A violet stood upon the lea | A violet stood upon the lea

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by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832)

Translation © by Walter Meyer

Ein Veilchen auf der Wiese stand

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: DUT ENG ENG ENG FRE ITA NOR SPA SPA

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 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]⁴ 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.

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• F. Kunzen • N. Medtner • W. Mozart • C. Schumann • J. Štěpán

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Note for Stanza 1, line 5: "muntrem" is often modernized to "munterm"

¹ omitted by Štěpán.
² Mozart: " ein' "
³ Medtner: "Tritt"
⁴ Kunzen: "Zertrat"

Text Authorship:

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832), "Das Veilchen", appears in Erwin und Elmire [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

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 [sung text not yet checked]
by Anna Amalia, Herzogin von Sachsen-Weimar (1739 - 1807), "Das Veilchen", 1776 [sung text not yet checked]
by Algernon Bennet Langton Ashton (1859 - 1937), "Das Veilchen", op. 92 (Sieben Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 4, published 1897 [ voice and piano ], Leipzig, Hofbauer [sung text not yet checked]
by Christian Wilhelm Heydenreich , "Das Veilchen" [sung text not yet checked]
by Friedrich Heinrich Himmel (1765 - 1814), "Das Veilchen", c1807 [sung text not yet checked]
by Friedrich Heinrich Himmel (1765 - 1814), "Das Veilchen", op. 21 no. 5 [ voice and piano or guitar ], from Sechs Lieder von Göthe mit Begleitung des Pianoforte oder der Guitarre, no. 5, Leipzig: A. Kühnel (Bureau de Musique) [sung text not yet checked]
by Philipp Christoph Kayser (1755 - 1823), "Romanze", 1776 [sung text not yet checked]
by Friedrich Ludwig Æmelius Kunzen (1761 - 1817), "Ein Veilchen auf der Wiese stand" [ voice and piano or organ ], from Weisen und lyrische Gesänge, no. 36 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Peter Joseph Lindpaintner (1791 - 1856), "Das Veilchen", published c1815 [ voice and guitar or piano ], from Zwölf Lieder, no. 9 [sung text not yet checked]
by Nikolai Karlovich Medtner (1880 - 1951), "Das Veilchen", op. 18 no. 5 (1908-9), from Sechs Gedichte von Goethe, no. 5 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 - 1791), "Das Veilchen", K. 476 (1785) [sung text checked 1 time]
by Johann Friedrich Reichardt (1752 - 1814), "Aus Erwin und Elmire", published 1780 [sung text not yet checked]
by Johann Friedrich Reichardt (1752 - 1814), "Das Veilchen", published 1788 [sung text not yet checked]
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 [sung text not yet checked]
by Wilhelm Rosenberg (b. 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 [sung text not yet checked]
by Othmar Schoeck (1886 - 1957), "Aus Erwin und Elmire", op. 25 no. 5, published 1919 [sung text not yet checked]
by Clara Schumann, née Wieck (1819 - 1896), "Das Veilchen", 1853 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
by Anton Schweitzer (1735 - 1787), "Aus Erwin und Elmire", published 1777 [sung text not yet checked]
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 [sung text not yet checked]
by Josef Antonín Štěpán (1726 - 1797), "Das Veilchen auf der Wiese", published 1778-9 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Václav Jan Křtitel Tomášek (1774 - 1850), "Das Veilchen", op. 57 (Gedichte von Goethe: V) no. 1 (1815?) [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
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 [sung text not yet checked]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

Also set in Danish (Dansk), a translation by Adam Gottlob Oehlenschläger (1779 - 1850) , "Violen", first published <<1861 ; composed by Halfdan Kjerulf.
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Also set in Danish (Dansk), a translation by Knud Lyne Rahbek (1760 - 1830) , "Romance", subtitle: "Efter Göthe", appears in Lyriske Digte ; composed by Friedrich Ludwig Æmelius Kunzen.
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Also set in English, a translation by George Birdseye (1844 - 1919) ; composed by Clara Kathleen Rogers.
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Also set in French (Français), a translation by Armand Silvestre (1837 - 1901) ; composed by Benjamin Louis Paul Godard.
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Also set in Swedish (Svenska), a translation possibly by Ludvig Borgström (1788 - 1862); composed by Johan Erik Nordblom.
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Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 21
Word count: 110

A violet stood upon the lea

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

A violet stood upon the lea,
Hunched o'er in anonymity;
So amiable a violet!
Along there came a young shepherdess
Light paced, full of contentedness
Along, along,
The lea, and sang her song.

Ah!" thinks the violet, "were I just
The fairest flower in the dust
For just a little while yet,
Until that darling seizes me
And to her bosom squeezes me!
For just, for just
A quarter hour long!"

Ah! And alas!  There came the maid
And no heed to the violet paid,
Crushed the poor little violet.
It sank and died, yet filled with pride:
And though I die, I shall have died
Through her, through her,
And at her feet have died."

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 1996 by Walter Meyer, (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:

a text in German (Deutsch) by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832), "Das Veilchen", appears in Erwin und Elmire
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 21
Word count: 116

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Attention! Some of this material is not in the public domain.