Late afternoon | Long shadows fall upon the bright pathway

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by Selma Meerbaum-Eisinger (1924 - 1942)

Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Spätnachmittag

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG

Lange Schatten fallen auf den hellen Weg
und die Sonne schickt noch letzte Abschiedswärme
und das dünne Zwitschern eines Vogels ist, als ob es lärme
und als stehl' es etwas von der Stille weg.
Menschen auf zehn Schritt Entfernung
sind wie aus ganz andern Welten
und fast möchte man die welken Blätter schelten,
daß sie rascheln und die letzten Sonnenstrahlen stören.
Und man möchte nur die Veilchen wachsen hören.

Confirmed with Selma Meerbaum-Eisinger, Blütenlese. Gedichte, Herausgegeben von Adolf Rauchwerger, Tel Aviv: Telaviv University [Press], 1979, page 33.

Text Authorship:

by Selma Meerbaum-Eisinger (1924 - 1942), "Spätnachmittag", written 1940, appears in Blütenlese, in Der Blütenlese Erster Teil, in Dunkler Flieder [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 Stanley Grill (b. 1953), "Spätnachmittag", copyright © 2019 [ soprano, viola d'amore and cello ], from Blossoms, no. 1, confirmed with an online score [sung text checked 1 time]

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

ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "Late afternoon", copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this page: Malcolm Wren [Guest Editor] , Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2019-08-07
Line count: 9
Word count: 69

Late afternoon

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

Long shadows fall upon the bright pathway
and the sun still sends a last warmth in farewell
and the thin twittering of a bird is as if it makes noise
and as if it steals away some of the stillness.
People ten steps away
seem as if from completely different worlds
and one almost wishes to admonish the wilted leaves
for rustling and disturbing the last sunbeams.
And one would like to hear only the violets growing.

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2024 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.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

a text in German (Deutsch) by Selma Meerbaum-Eisinger (1924 - 1942), "Spätnachmittag", written 1940, appears in Blütenlese, in Der Blütenlese Erster Teil, in Dunkler Flieder
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2024-06-09
Line count: 9
Word count: 77