I hoed and trenched and weeded
Language: English
Available translation(s): GER
I hoed and trenched and weeded,
And took the flowers to fair:
I brought them home unheeded;
The hue was not the wear.
So up and down I sow them
For lads like me to find,
When I shall lie below them,
A dead man out of mind.
Some seed the birds devour,
And some the season mars,
But here and there will flower
The solitary stars,
And fields will yearly bear them
As light-leaved spring comes on,
And luckless lads will wear them
When I am dead and gone.
About the headline (FAQ)
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, and transliterations (if applicable):
- GER German (Deutsch) (Walter A. Aue) , title 1: "Viel furchen, jäten, graben", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [
Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-06-01
Line count: 16
Word count: 90
Viel furchen, jäten, graben
Language: German (Deutsch)  after the English
Viel furchen, jäten, graben,
bis Markt die Blumen bricht:
Es wollt sie keiner haben -
Solch Farbe trägt man nicht!
Drum säh' ich sie, vergnügend
so mancher Knaben Sinn,
wenn, unter ihnen liegend,
ich schon vergessen bin.
Die Vögel fressen Saaten
und Wetter sind nicht fern;
doch manchmal wird geraten
ein einsam Blütenstern.
Und jährlich werden heben
solch' Sterne sich im Mai
für andrer Knaben Leben,
wenn meines ist vorbei.
Authorship:
Based on:
This text was added to the website: 2008-06-01
Line count: 16
Word count: 70