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[O]1 Sprengen des Gartens, das Grün zu ermutigen! Wässern der durstgen Bäume! Gib mehr als genug. Und Vergiß [nicht]2 das Strauchwerk, auch Das beerenlose nicht, das ermattete [Geizige]3! Und übersieh [mir nicht]3 Zwischen den Blumen das Unkraut, das auch Durst hat. Noch gieße nur Den frischen Rasen oder den versengten nur: Auch den nackten Boden erfrische du.
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View text without footnotesConfirmed with Die Gedichte von Bertolt Brecht in einem Band, Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp Verlag, 1981 (Neunte Auflage 1997), page 861
1 Eisler: "Oh"2 Eisler: "auch nicht"
3 Eisler: "nicht"
Text Authorship:
- by Bertolt Brecht (1898 - 1956), "Vom Sprengen des Gartens" [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 Hanns Eisler (1898 - 1962), "Vom Sprengen des Gartens", 1943, from Hollywooder Liederbuch, no. 44 [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "On the watering of the garden", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Sharon Krebs [Senior Associate Editor]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 9
Word count: 61
Oh watering of the garden to encourage the greenery! Watering of the thirsty trees! Give more than enough. And Do not forget the bushes, even Those without any berries, the drooping [Miserly]1 ones! And do not overlook The weeds between the flowers that are also Thirsty. Also do not water only the fresh lawn, or the singed lawn: Refresh even the naked soil.
Translator's note: "Sprengen" can mean "watering," but it can also mean "exploding." Brecht plays on the double meaning here; a bomb 'waters' everything -- even the naked soil.
1 omitted by Eisler
Text 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), "Vom Sprengen des Gartens"
This text was added to the website: 2010-10-11
Line count: 8
Word count: 64