Songs
Irrlichter
(1837)
Op. 62-1 no.6
Irrlichter
Irrlichter, die Knaben,Die laufen und traben,Mit Luft sich beschuhend,Nichtsnutziges thuend,Besprechen sich gerneBeim Schein der Laterne.Was hast du gethan?O sage mir an.Es sah mit dem RumpfeEin Frosch aus dem Sumpfe;Das hat mich verdrossen,Ich brannt ihm zum PossenDie Schnauze mit Feuer,Er quakt' ungeheuer.So sage mir nun,Was war denn dein Thun?Ein Hirsch kam mit Zacken,Ich setzt auf den NackenMich zwischen die Hörner,Da fuhr er durch DörnerMit Schnauben und Rasen;Ich fiel auf die Nasen.Nun sage du schnell,Was tat'st du, Gesell?Es trugen die WindeMich gar zu geschwinde;Eh' ich mich's versehen,Ein Dorf sah ich stehen;Da bellten die Hunde,Da wich ich zur Stunde.Nun du, zu gut Nacht,Was hast du gemacht?Ein Wandrer, der WegeNicht kannte noch Stege,Ersah mich zum Leuchter,Mir nach immer keucht' er,Da löscht' ich die Funken,Da war er versunken.Und aus ist das Wort,Dann hüpfen sie fort.
Will-o’-the-wisps
Will-o’-the-wisps, the knavesWho hurry and scurry,Shod in shoes made of airAnd up to no good,Like to conferBy lantern-light. What have you been doing?O tell me. A frog with its torsoPeered out of the swamp;That annoyed me,So I singed his snoutFor fun with fire,He croaked most horribly. Now tell meWhat you have been doing? A stag with antlers passed by,I sat on his neckBetween his horns,Then he bolted through brambles,Snorting and raging;I fell on my face. Tell me quicklyWhat you did, my friend? The winds carried meMuch too fast;Before I knew itI saw a village;The dogs were barking,I vanished in a trice. You now, to round off the night,What have you been doing? A traveller, not knowingHighways or byways,Took me for a light,Kept panting after me –So I snuffed the candleAnd he was sunk. And there’s no more to say,So they hop away.
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Composer
Johann Carl Gottfried Loewe (G30 November 1796 – 20 April 1869),was a German composer, tenor singer and conductor. He wrote over 400 ballads and songs.
Information from Wikipedia. Read more here.
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Poet
Friedrich Rückert was a German poet, translator, and professor of Oriental languages.
Rückert was born at Schweinfurt and was the eldest son of a lawyer. He was educated at the local Gymnasium and at the universities of Würzburg and Heidelberg. From 1816–1817, he worked on the editorial staff of the Morgenblatt at Stuttgart. Nearly the whole of the year 1818 he spent in Rome, and afterwards he lived for several years at Coburg (1820–1826). Rückert married Luise Wiethaus-Fischer there in 1821. He was appointed a professor of Oriental languages at the University of Erlangen in 1826, and, in 1841, he was called to a similar position in Berlin, where he was also made a privy councillor. In 1849 he resigned his professorship at Berlin, and went to live full-time in his Gut (estate) at Neuses (now a part of Coburg).
When Rückert began his literary career, Germany was engaged in her life-and-death struggle with Napoleon; and in his first volume, Deutsche Gedichte (German Poems), published in 1814 under the pseudonym Freimund Raimar, he gave, particularly in the powerful Geharnischte Sonette (Sonnets in Arms/Harsh Words), vigorous expression to the prevailing sentiment of his countrymen. During 1815 to 1818 appeared Napoleon, eine politische Komödie in drei Stücken (Napoleon, a Political Comedy in Three Parts) of which only two parts were published; and in 1817 Der Kranz der Zeit (The Wreath of Time).
Taken from Wikipedia. To view the full article, please click here.
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Irrlichter
Will-o’-the-wisps
If you would like to use our texts and translations, please click here for more information.
Composer
Johann Carl Gottfried Loewe (G30 November 1796 – 20 April 1869),was a German composer, tenor singer and conductor. He wrote over 400 ballads and songs.
Information from Wikipedia. Read more here.
See Full Entry
Poet
Friedrich Rückert was a German poet, translator, and professor of Oriental languages.
Rückert was born at Schweinfurt and was the eldest son of a lawyer. He was educated at the local Gymnasium and at the universities of Würzburg and Heidelberg. From 1816–1817, he worked on the editorial staff of the Morgenblatt at Stuttgart. Nearly the whole of the year 1818 he spent in Rome, and afterwards he lived for several years at Coburg (1820–1826). Rückert married Luise Wiethaus-Fischer there in 1821. He was appointed a professor of Oriental languages at the University of Erlangen in 1826, and, in 1841, he was called to a similar position in Berlin, where he was also made a privy councillor. In 1849 he resigned his professorship at Berlin, and went to live full-time in his Gut (estate) at Neuses (now a part of Coburg).
When Rückert began his literary career, Germany was engaged in her life-and-death struggle with Napoleon; and in his first volume, Deutsche Gedichte (German Poems), published in 1814 under the pseudonym Freimund Raimar, he gave, particularly in the powerful Geharnischte Sonette (Sonnets in Arms/Harsh Words), vigorous expression to the prevailing sentiment of his countrymen. During 1815 to 1818 appeared Napoleon, eine politische Komödie in drei Stücken (Napoleon, a Political Comedy in Three Parts) of which only two parts were published; and in 1817 Der Kranz der Zeit (The Wreath of Time).
Taken from Wikipedia. To view the full article, please click here.
See Full Entry
Sorry, no further description available.