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Pasteten hin, Pasteten her, Was kümmern uns Pasteten? Die [Kumme]1 hier ist auch nicht leer Und schmeckt so gut [als bonne chère Von Fröschen und von Kröten]2. Und viel Pastet und Leckerbrot [Verdirbt nur]3 Blut und Magen. Die Köche kochen lauter Not, [Sie]4 kochen uns viel eher tot; Ihr Herren, laßt [euch]5 sagen! Schön rötlich die Kartoffeln sind, Und weiß wie Alabaster; [Sie dau'n]6 sich lieblich und geschwind Und sind für Mann und [Weib]7 und Kind, [Geschweige denn für Schwein und Rind]8 Ein rechtes Magenpflaster!
J. Zumsteeg sets stanza 3
About the headline (FAQ)
View text without footnotesConfirmed with Matthias Claudius Sämtliche Werke. Gedichte. Prosa. Briefe in Auswahl, Berlin, Darmstadt, Wien: Deutsche Buch-Gemeinschaft, 1958, pages 199-200.
1 Graben-Hoffmann: "Schüssel"2 Graben-Hoffmann: "wie aus dem Meer/ die Austern und Lampreten"
3 Graben-Hoffmann: "Verderben"
4 Graben-Hoffmann: "Und"
5 Graben-Hoffmann: "euch's"
6 Graben-Hoffmann: "Verdau'n"
7 Graben-Hoffmann: "Frau"
8 omitted by Bachlund and Graben-Hoffmann.
Text Authorship:
- by Matthias Claudius (1740 - 1815), no title [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 Gary Bachlund (b. 1947), "Kartoffellied", 2009 [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Gustav Heinrich Graben-Hoffmann (1820 - 1900), "Pastetenlied", op. 107 no. 10, published c1883 [ voice and piano ], from Frühlingsstimmen: Neue Liederspende für die Jugend, no. 10, Dresden: L. Hoffarth [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Johann Rudolf Zumsteeg (1760 - 1802), "Kartoffellied", published 1803, stanza 3 [ voice and piano ], from Kleine Balladen und Lieder, Heft V, no. 27 [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Gary Bachlund) , "The potato song", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Sharon Krebs [Senior Associate Editor], Johann Winkler
This text was added to the website: 2009-03-15
Line count: 16
Word count: 94
Pâtés there, pâtés here, Shall we care about pâtés? The bowl here is not empty and it tastes as good as the fancy foods which are made by frogs and toads. And many pastries and tasty breads only upset one's blood and stomach. Chefs cook with such a fuss, and cook us into an early grave; My friends, let's say it! Beautifully reddish are potatoes and white as alabaster! They're light and sweet and easy to cook, designed for men and women and child as a fine cure for the stomach.
Text Authorship:
- by Gary Bachlund (b. 1947), "The potato song", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in German (Deutsch) by Matthias Claudius (1740 - 1815), no title
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2009-03-15
Line count: 15
Word count: 91