These gentlewomen, they understand | These gentlewomen, they understand

Attention! Some of this material is not in the public domain.

It is illegal to copy and distribute our copyright-protected material without permission. It is also illegal to reprint copyright texts or translations without the name of the author or translator.

To inquire about permissions and rates, contact Emily Ezust at licenses@email.lieder.example.net

If you wish to reprint translations, please make sure you include the names of the translators in your email. They are below each translation.

Note: You must use the copyright symbol © when you reprint copyright-protected material.

by Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856)

Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Diese Damen, sie verstehen

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG

Diese Damen, sie verstehen,
Wie man Dichter ehren muß:
Gaben mir ein Mittagessen,
Mir und meinem Genius.

Ach! die Suppe war vortrefflich,
Und der Wein hat mich erquickt,
Das Geflügel, das war göttlich,
Und der Hase war gespickt.

Sprachen, glaub ich, von der Dichtkunst,
Und ich wurde endlich satt;
Und ich dankte für die Ehre,
Die man mir erwiesen hat.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

by Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856), no title, appears in Neue Gedichte, in Verschiedene, in Yolante und Marie, no. 1 [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 Richard Farber (b. 1945), "Diese Damen, sie verstehen", 2008 [ voice and piano ], from Yolante und Marie, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Don Forsythe (1932 - 2015), "Diese Damen, sie verstehen", 2007, published c2007-8 [ high voice and piano ], from Verschiedene : vol. 2, Clarisse-Tragödie, no. 6 [sung text not yet checked]
by Wilhelm Killmayer (1927 - 2017), "Diese Damen, sie verstehen", 1994-5, published c1998 [ tenor and piano ], from Ein Liederbuch nach Gedichten von Heinrich Heine, Abteilung II, no. 12 [sung text not yet checked]

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

ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "These gentlewomen, they understand", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2007-10-13
Line count: 12
Word count: 60

These gentlewomen, they understand

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

These gentlewomen, they understand
How one should honour poets:
They gave me a luncheon,
Me and my genius.

Ah! The soup was superb,
And the wine refreshed me,
The poultry was divine,
And the rabbit was larded.

I believe we spoke about poetry,
And finally [for a change] I was replete;
And I expressed my thanks for the honour
That was shown to me.

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2009 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 Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856), no title, appears in Neue Gedichte, in Verschiedene, in Yolante und Marie, no. 1
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2009-04-15
Line count: 12
Word count: 64