by
Theodor Fontane (1819 - 1898)
Es zieht sich eine blutige Spur
Language: German (Deutsch)
Available translation(s): CAT ENG FRE
Es zieht sich eine [blutige]1 Spur
Durch unser Haus von alters,
Meine Mutter war seine Buhle nur,
Die schöne Lucy Walters.
Am Abend war's, leis wogte das Korn
Sie küssten sich unter der Linde,
Eine Lerche klang und ein Jägerhorn --
Ich bin ein Kind der Sünde.
Meine Mutter hat mir oft erzählt
Von jenes Abends Sonne,
Ihre Lippen sagten: Ich habe gefehlt!
Ihre Augen lachten vor Wonne.
Ein Kind der Sünde, ein Stuartkind,
Es [blitzt]2 wie Beil von Weiten:
Den Weg, den alle geschritten sind,
Ich werd' ihn auch beschreiten.
Das Leben geliebt und die Krone geküßt
Und den Frauen das Herz gegeben
Und den letzten Kuß auf das schwarze Gerüst --
Das ist ein Stuart-Leben !
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)
1 Busoni: "blut'ge"
2 Busoni: "glänzt"
Authorship:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (John H. Campbell) , "Song of Monmouth", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Complainte de James Monmouth", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this page: John H. Campbell
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 20
Word count: 116
Song of Monmouth
Language: English  after the German (Deutsch)
For ages it seems a bloody track
has been drawn through this house
my mother was its only lover,
the beautiful Lucy Walters.
It was evening, the wheat wav'd in the breeze
they kissed beneath the linden
a lark called and a hunter's-horn.
I am a child of sin.
My mother has often told me
of that evening's sun,
its lips said: "I have fallen."
Its eyes laughed at the bliss.
A child of the sin, a Stuart-child,
shines like a hatchet from afar.
The way, that all have stridden,
I will also walk.
The life loved and the crown kissed
and the women the heart given
and the last kiss on the black framework
thus is the life of a Stuart!
Authorship:
- Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © by John H. Campbell, (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.
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Based on:
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 20
Word count: 123