by Friedrich Hölderlin (1770 - 1843)
Translation © by Manfred Fischbeck

Mit gelben Birnen hänget
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Our translations:  CAT ENG FRE FRE IRI
Mit gelben Birnen hänget
Und voll mit wilden Rosen
Das Land in den See,
Ihr holden Schwäne,
Und trunken von Küssen
[Tunkt]1 [ihr das Haupt
Ins heilignüchterne Wasser.]2

Weh mir, wo nehm' ich, wenn
Es Winter ist, die Blumen, und wo
Den Sonnenschein,
Und Schatten der Erde?
Die Mauern [stehn]3
Sprachlos und kalt, im Winde
Klirren die Fahnen.

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1 Müller: "Taucht"; omitted by Ligeti
2 omitted by Ligeti
3 Cerha: "stehen"

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

  • CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "La meitat de la vida", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ENG English (Emily Ezust) , "The middle of life", copyright ©
  • FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Le milieu de la vie", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • FRE French (Français) (Stéphane Goldet) (Pierre de Rosamel) , "Mi-temps de la vie", copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • IRI Irish (Gaelic) [singable] (Gabriel Rosenstock) , "Leath an tSaoil", copyright © 2015, (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: 14
Word count: 58

Language: English  after the German (Deutsch) 
With yellow pears
 [ ... ]
This text may be copyright, so we will not display it until we obtain permission to do so or discover it is public-domain.

Composition:

    Set to music by Andrea Clearfield (b. 1960), "Half of Life", first performed 2013 [ mezzo-soprano, baritone, and piano ], from The Drift of Things; Winter Songs, no. 7, Self-published, Angelfire Press ; in Part III, "Einsamkeit (Loneliness/Solitude)"

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This text was added to the website: 2017-11-12
Line count: 15
Word count: 65