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by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832)

Es war ein fauler Schäfer
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Our translations:  CAT ENG FRE ITA
Es war ein fauler Schäfer,
Ein rechter Siebenschläfer,
Ihn kümmerte kein Schaf.

Ein Mädchen konnt' ihn fassen,
Da war der Tropf verlassen,
Fort Appetit und Schlaf!

Es trieb ihn in die Ferne,
Des Nachts zählt er die Sterne,
Er klagt und härmt sich brav.

Nun da sie ihn genommen, 
Ist alles wieder kommen,
Durst, Appetit und Schlaf.

About the headline (FAQ)

Confirmed with Goethe's Werke, Vollständige Ausgabe letzter Hand, Sieben und vierzigster Band, Stuttgart & Tübingen: in der J.G. Cotta'schen Buchhandlung, 1833, page 37.

Note: See also the folk text Siebenschläfer.


Text Authorship:

  • by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832), "Der Schäfer", appears in Lieder für Liebende [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 Ernst Bacon (1898 - 1990), "Es war ein fauler Schäfer", 1917, note: title is given as "Es war ein fanler Schiffen" and "Es war ein fauler Schieffen" in some online sources - we are assuming these are typos [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Henriette Fahrbach (1851 - 1923), "Der Schäfer", op. 10 (Drei Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 1, published 1878 [ voice and piano ], Wien, Wessely [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Carl Hohfeld (flourished 1884-1895), "Es war ein fauler Schäfer", published 1895 [ voice and piano ], from Lieder und Gesänge, no. 31, Mainz: Kittlitz-Schott [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Alexis Holländer (1840 - 1924), "Der Schäfer", op. 34 (Drei Duette für 2 Sopran mit Pianoforte) no. 3, published 1887 [ vocal duet for 2 sopranos with piano ], Berlin, Schlesinger  [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Armin Knab (1881 - 1951), "Der Schäfer", 1924-46 [ voice and piano ], from Zwölf Lieder nach Gedichten von J. W. von Goethe, no. 10 [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Arnold Mendelssohn (1855 - 1933), "Der Schäfer", published 1905 [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Margarete Schweikert (1887 - 1957), "Der Schäfer" [ high voice and piano ], unpublished [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Gustav Thudichum (1866 - 1944), "Der faule Schäfer", op. 9 (Fünf Gesänge für Bariton mit Pianofortebegleitung), Heft 2 no. 1, published 1899 [ baritone and piano ], München, Schmid Nachf. [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Wendelin Weißheimer (1838 - 1910), "Der Schäfer" [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Hugo Wolf (1860 - 1903), "Der Schäfer", published 1891 [ voice and piano ], from Goethe-Lieder, no. 22, Mainz, Schott [sung text checked 1 time]
  • by Erich Zeisl (1905 - 1959), "Der Schäfer", 1931, published 1936 [ soprano and piano ], from Sieben Lieder, no. 5 [sung text not yet checked]

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

  • CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2021, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ENG English (Emily Ezust) , no title, copyright ©
  • FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , copyright © 2012, (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 between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 57

Gentle Reminder

This website began in 1995 as a personal project by Emily Ezust, who has been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your help is greatly appreciated!
–Emily Ezust, Founder

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