by Frank Wedekind (1864 - 1918)
Translation by Samuel Atkins Eliot
Lied der Lulu: Comodo
Language: German (Deutsch)
Available translation(s): FRE
Wenn sich die Menschen um meinetwillen umgebracht haben, so setzt das meinen Wert nicht herab. Du hast so gut gewußt, weswegen du mich zur Frau nahmst, wie ich gewußt habe, weswegen ich dich zum Mann nahm. Du hattest deine besten Freunde mit mir betrogen, du konntest nicht gut auch noch dich selber mit mir betrügen. Wenn du mir deinen Lebensabend zum Opfer bringst, so hast du meine ganze Jugend dafür gehabt. Ich habe nie in der Welt etwas anderes scheinen wollen, als wofür man mich genommen hat. Und man hat mich nie in der Welt für etwas anderes genommen, als was ich bin.
Authorship:
- by Frank Wedekind (1864 - 1918) [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 Alban Maria Johannes Berg (1885 - 1935), "Lied der Lulu: Comodo", 1934 [soprano and orchestra], from Lulu-Symphonie, no. 3. [text verified 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , title unknown, copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Samuel Atkins Eliot) , title unknown, published 1918
Researcher for this page: Guy Laffaille [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2009-01-04
Line count: 12
Word count: 103
If men have killed themselves for my...
Language: English  after the German (Deutsch)
If men have killed themselves for my sake, that doesn't lower my value. You know as well why you made me your wife as I knew why I took you for husband. You had deceived your best friends with me; you could not well go on deceiving yourself with me. If you bring me the close of your life as a sacrifice, still you have had my whole youth for it. You understand ten times better than I do which is the more valuable. I have never in the world wished to seem to be anything different from what I am taken for, and I have never in the world been taken for anything different from what I am.
About the headline (FAQ)
Authorship:
- by Samuel Atkins Eliot , first published 1918 [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in German (Deutsch) by Frank Wedekind (1864 - 1918)
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- [ None yet in the database ]
Researcher for this page: Harry Joelson
This text was added to the website: 2009-03-05
Line count: 12
Word count: 119