by Heinrich Heine (1797 - 1856)
Translation Singable translation by Charles Fonteyn Manney (1872 - 1951)

Du bist wie eine Blume
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Available translation(s): CAT CHI DUT DUT ENG ENG FRE GRE GRE HUN IRI ITA POR SPA SPA SPA
  Du bist wie eine Blume
[So hold und schön und rein;]1
Ich schau' dich an, und Wehmut
Schleicht mir ins Herz hinein.

  Mir ist, als ob [ich]2 die Hände
Aufs Haupt [dir]3 legen sollt',
[Betend]4, daß [Gott dich]5 erhalte
[So rein und schön und hold.]1

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with: Heinrich Heine’s sämtliche Werke in vier Bänden, herausgegeben von Otto F. Lachmann, Erster Band, Leipzig: Druck und Verlag von Philipp Reclam jun, [1887], page 136.

1 Ander: "So schön, so rein und hold" the first time, and the original line the second time; Chadwick: "So schön, so hold, so rein"; Mayer: "So hold, so schön und rein" the first time and "So rein, so schön und hold" the second time; in many settings by various composers, this line is altered to "So rein, so schön, so hold"
2 omitted by Hinrichs
3 Hinrichs: "ich dir"
4 Dreyschock: "und beten"
5 Liszt: "dich Gott"

Authorship:

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

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

  • CAT Catalan (Català) (Marta Garcia Cadena) , copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • CHI Chinese (中文) (Ting Chung Wang) , "你像朵鮮花", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • DUT Dutch (Nederlands) (Wijtse Rodenburg) , "Jij bent als een bloem", copyright © 2003, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "Jij bent mij als een bloemkelk", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • DUT Dutch (Nederlands) (Cornelis Petrus Tiele) , "Gelijk een bloeme"
  • ENG English (Emma Lazarus) , appears in Poems and Ballads of Heinrich Heine, first published 1881
  • ENG English (Bertram Kottmann) , "Thou art, as is a flower", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ENG English [singable] (Anonymous/Unidentified Artist) , "A Flow'ret thou resemblest"
  • ENG English [singable] (Charles Fonteyn Manney) , "Thou art lovely as a flower", first published 1911
  • ENG English (Emily Ezust) , "You are like a flower", copyright © 2012
  • FIN Finnish (Suomi) (Valter Juva) , "Kuin kukka olet kaino"
  • FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • GRE Greek (Ελληνικά) [singable] (Christakis Poumbouris) , copyright © 2018, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • GRE Greek (Ελληνικά) [singable] (Christakis Poumbouris) , copyright © 2018, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • HUN Hungarian (Magyar) (Tamás Rédey) , copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • IRI Irish (Gaelic) [singable] (Gabriel Rosenstock) , copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ITA Italian (Italiano) (Amelia Maria Imbarrato) , "Tu sei come un fiore", copyright © 2005, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • POL Polish (Polski) (Aleksander Kraushar) , "Ty jesteś luba", Warsaw, first published 1880
  • POL Polish (Polski) (Stanisław Budziński) , "Ty jesteś jakoby kwiecie...", first published 1886
  • POL Polish (Polski) (Władysław Bełza) , "Jesteś jak kwiatek wiośniany..."
  • POR Portuguese (Português) (Margarida Moreno) , "És como uma flor", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • SPA Spanish (Español) (Eduardo Borja Illescas) , "Eres como una flor", copyright © 2005, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • SPA Spanish (Español) (Gerardo Garciacano Hinojosa) (Simone von Büren) , "Eres como una flor", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • SPA Spanish (Español) (Elisa Rapado) , copyright © 2018, (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: 8
Word count: 46

Thou art lovely as a flower
Language: English  after the German (Deutsch) 
Thou art lovely as a flower,
So fair and pure thou art;
I look on thee, and sadness
Steals o'er my yearning heart.

My hands, in tender devotion,
I'd rest upon thy hair,
Praying the dear God to keep thee
So pure and sweet and fair.

Authorship:

Based on:

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

    [ None yet in the database ]


Researcher for this text: Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2011-04-04
Line count: 8
Word count: 46