How fond I am of you! | Oh butterfly tell

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by August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben (1798 - 1874)

Translation © by Sharon Krebs

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

How fond I am of you!

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

[Oh] butterfly tell,
Why do you flee me?
Why are you in such haste,
Now far and then near?

Now far and then near,
Now here and then there --
I shall not catch you,
I shall not harm you.

I shall not harm you:
O stay here always!
And I were a little flower,
I would say to you,

I would say to you:
Come, come to me!
I give you my little heart,
How fond I am of you!

Schumann's title: Butterfly

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2013 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 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: 2013-07-03
Line count: 16
Word count: 80