Songs

Kein Haus, keine Heimat

by Johannes Brahms From Fünf Lieder (1884) Op. 94

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Text & Translation

Kein Haus, keine Heimat
German source: Friedrich Halm

Kein Haus, keine Heimat,
Kein Weib und kein Kind,
So wirbl’ ich, ein Strohhalm,
In Wetter und Wind!

Well’ auf und Well’ nieder,
Bald dort und bald hier;
Welt, fragst du nach mir nicht,
Was frag’ ich nach dir?

No house, no homeland
English translation © Richard Stokes

No house, no homeland,
No wife and no child,
Thus I’m whirled, a wisp of straw,
In storm and wind!

Tossed on the waves,
Here one moment, there the next;
If you, world, don’t ask about me,
Why should I ask about you?

Kein Haus, keine Heimat
German source: Friedrich Halm

No house, no homeland
English source: Richard Stokes

Kein Haus, keine Heimat,
No house, no homeland,
Kein Weib und kein Kind,
No wife and no child,
So wirbl’ ich, ein Strohhalm,
Thus I’m whirled, a wisp of straw,
In Wetter und Wind!
In storm and wind!

Well’ auf und Well’ nieder,
Tossed on the waves,
Bald dort und bald hier;
Here one moment, there the next;
Welt, fragst du nach mir nicht,
If you, world, don’t ask about me,
Was frag’ ich nach dir?
Why should I ask about you?

Composer

Johannes Brahms

Johannes Brahms (7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, Brahms spent much of his professional life in Vienna.  Brahms has been considered, by his…

Poet

Friedrich Halm

Baron Eligius Franz Joseph von Münch-Bellinghausen (German: Eligius Franz Joseph Freiherr von Münch-Bellinghausen) was an Austrian dramatist, poet and novella writer of the Austrian Biedermeier period and beyond, and is more generally known under…

Performances

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