by
Robert Walser (1878 - 1956)
Reisen
Language: German (Deutsch)
Available translation(s): ENG
Wie reizend ist das Reisen,
man setzt sich in die Eisenbahn,
hat angenehme Kleider an,
vorüber fliegen Häuser, Bäume,
als wären es nur duft'ge Träume.
Die Räder knattern leise.
Auf irgendwelche Art und Weise
kommt man in Konversation
und ist beinah befreundet schon.
Reisen hat einen ganz bestimmten Ton,
besteh'nd aus Freundlichkeit und Leichtsinn,
aus ein klein wenig Achtung vor dem Leben,
zu wenig nicht und nicht zu viel.
Natürlich setzt man sich ein Ziel,
man nimmt es jedoch gar nicht wichtig.
Wicht'ges wird nichtig,
denn man empfindet es als Spiel.
Heut ist man hier und morgen dort,
wer reist, gelangt von Ort zu Ort.
Die Städte, Dörfer, Flüsse, Seen,
die Gassen, Mappen, Mädchen, Buben,
die Bahnhofhallen, Lesestuben,
und was man ausserdem gesehn,
wird nachher ins Notizbuch aufgeschrieben,
weil's in Erinnerung geblieben.
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 (Peter Palmer) , copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this page: Peter Palmer
This text was added to the website: 2010-07-22
Line count: 25
Word count: 132
What charm there is in traveling
Language: English  after the German (Deutsch)
What charm there is in traveling,
you sit down in the railway carriage,
dressed in agreeable clothes,
the houses and trees fly past
as though they were just hazy dreams.
The wheels rattle gently.
In one way or another
you get into conversation
and almost become friends already.
Traveling has a very particular tone
consisting of friendliness and ease,
a little bit of respect for life,
not too little and not too much.
Of course you set yourself a goal,
but not one you regard as at all important.
What's important becomes immaterial,
for you treat it as sport.
Today you are here and tomorrow there,
traveling takes you from place to place.
The towns and villages, rivers and lakes,
the side-streets, briefcases, girls and boys,
the station forecourts, reading-rooms,
and whatever else you have seen
is afterwards written up in your notebook,
because it lodged in your memory.
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Authorship:
- Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2010 by Peter Palmer, (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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Based on:
This text was added to the website: 2010-07-22
Line count: 25
Word count: 149