Einst kam der Bock als Bote
Zum Rosenkavalier an's Haus,
Er klopft mit seiner Pfote,
Den Eingang wehrt ein Rosenstrauss.

Der Strauss sticht seine Dornen schnell
Dem Botenbock durch's dicke Fell.
O Bock, zieh mit gesenktem Sterz
Hinterwärts, hinterwärts! 1

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¹ Strauss: "O Bock, o Botenbock, zieh mit gesenktem Sterz/ Hinterwärts, hinterwärts!"

Text Authorship:

• by Alfred Kerr (1867 - 1948), no title [author's text not yet checked 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 Richard Georg Strauss (1864 - 1949), "Einst kam der Bock als Bote", op. 66 no. 2 (1918), from Krämerspiegel, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]

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

• ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , no title, copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Une fois le bouc vint comme messager", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Matthias Fletzberger

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 8
Word count: 40