If I lay in the sand where hyenas roam | If I lay in the sand where hyenas roam

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by Gottfried Keller (1819 - 1890)

Translation © by Martin Stock

Läg' ich, wo es Hyänen gibt

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG FRE

Läg' ich, wo es Hyänen gibt, im Sand,
Wie wollt ich hoffnungsvoll die Nacht erharren,
Bis hungrig eine käme hergerannt,
Mich heulend aus der lockern Gruft zu scharren!

Wie wollt ich freudig mit dem gier'gen Tier
Dann um mein Leben, unermüdlich, ringen!
Im Sande balgt ich mich herum mit ihr,
Und weiß gewiß, ich würde sie bezwingen.

Und auf den Rücken schwäng die Bestie ich
Und spräng im Leichentuch, wie neugeboren,
Und singend heimwärts und schlüg wonniglich
Dem Arzt den Leichengräber um die Ohren!

Text Authorship:

by Gottfried Keller (1819 - 1890), appears in Gesammelte Gedichte, in Lebendig begraben, no. 4 [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 Othmar Schoeck (1886 - 1957), "Läg' ich, wo es Hyänen gibt", op. 40 no. 4 (1926) [bass or baritone, mixed chorus, and orchestra], from Lebendig begraben: 14 Gesänge nach der gleichnamigen Gedichtfolge von Gottfried Keller, no. 4, Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel [
text verified 1 time
]

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

ENG English (Martin Stock) , title 1: "If I lay in the sand where hyenas roam", copyright © 2004, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , title 1: "Si je gisais dans le sable", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 84

If I lay in the sand where hyenas roam

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

If I lay in the sand where hyenas roam
With hope I would await the night
When a hungry one came running
To dig me up with howls from the loosely filled grave!

How  I would struggle with the greedy beast,
Unflaggingly, to save my life!
We would be fighting, rolling in the sand
And I am sure that I would conquer.

I'd throw the beast down on its back
And jump about, a new-born, in my shroud,
Singing merrily while homeward-bound
I'd throw the undertaker into the doctor's face!

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2004 by Martin Stock, (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.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

a text in German (Deutsch) by Gottfried Keller (1819 - 1890), appears in Gesammelte Gedichte, in Lebendig begraben, no. 4
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2004-04-10
Line count: 12
Word count: 90