In spite of all

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In spite of all! is the text of a poem set to music by Ferdinand Freiligrath , which in turn was based on A Man's a Man for A 'That by Robert Burns .

Emergence

The underlying poem Robert Burns is in the English-speaking world an expression of the aspirations for Scottish independence and the abolition of slavery in abolitionism and has been interpreted as the lyrical version of the United States' declaration of independence . It inspired Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln . Burns' text is influenced by Thomas Paine's writing "The Rights of Man" (1791/92), who had to flee to Republican France because of the writing. The underlying melody "Lady McIntosh's Reel" had previously been used for Jacobite lyrics.

Ferdinand Freiligrath transferred Burns' poem in 1843 and rewrote it after the failed revolution of 1848 . The first transmission takes up the English verse directly with the beginning of the text “Whether poverty be your lot” and became very well known. The melody from Burns was not used, instead a melody from Heinrich Jädes and later that of the drinking song "When Noah was out of the box".

Due to the Cologne censorship , Freiligrath was only able to publish the translation in his book “Ein Glaubensbe finnis” (1844). Five years after the "Despite Alledem" rework, Freiligrath took up the poem again in the course of the 1848 events. On June 6, 1848, this version was published in the "Neue Rheinische Zeitung" (Cologne) edited by Karl Marx . This second version only became popular in Germany in the 20th century, among others by songwriters such as Wolf Biermann and Hannes Wader , and recorded the melody used by Burns. In “Despite alledem III” Hannes Wader updated the lyrics ( “A socialism would have to come with a new swing and all that […]” ) and again used the melody from Lady Mackintosh's Reel .

Karl Liebknecht uses the title of Freiligrath's poem as a winged word in the headline of his last article in Die Rote Fahne of January 15, 1919.

song lyrics

First stanza of the 1843 version


According to Robert Burns, St. Goar, Dec. 1843

Whether poverty is your lot,
Raise your forehead in spite of it all!
Boldly pass the cowardly servant;
Dare to be poor in spite of it all!
In spite of all this and all that, in
spite of low slag and all that,
the rank is only the stamp,
the man the gold in spite of it all!

First verse of In spite of it all! Varies. 1848

That was a hot March time,
despite rain, snow and all that!
But now that it is snowing flowers,
now it is cold, in spite of all that!
Despite all this and all that -
despite Vienna, Berlin and all that -
a disdainful, sharp winter wind
shivers through us despite everything!

(Quoted from Julius Schwering (Ed.): Freiligrath's works in six parts . Volume 2. Berlin / Leipzig / Vienna / Stuttgart 1909. pp. 129–131 (Julius Schwering: Despite everything! At Zeno.org .))

Web links
Wikisource: Despite all that!  - by Ferdinand Freiligrath, 1849

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Abraham Lincoln and Robert Burns: Connected Lives and Legends Ferenc Morton Szasz SIU Press, September 25, 2008 - 242 pages
  2. ↑ Iowa's Forgotten General: Matthew Mark Trumbull and the Civil War Kenneth Lyftogt University of Iowa Press, May 1, 2009
  3. ↑ DAVID ROBB ECKHARD JOHN “For a 'that” and “Despite everything”: Robert Burns, Ferdinand Freiligrath and their reception in the German folk movement. (May 2009)
  4. ↑ 'A Man's a Man for a' that 'and' Despite Alledem ': Robert Burns, Ferdinand Freiligrath, and Their Reception in the German Folksong Movement David Robb and Eckhard John The Modern Language Review Vol. 106, No. 1 (January 2011), pp. 17-46
  5. ^ Helmut Bernsmeier: Political Poetry - Political Songs. In: Armin Burkhardt (Ed.): Handbuch Politische Rhetorik. De Gruyter, Berlin / Boston 2019, ISBN 978-3-11-033151-6 , p. 996 (accessed online from de Gruyter ).
  6. ↑ Karl Liebknecht: In spite of everything! in Die Rote Fahne January 15, 1919