To my child | You sleep and gently I lean

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by Gustav Falke (1853 - 1916)

Translation © by Joel Ayau

Meinem Kinde

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: CAT DUT ENG FRE

Du schläfst und sachte neig ich mich
Über dein Bettchen und segne dich.
Jeder behutsame Atemzug
Ist ein schweifender Himmelsflug,
Ist ein Suchen weit umher,
Ob nicht doch ein Sternlein wär,
Wo aus eitel Glanz und Licht 
Liebe sich ein Glückskraut bricht,
Das sie geflügelt herniederträgt
Und dir aufs weiße Deckchen legt.

Confirmed with Gustav Falke, Ausgewählte Gedichte, Neuausgabe mit einer Biographie des Autors, herausgegeben von Karl-Maria Guth, Berlin: Hofenberg, 2019, page 36.

Text Authorship:

by Gustav Falke (1853 - 1916), "Meinem Kinde" [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 Maria Herz (1878 - 1950), "Meinem Kinde" [ voice and piano ], from Three / Four songs, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
by Hugo Wilhelm Ludwig Kaun (1863 - 1932), "Meinem Kinde", op. 51 (Fünf Lieder) no. 1 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Max Reger (1873 - 1916), "Meinem Kinde", op. 43 (Acht Lieder) no. 3 (1900), published 1900 [ high voice and piano ], München, Aibl Verl. [sung text checked 1 time]
by Richard Georg Strauss (1864 - 1949), "Meinem Kinde", op. 37 (Sechs Lieder für 1 hohe Stimme -- für 1 tiefe Stimme mit Pianoforte) no. 3, published 1898 [ voice and piano ], München, Aibl. Verlag [sung text checked 1 time]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

Also set in Czech (Čeština), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Bohuslav Martinů.
- Go to the text.

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

CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "Al meu fill", copyright © 2020, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "Voor mijn kind", copyright © 2018, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English (Joel Ayau) , "To my child", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English [singable] (John Bernhoff) , "To my baby", first published 1898
FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "À mon enfant", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 10
Word count: 52

To my child

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

You sleep and gently I lean
Over your little bed and bless you.
Every cautious intake of breath
Is a roaming flight to heaven,
Is a searching all around,
To see if there isn't yet a little star
Where from sheer gloss and light
Love could break off a good-luck herb,
Which then Love, winged, will carry down
And lay on your little white blanket.

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2008 by Joel Ayau, (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 Gustav Falke (1853 - 1916), "Meinem Kinde"
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2008-12-10
Line count: 10
Word count: 65