Im Nebelgeriesel, im tiefen Schnee,
Im wilden Wald, in der Winternacht,
Ich hörte der Wölfe Hungergeheul,
Ich hörte der Eulen Geschrei:
    Wille wau wau wau! 
      Wille wo wo wo!
        Wito hu!

Ich schoß einmal eine Katz' am Zaun,
Der Anne, der Hex', ihre [schwarze]1 Katz';
Da kamen des Nachts sieben Wehrwölf' zu mir,
[Es waren sieben]2 Weiber vom Dorf.
    Wille wau wau wau! 
      Wille wo wo wo!
        Wito hu!

Ich kannte sie all', ich kannte sie wohl
Die Anne, die Ursel, die [Käth']3,
Die Liese, die Barbe, die Ev', die Beth';
Sie heulten im Kreise mich an.
    Wille wau wau wau! 
      Wille wo wo wo!
        Wito hu!

Da nannt' ich sie alle beim Namen laut:
Was willst du, Anne? was willst du, Beth?
[Da rüttelten sie sich, da schüttelten sie sich
Und liefen und heulten davon.]4
    Wille wau wau wau! 
      Wille wo wo wo!
        Wito hu!

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Goethe's Sämtliche Werke, Volume 1, Paris, Gedruckt bei Paul Renouard, Tétot Frères, 1836, page 28.

¹ Droste-Hülshoff: "schwarze liebe"
² Droste-Hülshoff: "Waren sieben"; Lachner: "Waren sieben, sieben"
³ Lachner: "Käthe"
⁴ Spohr: "Sie rüttelten sich, sie schüttelten sich,/ Und liefen heulend davon."

Text Authorship:

• by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832), "Zigeunerlied", written 1771 [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 Ferruccio Busoni (1866 - 1924), "Zigeunerlied", op. 55 no. 2, published 1923 [sung text not yet checked]
• by A. Crüger (flourished c1832), "Zigeunerlied", 1832 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Annette Elisabeth, Freiin von Droste-Hülshoff (1797 - 1848), "Zigeunerlied", 1877 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Heinrich Elkamp (1812 - 1868), "Im Nebelgeriesel", op. 5 (12 Lieder), Heft 1 no. 4, published 1834 [ voice and piano ], Hamburg, Cranz [sung text not yet checked]
• by Iván Fischer (b. 1951), "Zigeunerlied", 2005 [ vocal sextet for female voices a cappella ] [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Eduard (Edward) Franz Carl Hubert Hartenfels (1810 - 1898), "Zigeunerlied" [sung text not yet checked]
• by Moritz Hauptmann (1792 - 1868), "Zigeunerlied", op. 32 (6 vierstimmige Lieder für Sopran, Alt, Tenor und Bass) no. 2, published 1847 [ SATB quartet a cappella ], Leipzig, Breitkopf und Härtel [sung text not yet checked]
• by Hugo Kauder (1888 - 1972), "Zigeunerlied", 1931 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Franz Paul Lachner (1803 - 1890), "Zigeunerlied", op. 136b [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Felix Mendelssohn (1809 - 1847), "Zigeunerlied", op. 120 no. 4 (1820-29), published 1873 [ vocal quartet for male voices ], from Vier Lieder für vierstimmigen Männerchor, no. 4 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Wilhelm Peterson-Berger (1867 - 1942), "Zigeunerlied", 1932 [ voice and piano ], from 2 Romantiska visor = 2 Romantic Songs, no. 1, Stockholm: Abr. Lundquists Musikförlag, also set in Swedish (Svenska) [sung text not yet checked]
• by Louis [Ludwig] Spohr (1784 - 1859), "Zigeunerlied", op. 25 (Sechs deutsche Lieder) no. 5 (1809) [sung text checked 1 time]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

• Also set in Swedish (Svenska), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Wilhelm Peterson-Berger.
  • Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
    

Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

• DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• ENG English (Emily Ezust) , no title, copyright ©
• FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Chanson tsigane", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor] , Johann Winkler

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 28
Word count: 146

In the misty drizzle, in the deep snow,
in the wild woods on a winter's night,
I heard the hungry howl of wolves,
I heard the screech of owls,
Wille wau wau wau! 
Wille wo wo wo!
Wito hu!

I shot a cat once by the fence -
Anna the witch's black cat;
there came by night seven werewolves to me,
there were seven she-wolves from the village.
Wille wau wau wau! 
Wille wo wo wo!
Wito hu!

I knew them all, I knew them well:
Anna, Ursula, Kathy,
Lisa, Barbara, Eva, Beth;
forming a circle, they howled at me.
Wille wau wau wau! 
Wille wo wo wo!
Wito hu!

Then I loudly named them all:
What do you want Anna? what do you want Beth?
They shook themselves, they gave a shake,
and ran howling away.
Wille wau wau wau! 
Wille wo wo wo!
Wito hu!