by
Bertolt Brecht (1898 - 1956)
Vom Sprengen des Gartens
Language: German (Deutsch)
Available translation(s): ENG
[O]1 Sprengen des Gartens, das Grün zu ermutigen!
Wässern der durstgen Bäume! Gib mehr als genug. Und
Vergiß [nicht]2 das Strauchwerk, auch
Das beerenlose nicht, das ermattete
[Geizige]3! Und übersieh [mir]3 nicht
Zwischen den Blumen das Unkraut, das auch
Durst hat. Noch gieße nur
Den frischen Rasen oder den versengten nur:
Auch den nackten Boden erfrische du.
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View original text (without footnotes)
Confirmed with Die Gedichte von Bertolt Brecht in einem Band, Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp Verlag, 1981 (Neunte Auflage 1997), page 861
1 Eisler the more modern spelling "Oh".
2 Eisler "auch nicht"
3 omitted by Eisler
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 (Sharon Krebs) , "On the watering of the garden", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust
[Administrator] , Sharon Krebs
[Guest Editor] This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 9
Word count: 57
On the watering of the garden
Language: English  after the German (Deutsch)
Oh watering of the garden to encourage the greenery!
Watering of the thirsty trees! Give more than enough. And
Do not forget the bushes, even
Those without any berries, the drooping
[Miserly]1 ones! And do not overlook
The weeds between the flowers that are also
Thirsty. Also do not water only the fresh lawn, or the singed lawn:
Refresh even the naked soil.
View original text (without footnotes)
Translator's note: "Sprengen" can mean "watering," but it can also mean "exploding." Brecht plays on the double meaning here; a bomb 'waters' everything -- even the naked soil.
1 omitted by Eisler
Authorship:
- Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2010 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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Based on:
- a text in German (Deutsch) by Bertolt Brecht (1898 - 1956), "Vom Sprengen des Gartens"
This text was added to the website: 2010-10-11
Line count: 8
Word count: 63