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Die bretterne Kammer Der Todten erbebt, Wenn zwölfmal den Hammer Die Mitternacht hebt. Rasch tanzen um Gräber Und morsches Gebein Wir luftigen Schweber Den sausenden Reihn. Was winseln die Hunde Beim schlafenden Herrn? Sie wittern die Runde Der Geister von fern. Die Raben entflattern Der wüsten Abtei, Und fliehn an den Gattern Des Kirchhofs vorbei. Wir gaukeln, wir scherzen Hinab und empor, Gleich irrenden Kerzen Im dunstigen Moor. O Herz! dessen Zauber Zur Marter uns ward, Du ruhst nun, in tauber Verdumpfung, erstarrt. Tief bargst du im düstern Gemach unser Weh; Wir Glücklichen flüstern Dir fröhlich: Ade!
J. Lang sets stanzas 1-5, 7
About the headline (FAQ)
View text with all available footnotesConfirmed with Gedichte von Friedrich von Matthisson. Zweiter Theil. Tübingen, bei Cotta, 1811, pages 104-105, and with Schriften von Friedrich von Matthisson, Volume 1, third edition, Zürich: Orell, Füßli und Compagnie, 1825, pages 222-223. The poem is preceded by the following epigraph:
Pulvis et umbra sumus.
Hor.
Text Authorship:
- by Friedrich von Matthisson (1761 - 1831), "Der Geistertanz", written 1797-98 [author's text checked 2 times against a primary source]
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Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Sharon Krebs [Senior Associate Editor], Peter Rastl [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 28
Word count: 100
The wooden chamber Of the dead quakes When midnight lifts the clock’s hammer Twelve times. We dance rapidly around graves And mouldering bones, We airy hovering ones Dance our whirling roundelay. Why do the dogs whine Beside their sleeping masters? They sense the circle Of dancing spirits from afar. The ravens fly out from The desolate abbey, And flee past the fences Of the churchyard. We lark about, we jest Going downward and upward Like errant candles In the misty moor. Oh heart! whose charm Became a torture to us, You rest now, frozen In a mute muffled state. Deep within the gloomy chamber You concealed our pain; We happy ones joyfully Whisper to you: Adieu!
About the headline (FAQ)
View text with all available footnotesTranslated titles:
"Der Geistertanz" = "The dance of the spirits"
"Geistertanz" = "Dance of the spirits"
Translation of the epigraph:
We are dust and shadows.
Horace.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2017 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 Friedrich von Matthisson (1761 - 1831), "Der Geistertanz", written 1797-98
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This text was added to the website: 2017-02-22
Line count: 28
Word count: 119