LiederNet logo

CONTENTS

×
  • Home | Introduction
  • Composers (20,103)
  • Text Authors (19,447)
  • Go to a Random Text
  • What’s New
  • A Small Tour
  • FAQ & Links
  • Donors
  • DONATE

UTILITIES

  • Search Everything
  • Search by Surname
  • Search by Title or First Line
  • Search by Year
  • Search by Collection

CREDITS

  • Emily Ezust
  • Contributors (1,114)
  • Contact Information
  • Bibliography

  • Copyright Statement
  • Privacy Policy

Follow us on Facebook

×

Attention! Some of this material is not in the public domain.

It is illegal to copy and distribute our copyright-protected material without permission. It is also illegal to reprint copyright texts or translations without the name of the author or translator.

To inquire about permissions and rates, contact Emily Ezust at licenses@email.lieder.example.net

If you wish to reprint translations, please make sure you include the names of the translators in your email. They are below each translation.

Note: You must use the copyright symbol © when you reprint copyright-protected material.

by August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben (1798 - 1874)
Translation © by Lau Kanen

O Schmetterling sprich
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Our translations:  CAT DUT ENG FRE
[O]1 Schmetterling sprich,
Was fliehest du mich?
Warum doch so eilig,
Jetzt fern und dann nah?

Jetzt fern und dann nah,
Jetzt hier und dann da -- 
Ich will dich nicht haschen,
Ich thu' dir kein Leid.

Ich thu' dir kein Leid:
O bleib allezeit!
Und wär ich ein Blümchen,
So spräch' ich zu dir,

So spräch' ich zu dir:
Komm, komm doch zu mir!
Ich schenk' dir mein Herzchen,
Wie gut bin ich dir!

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

•   R. Schumann 

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)
Confirmed with Gedichte von Hoffmann von Fallersleben, Leipzig, Weidmann'sche Buchhandlung, 1843, page 533.

1 omitted by Schumann

Text Authorship:

  • by August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben (1798 - 1874), "Wie gut bin ich dir!", appears in Kinderlieder [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 Otto Dresel (1826 - 1890), "Schmetterling", 1849 [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Robert Schumann (1810 - 1856), "Schmetterling", op. 79 no. 2 (1849), published 1849 [ voice and piano ], from Liederalbum für die Jugend, no. 2, Leipzig, Breitkopf und Härtel [sung text checked 1 time]

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

  • CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2020, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "Vlinder", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "How fond I am of you!", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Le papillon", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Research team for this page: John Versmoren , Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 75

Vlinder
Language: Dutch (Nederlands)  after the German (Deutsch) 
O vlindertje, zeg, 
waarom vlieg je weg?
Waarom toch zo haastig, 
nu ver dan dichtbij!
 
Nu ver dan dichtbij, 
maar net niet naar mij.
Ik wil je niet vangen, 
ik doe je geen kwaad.
 
Ik doe je geen kwaad, 
hoop dat je niet gaat!
En was ik een bloempje, 
dan sprak ik tot jou.
 
Dan sprak ik tot jou: 
kom, kom bij me gauw!
Ik geef je mijn hartje, 
zo houd ik van jou!

Text Authorship:

  • Singable translation from German (Deutsch) to Dutch (Nederlands) copyright © 2013 by Lau Kanen, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., please ask the copyright-holder(s) directly.

    Lau Kanen.  Contact: boudewijnkanen (AT) gmail (DOT) com


    If the copyright-holder(s) are unreachable for three business days, please write to: licenses@email.lieder.example.net


Based on:

  • a text in German (Deutsch) by August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben (1798 - 1874), "Wie gut bin ich dir!", appears in Kinderlieder
    • Go to the text page.

 

This text was added to the website: 2013-05-15
Line count: 16
Word count: 74

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

Donate

We use cookies for internal analytics and to earn much-needed advertising revenue. (Did you know you can help support us by turning off ad-blockers?) To learn more, see our Privacy Policy. To learn how to opt out of cookies, please visit this site.

I acknowledge the use of cookies

Contact
Copyright
Privacy

Copyright © 2025 The LiederNet Archive

Site redesign by Shawn Thuris