In the country and the city | In the country and the city

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by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832)

Translation © by Emily Ezust

Auf dem Land und in der Stadt

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG

Erwin
 Auf dem Land und in der Stadt
 Hat man eitel Plagen,
 Muß ums Bißchen, was man hat,
 Sich mit'm Nachbar schlagen.
 Rings auf Gottes Erde weit
 Ist nur Hunger, Kummer, Neid,
 Dich hinauszutreiben.

Bernardo
 Erdennoth ist keine Noth
 Als dem Feig- und Matten.
 Arbeit schafft Dir täglich Brod,
 Dach und Fach und Schatten.
 Rings, wo Gottes Sonne scheint,
 Findst ein Mädchen, findst einen Freund,
 Lass' uns immer bleiben!

About the headline (FAQ)

Confirmed with Goethe's Werke nach den vorzüglichsten Quellen revidirte Ausgabe, Dritter Theil, Gedichte, herausgegeben und mit Anmerkungen begleitet von Dr. Fr. Strehlke, Berlin, Gustav Hempel, 1868, pages 71-72.

Modernized spelling would change "Erdennoth" to "Erden Not" and "Noth" to "Not"

Text Authorship:

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832), no title, appears in Erwin und Elmire [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 Anna Amalia, Herzogin von Sachsen-Weimar (1739 - 1807), "Auf dem Land und in der Stadt", 1776, from Lieder des Erwin und Bernardo aus "Erwin und Elmire" [sung text checked 1 time]

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

ENG English (Emily Ezust) , "In the country and the city", copyright ©

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 69

In the country and the city

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

In the country and the city
one is plagued by futility!
For the little that one has
One must struggle with one's neighbours.
All around God's earth
is hunger, toil, and envy,
enough to drive one out.

Yet earthly torment is no torment
but to the cowardly and dull;
work gives us our daily bread,
our roof and plot and shade.
All around where God's sun shines,
you find a maiden, you find a friend;
let us remain here forever!

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 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.
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Based on:

a text in German (Deutsch) by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832), no title, appears in Erwin und Elmire
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 14
Word count: 80