An die Frauen
Language: German (Deutsch) after the Greek (Ελληνικά)
Our translations: ENG FRE
Chosen for Diff
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)
Chosen for Diff
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
