by
Bertolt Brecht (1898 - 1956)
Da ich die Bücher, nach der Grenze...
Language: German (Deutsch)
Available translation(s): ENG
Da ich die Bücher, nach der Grenze hetzend
Den Freunden ließ, entrat ich des Gedichts,
Doch führ ich meine Rauchgefäße mit, verletzend
Des Flüchtlings dritte Regel: Habe nichts!
Die Bücher sagen dem nicht viel, der nun
Auf solche wartet, kommend ihn zu greifen.
Das Ledersäcklein und die alten Pfeifen
Vermögen fürder mehr für ihn zu tun.
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View text with all available footnotes
Confirmed with Die Gedichte von Bertolt Brecht in einem Band, Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp Verlag, 1981 (Neunte Auflage 1997), page 820
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) , 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: 8
Word count: 56
As I left my books with my friends,...
Language: English  after the German (Deutsch)
As I left my books with my friends, while
Rushing toward the border, I abandoned poetry.
Yet I take my smoking receptacles with me, thereby
Breaking the third rule of a refugee: Have nothing!
The books are not much use to someone who now
Waits for those coming to take him prisoner.
The little leather pouch and the old pipes
Can henceforth do more for him.
About the headline (FAQ)
View text with all available footnotes
Translated titles:
"Auf der Flucht" = "Fleeing"
"Die Pfeifen" = "The tobacco pipes"
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), "Die Pfeifen"
This text was added to the website: 2010-10-11
Line count: 8
Word count: 66