Das Veilchen

Ein Veilchen auf der Wiese stand,
Gebückt in sich und unbekannt;
Es war ein herzigs Veilchen.
[Da]1 kam [eine]2 junge Schäferin
Mit leichtem [Schritt]3 und [muntrem]4 Sinn
Daher, daher,
Die Wiese her, und sang.

Ach! denkt das Veilchen, wär ich nur
Die schönste Blume der Natur,
Ach, nur ein kleines Weilchen,
Bis mich das Liebchen abgepflückt
Und an dem Busen matt gedrückt!
Ach nur, ach nur
Ein Viertelstündchen lang!

Ach! aber ach! das Mädchen kam
Und nicht in Acht das Veilchen nahm,
Ertrat das arme Veilchen.
Es sank und starb und freut' sich noch:
Und sterb' ich denn, so sterb' ich doch
Durch sie, durch sie,
Zu ihren Füßen doch.

View original text (without footnotes)
¹ omitted by Štěpán.
² Mozart: " ein' "
³ Medtner: "Tritt"
⁴ This is often modernized to "munterm"

Authorship

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) , "Das Veilchen", from Erwin und Elmire

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

by Johann André (1741-1799) , "Das Veilchen", 1774.
by Anna Amalia, Herzogin von Sachsen-Weimar (1739-1807) , "Das Veilchen", 1776.
by Christian Wilhelm Heydenreich , "Das Veilchen"
by Friedrich Heinrich Himmel (1765-1814) , "Das Veilchen", c1807.
by Philipp Christoph Kayser (1755-1823) , "Romanze", 1776.
by Peter Joseph Lindpaintner (1791-1856) , "Das Veilchen", published c1815 [voice and guitar or piano], from Zwölf Lieder, no. 9.
by Nikolai Karlovich Medtner (1880-1951) , "Das Veilchen", op. 18 no. 5 (1908-9), from Sechs Gedichte von Goethe, no. 5.
by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) , "Das Veilchen", K. 476 (1785).
by Johann Friedrich Reichardt (1752-1814) , "Aus Erwin und Elmire", published 1780.
by Johann Friedrich Reichardt (1752-1814) , "Das Veilchen", published 1788.
by Karl Gottlieb Reissiger (1798-1859) , "Das Veilchen", op. 48 (Deutsche Lieder von W. v. Göthe für eine Sopran- oder Tenorstimme) no. 4, published [1827?] [soprano or tenor and piano], Berlin: Bei Fr. Laue
by Wilhelm Rosenberg (1862-) , "Das Veilchen", op. 1 (Fünf Duette für Sopran und Alt mit Pianofortebegleitung) no. 5, published 1888 [vocal duet for soprano and alto with piano], Leipzig, W. Hansen
by Othmar Schoeck (1886-1957) , "Aus Erwin und Elmire", op. 25 no. 5, published 1919.
by Clara Schumann, née Wieck (1819-1896) , "Ein Veilchen", 1853. [voice and piano]
by Anton Schweitzer (1735-1787) , "Aus Erwin und Elmire", published 1777.
by Karl Sigmund Freiherr von Seckendorff (1744-1785) , "Das Veilchen", alternate title: "Romanze", published 1779 [voice and piano], from Volks- und andere Lieder, mit Begleitung des Forte piano, Erste Sammlung, no. 6, Weimar: Bey Karl Ludolf Hoffmann
by Josef Antonín Štěpán (1726-1797) , "Das Veilchen auf der Wiese", published 1778-9.
by Václav Jan Křtitel Tomášek (1774-1850) , "Das Veilchen", op. 57 (Gedichte von Goethe: V) no. 1 (1815?). [voice and piano]
by Alexander Winterberger (1834-1914) , "Das Veilchen", op. 26 (Zwei Lieder für 1 Sopran- oder Tenorstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 1, published 1875 [soprano or tenor and piano], Leipzig, Kahnt

by Halfdan Kjerulf (1815-1868) , "Violen", op. 1 (Seks sange) no. 6, HK. 18 (1840?). [voice and piano]

by Johan Erik Nordblom (1788-1848) , "Violen", published 1819 [voice and piano], from Sanger med Accompagnement af Forte-Piano, no. 6, Upsala: Hos Palmblad & C.

by Clara Kathleen Rogers (1844-1931) , "The violet" [voice and piano], unpublished

ENG English (Walter Meyer) , "A violet stood upon the lea", copyright © 1996, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
SPA Spanish (The Schiller Institute) , "La violeta", copyright © 2003, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ITA Italian (Amelia Maria Imbarrato) , "La violetta", copyright © 2006, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
SPA Spanish (Elisa Rapado) , "Una pequeña violeta vivía sobre la pradera", copyright © 2007, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
DUT Dutch [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "Het viooltje", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
FRE French (Pierre Mathé) , "La violette", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
NOR Norwegian (Bokmål) (Marianne Beate Kielland) , "Fiolen", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English [singable] (Leon Malinofsky) , "The violet", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Text added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.

Notes about green, red, and white dots

Gentle Reminder

This project, begun in 1995, receives no public funding and is supported financially by 0.01% of our visitors. If you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your gift is greatly appreciated!      - Emily Ezust I also have a wishlist at Amazon.ca.

Fiolen

En fiol stod på engen,
med bøyd hode og ganske anonym;
Det var en elskverdig fiol.
Da kom det en ung gjeterinne
med lette skritt og et muntert sinn
dit hen, din hen,
bortover engen og sang.
 
Akk! Tenkte fiolen, var jeg bare
naturens vakreste blomst,
akk, kun for en liten stund,
inntil den kjæreste hadde plukket meg
og trykket meg til sitt bryst!
Akk kun, akk kun
et lite kvarter! 

Akk, men akk, jenta kom
og la ikke merke til fiolen,
men tråkket på den stakkars fiolen.
Den sank og døde, men gledet seg ennå:
Skal jeg så dø, så dør jeg jo
gjennom henne, ja gjennom henne,
og allikevel ved hennes føtter.

Authorship

Translation from German to Norwegian (Bokmål) copyright © 2009 by Marianne Beate Kielland, mbk (AT) kielland (DOT) no, http://www.kielland.no/, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. Please contact the copyright-holder(s) when requesting permission to reprint and be sure to give proper credit.

a text in German by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) , "Das Veilchen", from Erwin und Elmire DUT ENG DAN ITA FRE SPA ENG SWE

Text added to the website: 2009-06-26.