Des Windes Klage (W.E.W.) | Dass er gegangen - der Wind weiß es nur

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by Sara Teasdale (1884 - 1933)

Translation © by Bertram Kottmann

Only the wind knows he is gone

Language: English

Our translations: FRE GER

Only the wind knows he is gone,
Only the wind grieves,
The sun shines, the fields are sown,
Sparrows mate in the eaves;

But I heard the wind in the pines he planted
And the hemlocks overhead,
"His acres wake, for the year turns,
But he is asleep," it said.

About the headline (FAQ)

Note: According to Carol Schoen, in Sara Teasdale, Twayne Publishers, 1986, page 150, the "W.E.W." in the title refers to W. E. Wheeler, in memory of whom the poem is written.

Text Authorship:

by Sara Teasdale (1884 - 1933), "Wind Elegy (W.E.W.)" [author's text not yet checked 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 George Crumb (1929 - 2022), "Wind Elegy (W.E.W.)" [ voice and piano ], from Three Early Songs, no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Simon Sargon (b. 1938), "Wind Elegy", 1988 [ voice and piano ], from Let it be you, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Élégie au vent", copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , "Des Windes Klage (W.E.W.)", copyright © 2020, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2010-03-23
Line count: 8
Word count: 50

Des Windes Klage (W.E.W.)

Language: German (Deutsch) after the English

Dass er gegangen - der Wind weiß es nur,
es trauert nur der Wind,
die Sonne scheint, bestellt die Flur,
Spatzen am paaren sind.

Doch ich hört’ vom Wald , den er pflanzte, den Wind
aus Kiefer und Tanne klang’s her:
„Sein Land erwacht, denn das Frühjahr beginnt,
doch er ist entschlafen nunmehr.“

Translator's note about the title: Die Dichterin gedenkt W.E.Wheeler. Sara Teasdale , aus „Complete Poetical Works“ in „Berkshire Notes“

Text Authorship:

Translation from English to German (Deutsch) copyright © 2020 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
If you wish to commission a new translation, please contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

a text in English by Sara Teasdale (1884 - 1933), "Wind Elegy (W.E.W.)"
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2020-08-12
Line count: 8
Word count: 52