Le vieux roi grisonnant est assis

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by Johann Ludwig Uhland (1787 - 1862)

Translation © by Pierre Mathé

Der alte, graue König sitzt

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG FRE

Der alte, graue König sitzt
Auf seiner Väter Throne;
Sein Mantel glänzt wie Abendrot,
Wie sinkende [Sonn']¹ die Krone.

"Mein erster und mein zweiter Sohn!
Euch teil ich meine Lande.
Mein dritter Sohn, mein liebstes Kind!
Was laß ich dir zum Pfande?"

"Gib mir von allen Schätzen nur
Die alte, [rostige]² Krone!
Gib mir drei Schiffe! so fahr ich hin
Und suche nach einem Throne."

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• R. Schumann

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View original text (without footnotes)
¹ Schumann: "Sonne"
² Schumann: "rost'ge"

Text Authorship:

by Johann Ludwig Uhland (1787 - 1862), no title, appears in Der Königssohn, no. 1 [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 Robert Schumann (1810 - 1856), "Der alte, graue König sitzt", op. 116 no. 1 (1851), published 1853 [ soli, chorus and orchestra ], from Der Königssohn, no. 1, Leipzig, Whistling [sung text checked 1 time]

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

ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2011-01-18
Line count: 12
Word count: 67

Le vieux roi grisonnant est assis

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

Le vieux roi grisonnant est assis
Sur le trône de ses ancêtres
Son manteau brille comme les feux du soir,
Sa couronne comme un soleil couchant.

« Mon premier fils et mon deuxième fils !
Entre vous je partage mes terres.
Mon troisième fils, le plus cher de mes enfants !
Que vais-je te laisser en héritage ? »

« Donne-moi comme tout trésor
La vieille couronne rouillée !
Donne-moi trois navires que je parte
À la recherche d'un trône. »

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Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to French (Français) copyright © 2012 by Pierre Mathé, (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 Ludwig Uhland (1787 - 1862), no title, appears in Der Königssohn, no. 1
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2012-01-25
Line count: 12
Word count: 77