Tous les hommes, grands et petits

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by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832)

Translation © by Guy Laffaille

Alle Menschen groß und klein

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: CAT ENG FRE

Alle Menschen groß und klein
Spinnen sich ein Gewebe fein,
Wo sie mit ihrer [Scheren]¹ Spitzen
Gar zierlich in der Mitte sitzen. 
Wenn nun darein ein Besen fährt,
Sagen sie, es sei unerhört,
Man habe den größten Palast zerstört.

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• R. Strauss

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View original text (without footnotes)
¹ Strauss: "Schere"

Text Authorship:

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832), no title, written 1815, appears in West-östlicher Divan, in 10. Buch der Parabeln -- Mathal Nameh [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 Richard Georg Strauss (1864 - 1949), "Sinnspruch", WoO 105 (1919) [sung text checked 1 time]

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

CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "Màxima", copyright © 2020, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "Epigram", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 7
Word count: 40

Tous les hommes, grands et petits

Language: French (Français) after the German (Deutsch)

Tous les hommes, grands et petits,
Se tissent une toile fine,
Où avec leurs ciseaux et leur aiguille
Ils se tiennent au milieu très délicatement.
Si maintenant un balai arrive là-dedans,
Ils disent, c'est inouï,
On a détruit le plus grand des palais.

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Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to French (Français) copyright © 2011 by Guy Laffaille, (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:

a text in German (Deutsch) by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832), no title, written 1815, appears in West-östlicher Divan, in 10. Buch der Parabeln -- Mathal Nameh
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2011-01-11
Line count: 7
Word count: 43