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Be careful, then, and be gentle about death. For it is hard to die, it is difficult to go through the door, even when it opens. And the poor dead, when they have left the walled and silvery city of the now hopeless body where are they to go, Oh where are they to go? They linger in the shadow of the earth. The earth’s long conical shadow is full of souls that cannot find the way across the sea of change. Be kind, Oh be kind to your dead and give them a little encouragement and help them to build their little ship of death for the soul has a long, long journey after death to the sweet home of pure oblivion. Each needs a little ship, a little ship and the proper store of meal for the longest journey. Oh, from out of your heart provide your dead once more, equip them like departing mariners, lovingly.
Confirmed with The Complete Poems of D. H. Lawrence with an introduction and notes by David Ellis, Wordsworth Poetry Library, 1994/2002.
Text Authorship:
- by D. H. (David Herbert) Lawrence (1885 - 1930), "All Souls' Day", appears in Last Poems [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Becky Llewellyn (b. 1950), "All Souls' Day", 1990 [ low voice and viola ], from Last poems : three songs on death and dying, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , "Allerseelen", copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this page: Bertram Kottmann
This text was added to the website: 2016-11-08
Line count: 21
Word count: 158
Geht mit dem Tod alsdann behutsam um und sacht. Denn Sterben ist nicht leicht, schwer ist es, diese Pforte zu durchschreiten, selbst wenn sie sich uns auftut. Wo gehen diese armen Toten hin, wenn sie die Stadt des nun unrettbaren Leibs verlassen haben, die Stadt, ummauert, silberhell? Wo gehn sie hin? Sie weilen dann im Schatten dieser Welt. In ihrem langen Schattenkegel drängen sich die Seelen, die nicht hinüber finden über jenes Meer, das alles wandelt. Seid euren Sterbenden ein Freund: Ermutigt sie, den Todesnachen selbst zu bauen, tritt ihre Seele doch die lange, lange Reise an ins heit’re Reich ohne Erinnerung. Wir alle brauchen einen Nachen, den Nachen und gehörig Proviant für diese längste Reise. Gebt euren Toten stets aufs Neu etwas aus eurem Herzen mit, und rüstet liebend sie vor ihrer Reise übers Meer.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from English to German (Deutsch) copyright © 2016 by Bertram Kottmann, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you must ask the copyright-holder(s) directly for permission. If you receive no response, you must consider it a refusal.
Bertram Kottmann. Contact: BKottmann (AT) t-online.de
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Based on:
- a text in English by D. H. (David Herbert) Lawrence (1885 - 1930), "All Souls' Day", appears in Last Poems
This text was added to the website: 2016-11-08
Line count: 21
Word count: 136