die Range,
sie springt ein voller Brander
aufflammend auseinander.

Text Authorship:

by Felix Ludwig Julius Dahn (1834 - 1912) [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 Richard Georg Strauss (1864 - 1949), "Mohnblumen", op. 22 no. 2 (1888), published 1891 [ voice and piano ], from Mädchenblumen, no. 2, Berlin, Fürstner [sung text checked 1 time]

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

CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "Roselles", copyright © 2020, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "Klaprozen", copyright © 2019, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English (Emily Ezust) , "Poppies", copyright ©
FRE French (Français) (Heide Wiesner) , "Coquelicots", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
FRE French (Français) (Stéphane Goldet) (Pierre de Rosamel) , "Coquelicots", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
JPN Japanese (日本語) (Naoyuki Okada) , "ケシの花", copyright © 2025, (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: 18
Word count: 65

Poppies

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

 They are poppies, those round,
 red-blooming, healthy ones
 that bloom and bake in the summer
 and are always in a cheery mood,
 good and happy as a king,
 their souls never tired of dancing;
 they weep beneath their smiles
 and seem born only
 to tease the cornflowers;
 yet nevertheless,
 the softest, best hearts often hide
 among the climbing ivy of jests;
 God knows one would wish to  
 suffocate them with kisses
 were one not so afraid
 that, embracing the hoyden,
 she would spring up into a full blaze
 and go up in flames.

Text 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
For any other purpose, please write to the e-mail address below to request permission and discuss possible fees.
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Based on:

a text in German (Deutsch) by Felix Ludwig Julius Dahn (1834 - 1912)
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 18
Word count: 94