Der Junggesell

Ich bin ein leichter Junggesell
Und wandre durch die Welt,
Nomadengleich erbau ich schnell
Und breche ab mein Zelt.

Wohl träumt mir oft, es hab' ein Weib
Sich an mein Herz geschmiegt;
Ich hab' im süßen Zeitvertreib
Ein holdes Kind gewiegt.

Doch weg den Traum, ich bin erwachtl
Er hat gar lang' gewährt,
So lang', daß er bei Tag und Nacht
Mir immer wiederkehrt.

Der Ausgang liegt mir stets im Sinn:
Zum Grabe feucht und kalt
Trug man die schöne Mutter hin,
Das Kind dann welkte bald!

Der ganze Traum ist nun vorbei,
Mein Auge wusch ich hell,
Durchwandre wieder leicht und frei
Die Welt als Junggesell

Zwei Locken aber, wunderbar
Vom Traum mir blieben sind;
Die braune von der Mutter Haar,
Die blonde von dem Kind.

Schau ich die goldne Locke an, 
So bleicht das Abendrot;
Und seh ich auf die dunkle dann, 
So wünsch' ich mir den Tod.

by Gustav Pfizer (1807-1890)

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

by Niels Wilhelm Gade (1817-1890) , "Der Junggesell"
by Johann Karl Gottfried Loewe (1796-1869) , "Der Junggesell", 1842.

by Michael William Balfe (1808-1870) , "The two locks of hair" [voice and piano]
by John Blockley (1800-1882) , "The two locks of hair" [voice and piano]
by Procida Bucalossi (1859?-?) , "Love dreams" [voice and piano]
by Lady Henry Carew , "The two locks of hair" [voice and piano]
by J. Balisir Chatterton, Jr. , "The two locks of hair" [voice and piano]
by Alfred E. Houfe , "The two locks of hair", published 1906. [medium voice and piano]
by Francis (Frank) Romer (1810-1889) , "The two locks of hair" [voice and piano]
by H. E. Stewart , "The two locks of hair" [voice and piano]
by T. A. Wallworth , "The brown and the blond" [voice and piano]

Added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.

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The two locks of hair

A youth, light-hearted and content,
  I wander through the world
Here, Arab-like, is pitched my tent
  And straight again is furled.

Yet oft I dream, that once a wife
  Close in my heart was locked,
And in the sweet repose of life
  A blessed child I rocked.

I wake! Away that dream,--away!
  Too long did it remain!
So long, that both by night and day
  It ever comes again.

The end lies ever in my thought;
  To a grave so cold and deep
The mother beautiful was brought;
  Then dropt the child asleep.

But now the dream is wholly o'er,
  I bathe mine eyes and see;
And wander through the world once more,
  A youth so light and free.

Two locks--and they are wondrous fair--
  Left me that vision mild;
The brown is from the mother's hair,
  The blond is from the child.

And when I see that lock of gold,
  Pale grows the evening-red;
And when the dark lock I behold,
  I wish that I were dead.

by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) , "The two locks of hair", from Ballads and Other Poems, published 1842

a text in German by Gustav Pfizer (1807-1890)

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

by Michael William Balfe (1808-1870) , "The two locks of hair" [voice and piano]
by John Blockley (1800-1882) , "The two locks of hair" [voice and piano]
by Procida Bucalossi (1859?-?) , "Love dreams" [voice and piano]
by Lady Henry Carew , "The two locks of hair" [voice and piano]
by J. Balisir Chatterton, Jr. , "The two locks of hair" [voice and piano]
by Alfred E. Houfe , "The two locks of hair", published 1906. [medium voice and piano]
by Francis (Frank) Romer (1810-1889) , "The two locks of hair" [voice and piano]
by H. E. Stewart , "The two locks of hair" [voice and piano]
by T. A. Wallworth , "The brown and the blond" [voice and piano]

Date added to the website: 2008-06-29.