by Hermann Hesse (1877 - 1962)
Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Fluch
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Our translations:  CAT ENG FRE
Mit blassen Flatterwolken
Soll dich in jeden Traum 
Mit dem wetterleuchtenden Wäldersaum 
Das Bild der Nacht verfolgen, 
Der fieberschwülen Spätsommernacht,
Da wir mit fackelbeglänzten
Verblätternden Rosen uns bekränzten,
Da du so schwül und gell gelacht.

Du sollst schlaflose Nächte lang
Die harten Stundenschläge zählen 
Und dich in Ängsten fieberbang 
Zurück durch alle Nöte quälen, 
Die ich seit jener Nacht erlitt, 
Da ich auf Nimmerwiedersehen 
Vorbei an Park, Schloß und Alleen 
Auf schwarzem Roß ins Elend ritt.

Please note: this text, provided here for educational and research use, is in the public domain in Canada, but it may still be copyright in other legal jurisdictions. The LiederNet Archive makes no guarantee that the above text is public domain in your country. Please consult your country's copyright statutes or a qualified IP attorney to verify whether a certain text is in the public domain in your country or if downloading or distributing a copy constitutes fair use. The LiederNet Archive assumes no legal responsibility or liability for the copyright compliance of third parties.

Confirmed with Hermann Hesse, Sämtliche Werke, herausgegeben von Volker Michels, Band 10 Die Gedichte, bearbeitet von Peter Huber, Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp Verlag, 2002, page 60.


Text 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 or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

  • CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "Maledicció", copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "Curse", copyright © 2018, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Malédiction", copyright © 2019, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Researcher for this page: Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2018-04-15
Line count: 16
Word count: 76

Curse
Language: English  after the German (Deutsch) 
With pale fluttering clouds,
With the forest edge illumined by summer lightning,
May the image of that night
Pursue you into every dream,
That fever-humid late-summer night,
When we wreathed ourselves with
Shedding roses, shining in the torchlight,
When you laughed so sensuously and shrilly.

Through many sleepness nights
May you count the harsh strokes of the hours
And, in feverishly anxious fears, 
Torture yourself back through all the miseries
That I have suffered since that night,
When, never to see you again, I rode
Past the park, castle, and tree-lined roads
Into wretchedness upon a black steed.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2018 by Sharon Krebs, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
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This text was added to the website: 2018-05-21
Line count: 16
Word count: 98