Ni nana nina na I shall sing to you

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by Paul Heyse (1830 - 1914)

Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Ni nana nina na will ich dir singen

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG FRE

[Ni nana nina na]¹ will ich dir singen.
  Um Mitternacht hörst du ein Glöckchen klingen -
Nicht mein ist diese Glocke, die wir hören.
  Santa Lucia wird sie wohl gehören.
Santa Lucia gab dir ihre Augen,
  Die Magdalena ihre blonden Flechten,
Die Engel schenkten ihre Farben, Kindchen,
  Die heil'ge Martha ihr holdsel'ges Mündchen,
Ihr Mündchen süß von Florentiner Schnitte;
  O sag, wie fängt die Liebe an, ich bitte!
Sie fängt mit Musik und Geigen an,
  Und endigt mit den kleinen Kindern dann;
Sie fängt wohl an mit Singen und mit Sehnen,
  Und hört dann auf mit Jammern und mit Tränen.

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• J. Marx

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)
¹ Marx: "Nina ninana"

Text Authorship:

by Paul Heyse (1830 - 1914), "Wiegenlied", subtitle: "(Venezianisch)" [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 Joseph Marx (1882 - 1964), "Venetianisches Wiegenlied", 1912 [medium voice and piano or orchestra], from Italienisches Liederbuch, no. 17. [
text verified 1 time
]

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

FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , title unknown, copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , title 1: "Lullaby", subtitle: "(Venetian)", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Bruno W. Häuptli

This text was added to the website: 2004-03-29
Line count: 14
Word count: 100

Ni nana nina na I shall sing to you

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

[Ni nana nina na]¹ I shall sing to you.
  At midnight you shall hear a little bell ringing -
This bell that we hear does not belong to me,
  It likely belongs to Santa Lucia.
Santa Lucia gave you her eyes,
  [Saint] Magdalen [gave you] her blonde tresses,
The angels gave [you] their colours, child,
  [Saint] Martha [gave you] her lovely little mouth,
Her sweet little mouth, cut after the Florentine pattern;
  Oh tell me, please, how love begins!
It begins with music and violins,
  And ends with the little children then;
It begins with singing and longing,
  And ends then with lamenting and with tears.

Subtitle: "(Venetian)"

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)

Translated titles:
"Wiegenlied", subtitle: "(Venezianisch)" = "Lullaby", subtitle: (Venetian)"
"Venetianisches Wiegenlied" = "Venetian Lullaby"

¹ Marx: "Nina ninana"

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2012 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.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

a text in German (Deutsch) by Paul Heyse (1830 - 1914), "Wiegenlied", subtitle: "(Venezianisch)"
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2012-07-23
Line count: 14
Word count: 106