Signore Iddio, sai tu cosa hai fatto

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by Robert Franz Arnold (1872 - 1938)

Translation © by Ferdinando Albeggiani

Herrgott, weißt du, was du tatest (Waldemar)

Language: German (Deutsch) after the Danish (Dansk)

Our translations: CAT ENG FRE ITA

Waldemar:
 Herrgott, weißt du, was du tatest,
 als klein Tove mir verstarb?
 Triebst mich aus der letzten Freistatt,
 die ich meinem Glück erwarb!
 Herr, du solltest wohl erröten:
 Bettlers einz'ges Lamm zu töten!
 Herrgott, ich bin auch ein Herrscher,
 und es ist mein Herrscherglauben:
 Meinem Untertanen darf ich nie
 die letzte Leuchte rauben.
 Falsche Wege schlägst du ein:
 Das heißt wohl Tyrann, nicht Herrscher sein!
 Herrgott, deine Engelscharen
 singen stets nur deinen Preis,
 doch dir wäre mehr vonnöten
 einer, der zu tadeln weiß.
 Und wer mag solches wagen?
 Laß mich, Herr, die Kappe deines Hofnarrn tragen!

Text Authorship:

by Robert Franz Arnold (1872 - 1938) [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]

Based on:

a text in Danish (Dansk) by Jens Peter Jacobsen (1847 - 1885), no title, appears in Gurresange, no. 7
- Go to the text page.

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

by Arnold Franz Walter Schoenberg (1874 - 1951), "Herrgott, weißt du, was du tatest (Waldemar)", c1900, published 1912 [ soli, chorus, orchestra ], from Gurrelieder, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]

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

CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English (Linda Godry) , copyright © 2004, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2013-08-14
Line count: 19
Word count: 96

Signore Iddio, sai tu cosa hai fatto

Language: Italian (Italiano) after the German (Deutsch)

Waldemar:
 Signore Iddio, sai tu cosa hai fatto
 quando mi è morta la piccola Tove?
 Mi hai scacciato dall'ultimo asilo,
 dove avevo trovato la felicità!
 Signore, dovresti arrossire per questo:
 uccidere al povero l'unico agnello!
 Signore, anch'io sono un sovrano,
 e questo, in quanto sovrano, io penso:
 non mi sognerei mai di sottrarre,
 ai miei sudditi, la loro unica risorsa. 
 Hai preso una strada sbagliata, Signore:
 la strada di un tiranno, non quella di un vero sovrano!
 Signore Iddio, le tue angeliche schiere
 stanno sempre a cantare le tue lodi,
 ma forse avresti più bisogno
 di uno che sappia criticarti.
 E chi potrebbe osare tanto?
 Consentimi, Signore, di indossare il cappello di giullare alla tua corte.

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Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to Italian (Italiano) copyright © 2008 by Ferdinando Albeggiani, (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 Robert Franz Arnold (1872 - 1938)
- Go to the text page.

Based on:

a text in Danish (Dansk) by Jens Peter Jacobsen (1847 - 1885), no title, appears in Gurresange, no. 7
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2008-12-31
Line count: 19
Word count: 116