An die Frauen
Language: German (Deutsch) after the Greek (Ελληνικά)
Our translations: ENG FRE
Natur gab Stieren Hörner,
Sie gab den Rossen Hufe,
Den Hasen schnelle Füße,
Den Löwen weite Rachen,
Den Fischen gab sie Flossen,
Und Fittige den Vögeln;
Den Männern, den Männern aber Weisheit.
Männern! nicht den Weibern?
Was gab sie diesen?
Schönheit, Schönheit.
Statt aller unsrer Spieße,
Statt aller unsrer Schilde;
Denn wider Weibesschönheit
Besteht nicht Stahl, nicht Feuer.
Text Authorship:
Based on:
- a text in Greek (Ελληνικά) by Anacreon (c582BCE - c485BCE), Ode 2 [text unavailable]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Emily Ezust) , "To women", copyright © 2009
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Aux femmes", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [
Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2009-10-01
Line count: 14
Word count: 58
To women
Language: English after the German (Deutsch)
Nature gave steers horns;
She gave horses hooves,
The hares swift feet,
The lions wide jaws;
To the fish she gave fins,
and wings to the birds;
To men, to men, however, she gave wisdom.
To men! ... not to women?
What did she give to them?
Beauty, beauty.
Instead of all our spears,
Instead of all our shields --
For against the beauty of women
Neither steel nor fire can triumph.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2009 by Emily Ezust
Emily Ezust permits her translations to be reproduced without prior permission for printed (not online) programs to free-admission concerts only, provided the following credit is given:
Translation copyright © by Emily Ezust,
from the LiederNet Archive
For any other purpose, please write to the e-mail address below to request permission and discuss possible fees.
licenses@email.lieder.example.net
Based on:
Based on:
- a text in Greek (Ελληνικά) by Anacreon (c582BCE - c485BCE), Ode 2 [text unavailable]
This text was added to the website: 2009-10-01
Line count: 14
Word count: 70
