Thursday, May 28, 2009

My Favourite Poem

... (IN GERMAN!!)

Wanderers Nachtlied II (Wanderer's Night Song II) by JW Goethe Germany's "national poet" who has been deified more perhaps than any other poet who ever lived. He wrote it on the evening of September 6, 1780. "A moment preserved in history" (you could say...)...

Here goes:

Über allen Gipfeln
Ist Ruh,
In allen Wipfeln
Spürest du
Kaum einen Hauch;
Die Vögelein schweigen im Walde.
Warte nur, balde
Ruhest du auch.

An internet-found translation:

Above, all the summits
are still.
In all the tree-tops
you will
feel but the dew.
The birds in the forest ceased talking.
Wait: after walking
you shall rest, too.

I'd translate it (prosically) thus:

Over all the peaks
is peace.
Over all the treetops
you feel
barely a breath.
The birds silent in the forest;
just wait
... soon
you
are calm too ...

Isn't that excellent?

Prior to my Central European escapade, I'm reading all the German I can ...
at

14 comments:

  1. Wie komme ich am besten zum Bahnhof, bitte?28 May 2009 at 11:46

    sehr gut!

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  2. Yan Long28 May 2009 at 12:11

    Great site

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  3. Jeannie28 May 2009 at 12:58

    I like your translation - too true

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  4. Sarcastic Bastard28 May 2009 at 14:12

    Great translation, Gleddy!

    Great poem, too!

    Love,

    SB

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  5. sofia29 May 2009 at 00:52

    i miss your comments on my blog...
    come back, gled.
    big kiss!!!

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  6. Puss-in-Boots29 May 2009 at 10:42

    That's lovely, Gleds. You really have a poetic soul, don't you?

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  7. Gledwood29 May 2009 at 15:36

    Aye aye. I "used" to write very juvenile poems that over-reached for effect (the fault of an enthusiastic amateur, I suppose).

    I turned to poetry in German because fewer words = less resource to DICTIONARY!!!

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  8. Syd29 May 2009 at 20:28

    Goethe war ein vielseitiges Genie.

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  9. Gledwood29 May 2009 at 20:49

    he wss my favourite German writer. And my German teacher, knowing this, with me the ONLY pupil in the A level class, still did not teach Urfaust - that was on the syllabus and she knew I would have loved. Instead we did some deadbeat "comedy" by Alfred Durrenmatt called The Physicists that I couldn't tell you a word about... another thing... and Die Verwandlung by Franz Kafka that I really liked.

    Here's another favourite by Goethe - Erlkoenig "the king of the elves"...
    Wer reitet so spät durch Nacht und Wind?
    Es ist der Vater mit seinem Kind.
    Er hat den Knaben wohl in dem Arm,
    Er faßt ihn sicher, er hält ihn warm.
    2. Mein Sohn, was birgst du so bang dein Gesicht?
    Siehst Vater, du den Erlkönig nicht!
    Den Erlenkönig mit Kron' und Schweif?
    Mein Sohn, es ist ein Nebelstreif.

    3. Du liebes Kind, komm geh' mit mir!
    Gar schöne Spiele, spiel ich mit dir,
    Manch bunte Blumen sind an dem Strand,
    Meine Mutter hat manch gülden Gewand.

    4. Mein Vater, mein Vater, und hörest du nicht,
    Was Erlenkönig mir leise verspricht?
    Sei ruhig, bleibe ruhig, mein Kind,
    In dürren Blättern säuselt der Wind.

    5. Willst feiner Knabe du mit mir geh'n?
    Meine Töchter sollen dich warten schön,
    Meine Töchter führen den nächtlichen Reihn
    Und wiegen und tanzen und singen dich ein.

    6. Mein Vater, mein Vater, und siehst du nicht dort
    Erlkönigs Töchter am düsteren Ort?
    Mein Sohn, mein Sohn, ich seh'es genau:
    Es scheinen die alten Weiden so grau.

    7. Ich lieb dich, mich reizt deine schöne Gestalt,
    Und bist du nicht willig, so brauch ich Gewalt!
    Mein Vater, mein Vater, jetzt faßt er mich an,
    Erlkönig hat mir ein Leids getan.

    8. Dem Vater grauset's, er reitet geschwind,
    Er hält in den Armen das ächzende Kind,
    Erreicht den Hof mit Mühe und Not,
    In seinen Armen das Kind war tot.

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  10. Baino30 May 2009 at 00:43

    I dunno . . I don't think I like the idea of birds being silent in the forest.

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  11. Bimbimbie31 May 2009 at 06:11

    Baino beat me to it!! Love the poem but I'm calmer when the birds are singing ... if they fall silent trouble is usually stirring*!*

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  12. Nicole31 May 2009 at 09:33

    And my translation would be:

    Above all summits
    There is peace,
    In all the tree-tops,
    You shall feel
    Barely a breath;
    The little birds are quiet in the forest.
    Just wait, soon
    You shall rest too.

    Your translation Gled, was far superior to the one you found, which was odd and somewhat incorrect.

    Ich habe übrigens noch ein Gedicht für Dich... dies ist eins meiner Lieblingsgedichte von Hermann Hesse:

    September

    Der Garten trauert,
    Kühl sinkt in die Blumen der Regen.
    Der Sommer schauert
    Still seinem Ende entgegen.

    Golden tropft Blatt um Blatt
    Nieder vom hohen Akazienbaum.
    Sommer lächelt erstaunt und matt
    In den sterbenden Gartentraum.

    Lange noch bei den Rosen
    Bleibt er stehen, sehnt sich nach Ruh,
    Langsam tut er die großen,
    Müdgewordenen Augen zu.

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  13. Gledwood2 June 2009 at 13:44

    BAINO & BIMBIMBIE ~ I know that is a bit odd, but I think he's talking about the Black Forest, which is coniferous. You might not know this being an Aussie: Forests of fur trees are famously silent. We had one near us in Wales, it was quite eerie...

    NICOLE ~ that is amazing; thanks so very much ;->...

    PS on reflection I had decided to alter my own wording from "hardly" to "barely" a breath ~ more alliterationally poetic doncha think...

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  14. AF11 December 2009 at 02:17

    Hmm, the rhymes are important. But talking/walking is moronic.

    If you're curious, follow this link to check out my own translation of this poem.

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