The prayer of the armoured knight in the battlefield | Lord God in Heaven, attend to me!

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by Otto Julius Bierbaum (1865 - 1910)

Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Gebet des geschienten Ritters im Felde

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG

Herr Gott im Himmel, hör mich an! 
Sitzend muß ich beten, weil ich nicht knieen kann, 
Und auch die Hände falten, 
Das kann ich nicht; 
Ich muß die Lanze halten 
Zur Brust mir dicht. 

Nun höre, was ich bete, 
Lieber Gott und Herr: 
Zu Bette liegt die Grete, 
Der machs nit schwer; 

Sie will ein Kind mir bringen, 
Mägdlein oder Sohn: 
Das laß du wohl gelingen,
König auf deinem Thron! 

Sonst hab ich nichts zu beten, 
Ich muß im Felde stehn,--
Nur das mit Greten
Laß wohl geschehn.

Confirmed with Otto Julius Bierbaum, Der neubestellte Irrgarten der Liebe um etliche Gaenge und Lauben vermehrt, Leipzig: Insel-Verlag, MDCCCCVI (1898), page 41.

Text Authorship:

by Otto Julius Bierbaum (1865 - 1910), "Gebet des geschienten Ritters im Felde", written 1901, appears in Der neubestellte Irrgarten der Liebe [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 Ottmar Gerster (1897 - 1969), "Gebet des geschienten Ritters im Felde", published 1943 [ male voice and piano ], from Fünf Lieder, no. 5, Schott (Mainz) [sung text not yet checked]

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

ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "The prayer of the armoured knight in the battlefield", copyright © 2022, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2018-10-01
Line count: 18
Word count: 88

The prayer of the armoured knight in the battlefield

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

Lord God in Heaven, attend to me!
I must pray sitting because I cannot kneel,
And also folding my hands,
That I cannot do;
[For] I must hold the lance
Close to my breast.

Now hear what I pray,
Dear God and Lord:
My Gretel lies in bed,
Do not make it hard for her;

She shall bring me a child,
A little girl or a son:
Let that go well,
King upon Thy throne!

Otherwise I have nothing to pray for,
I must stand in the battlefield, --
Just that with Gretel,
Let that go well.

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2022 by Sharon Krebs, (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 Otto Julius Bierbaum (1865 - 1910), "Gebet des geschienten Ritters im Felde", written 1901, appears in Der neubestellte Irrgarten der Liebe
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2022-03-05
Line count: 18
Word count: 96