The highwayman | I pleaded for water

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by Georg Friedrich Daumer (1800 - 1875)

Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Um Wasser fleht' ich

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG

  Um Wasser fleht' ich,
Um einen Trunk nur,
Und wurde geschmäht
Und ausgestoßen,
Der Lechzende.
Nie mehr seitdem
Hab' ich gefleht,
In die Berge ging ich
Und ward ein Räuber.

About the headline (FAQ)

Confirmed with G.Fr. Daumer, Hafis - Eine Sammlung persischer Gedichte - Poetische Zugaben aus verschiedenen Ländern und Völkern, Hamburg: Bei Hoffmann und Campe, 1846, page 203.

Text Authorship:

by Georg Friedrich Daumer (1800 - 1875), no title, appears in Hafis - Eine Sammlung persischer Gedichte, in Poetische Zugaben aus verschiedenen Ländern und Völkern, in Zigeunerisch, no. 9 [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 Anton Rückauf (1855 - 1903), "Der Betyár", op. 17 no. 6, published 1894 [ voice and piano ], from Zigeunerlieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte, no. 6, Leipzig, Kistner [sung text not yet checked]

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

ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "The highwayman", copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2011-08-25
Line count: 9
Word count: 31

The highwayman

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

  I pleaded for water,
For but a single drink,
And I was abused
And cast out,
I the thirsting one.
Never since then
Have I pleaded,
I went into the mountains
And became a bandit.

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2024 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 Georg Friedrich Daumer (1800 - 1875), no title, appears in Hafis - Eine Sammlung persischer Gedichte, in Poetische Zugaben aus verschiedenen Ländern und Völkern, in Zigeunerisch, no. 9
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2024-04-10
Line count: 9
Word count: 36