by
Georg Trakl (1887 - 1914)
Die Schwermut
Language: German (Deutsch)
Available translation(s): ENG FRE ITA
Gewaltig bist du dunkler Mund
Im Innern, aus Herbstgewölk
Geformte Gestalt,
Goldner Abendstille;
Ein grünlich dämmernder Bergstrom
In zerbrochner Föhren
Schattenbezirk;
Ein Dorf,
Das fromm in braunen Bildern abstirbt.
Da springen die schwarzen Pferde
Auf nebliger Weide.
Ihr Soldaten!
Vom Hügel, wo sterbend die Sonne rollt
Stürzt das lachende Blut
Unter Eichen
Sprachlos! O grollende Schwermut
Des Heers; ein strahlender Helm
Sank klirrend von purpurner Stirne.
Herbstesnacht so kühle kommt
Erglänzt mit Sternen
Über zerbrochenem Männergebein
Die stille Mönchin.
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):
- ENG English (Bertram Kottmann) , "Melancholia", copyright © 2018, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "La mélancolie", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Malinconia", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [
Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2012-01-08
Line count: 22
Word count: 79
Melancholia
Language: English  after the German (Deutsch)
You are tremendous, you dark mouth
inside, a figure formed
from autumn clouds
and golden quiet of the evening;
a greenish dusking alpine stream
in the shadowed space
of broken pines;
a village
dying piously in yellowed pictures.
Black horses leap
on misty pastures.
You soldiers!
Downhill, where the sun rolls dying,
the laughing blood descends
speechless
under oak trees! O grumbling gloom
of the army; a flashing helmet
fell rattling from a purple forehead.
Autumn night comes down so coolly,
gleaming with stars;
over broken bones of men
the silent monkess.
Translator's note: "Mönchin" is such a rare word in German that the similarly rare word "monkess" is used here instead of the more common "nun".
Authorship:
Based on:
This text was added to the website: 2018-11-28
Line count: 22
Word count: 92