About the money-bag | My money-bag, alas! what a feeble sound!

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by Friedrich Heinrich Oser (1820 - 1891)

Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Vom Geldsack

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG

Choose for Diff

  [Mein Geldsack, ach!]¹ welch' dünner Klang!
Bist viel zu weit, bist viel zu lang!
Dem Gulden wird so einsamlich,
Bald läßt der letzte dich im Stich,
Und auch der Heller schlüpft heraus
Im Nu wie eine Kirchenmaus! 
  Mein Geldsack, mein Geldsack,
  Mein armer, langer Geldsack! 

  Nur du, mein Herz, bist viel zu klein!
Ging' jemals all mein Glück hinein? -- 
Schlag freudig drum nicht minder fort,
Getrost mit deinem Schatz und Hort!
Wirst reicher nur, je mehr du gibst,
Und froher nur, je mehr du liebst!  
  Mein Herz, du, mein Herz, du,
  Was kümmert dich der Geldsack!

View text without footnotes

Confirmed with Liederbuch von Friedrich Oser, 1842-1874. Mit einem biographischen Verzeichnis der Componisten, Basel: Benno Schwabe, Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1875, page 325.

¹ Häser: "Ach mein Geldsack"; further changes may exist not shown above.

Text Authorship:

by Friedrich Heinrich Oser (1820 - 1891), "Vom Geldsack ", appears in Liederbuch, in 5. Vermischte Lieder, no. 352 [author's text checked 2 times 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 Gustav Flügel (1812 - 1900), "Vom Geldsack", op. 67 no. 4, published 1871 [ men's chorus ], in: Thesaurus. Sammlung neuer Lieder und Gesänge für Männerchöre, Berlin: Stubenrauch [sung text not yet checked]
by Carl Häser (1809 - 1887 ), "Vom Geldsack", op. 82 (Drei Gedichte launigen Inhalts für Männerchor) no. 1, published 1874 [ men's chorus ], Cassel, Luckhardt [sung text not yet checked]
by Samuel Hoch (b. 1830) [sung text not yet checked]
by Reinhold Reich (1842 - 1900), "Vom Geldsack" [ four-part men's chorus a cappella ], Leipzig: Siegismund & Volkening [sung text not yet checked]

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

ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "About the money-bag", copyright © 2026, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this page: Sharon Krebs [Senior Associate Editor], Melanie Trumbull

This text was added to the website: 2019-04-01
Line count: 16
Word count: 98

About the money‑bag

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

Choose for Diff

  [My money-bag, alas!]¹ what a feeble sound!
You are far too wide, are far too long!
The guilder becomes so lonely,
Soon the last one shall leave you in the lurch,
And the halfpenny, too, shall slip out
In a trice, like a church-mouse!
  My money-bag, my money-bag,
  My poor, long money-bag!

  Only you, my heart, are far too small!
Could all my happiness ever fit into you? --
But do you continue to pulse no less joyfully,
Confident in your treasure and hoard!
You only become the more wealthy the more you give,
And only the more happy, the more you love!
  My heart, you, my heart, you,
  What does the money-bag concern you!

View text without footnotes
¹ Häser: "Alas, my money-bag"; further changes may exist not shown above.

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2026 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 Friedrich Heinrich Oser (1820 - 1891), "Vom Geldsack ", appears in Liederbuch, in 5. Vermischte Lieder, no. 352
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2026-09-14
Line count: 16
Word count: 116