Flutter by, you butterfly

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by Karl Friedrich Henckell (1864 - 1929)

Translation © by Gary Bachlund (b. 1947)

Schwebe, du Schmetterling

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG FRE

Schwebe, du Schmetterling,
Schwebe vorbei!
Leben ist leichtes Ding,
Fühlst du dich frei.

Leben ist Windeshauch,
Welt ist wie Gras,
Säuseln im Haselstrauch,
Elfischer Spaß.

Rot ist das Heidekraut,
Grün ist der Klee,
Himmel, so weit er blaut,
[Goldheller]¹ See.

Schwebe, du Schmetterling,
Schwebe vorbei!
Über die Blumen schwing
Hoch dich, juchhei!

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)
¹ Pejačević: "Ein goldner"

Text Authorship:

by Karl Friedrich Henckell (1864 - 1929), no title, appears in Schmetterlingslieder, no. 2 [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), "Schwebe, du Schmetterling", 2009 [ soprano and piano ], from Schmetterlingslieder, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Dora Pejačević (1885 - 1923), "Schwebe, du Schmetterling", op. 52 no. 2 (1920) [ voice and piano ], from Zwei Schmetterlingslieder, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
by August Reuss (1871 - 1935), "Schmetterlingslieder II", op. 34 (Fünf Gedichte) no. 4 [ high voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]

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

ENG English (Gary Bachlund) , copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Volette, papillon", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2007-07-06
Line count: 16
Word count: 53

Flutter by, you butterfly

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

Flutter by, you butterfly,
Flutter on past!
Life is such an airy thing,
To make you feel so free.

Life is the wind's own breath,
The world is like the grass,
Whispers in the hazel shrub,
An elfin joy.

Red is the heather,
Green is the clover,
The heavens, so broadly colored,
Is a bright golden sea.

Flutter by, you butterfly,
Flutter on past!
Linger over the blossoms
To celebrate, hurrah.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

by Gary Bachlund (b. 1947), 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 Karl Friedrich Henckell (1864 - 1929), no title, appears in Schmetterlingslieder, no. 2
- Go to the text page.

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2009-11-24
Line count: 16
Word count: 71