by Robert Reinick (1805 - 1852)
Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Wie ist doch die Erde so schön, so...
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Available translation(s): CAT DUT ENG ENG FRE SPA
Wie ist doch die Erde so schön, so schön!
Das wissen die Vögelein:
Sie heben ihr leicht' Gefieder,
Und singen so fröhliche Lieder
In den blauen Himmel hinein.

Wie ist doch die Erde so schön, so schön!
Das wissen die Flüss' und [die Seen]1:
Sie [malen]2 im klaren Spiegel
Die Gärten [und Städt' und]3 Hügel,
Und die [Wolken]4, die drüber [geh'n]5!

[Und Sänger und Maler wissen es,]6
Und [Kinder und and're]7 Leut'!
Und [wer's]8 nicht malt, der singt es,
Und [wer's]8 nicht singt, dem klingt es
[In dem Herzen vor]9 lauter Freud'!

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Robert Reinick's Märchen-, Lieder- und Geschichtenbuch, Bielefeld und Leipzig: Verlag von Velhagen & Klasing, 1873, page 138.

1 Blech, Brahms, Reger, Reinecke: "Seen"
2 Blech: "malen's"
3 Reger: "und"; Reinecke: "und Städte und"
4 Blech: "weißen Wolken"
5 Reinecke: "zieh'n"
6 Reinecke: "Wie ist doch die Erde so schön, so schön!"
7 Brahms: "es wissen's viel andre"; Reger: "es wissen's viel andere"; Reinecke: "wissen's viel andre"
8 Blech, Reinecke: "wer es"
9 Blech, Brahms, Reinecke: "Im Herzen vor"; Reger: "Im Herzen voll"

Authorship:

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):

  • CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2022, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "Joeché!", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ENG English (Leonard J[ordan] Lehrman) , "How beautiful the earth is!", copyright © 1996, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ENG English [singable] (Addie Funk) , "How lovely the earth"
  • ENG English [singable] (C. Hugo Laubach)
  • ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , copyright © 2022, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Ô gué !", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • SPA Spanish (Español) (Alfonso Sebastián) , copyright © 2021, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


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

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 15
Word count: 92

How beautiful, so beautiful is the...
Language: English  after the German (Deutsch) 
How beautiful, so beautiful is the world!
The little birds know it:
They lift their light plumage,
And sing such joyful songs
Into the blue heavens.

How beautiful, so beautiful is the world!
The rivers and [the lakes]1 know it:
In their clear reflective surface, they paint
The garden [and the towns and]2 hills,
And the [clouds]3 that scud above them!

[And singers and painters know it,]4
And [children and other people!]5
And whoever does not paint it, sings it,
And whoever does not sing it, for him it resounds
In his heart [for]6 pure joy!

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)

Translations of title(s):
"Die schöne Erde" = "The beautiful world"
"Juchhe!" = "Hooray!"
"Lebenslust" = "Love of life"
"Wie ist doch die Erde so schön" = "How beautiful is the world"
"Wie ist doch die Erde so schön, so schön!" = "How beautiful, so beautiful is the world!"

1 Blech, Brahms, Reger, Reinecke: "lakes"
2 Reger: "and"
3 Blech: "white clouds"
4 Reinecke: "How so beautiful, so beautiful is the world!"
5 Brahms, Reger, Reinecke: "many other people know it"
6 Reger: "full of"

Authorship:

  • Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2022 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.
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Based on:

 

This text was added to the website: 2022-03-17
Line count: 15
Word count: 96