Wache | Dunkel die Nacht

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by Walter De la Mare (1873 - 1956)

Translation © by Bertram Kottmann

Vigil

Language: English

Our translations: CAT FRE GER

Dark is the night,
The fire burns faint and low,
Hours -- days -- years,
Into grey ashes go;
I strive to read,
But sombre is the glow. 

Thumbed are the pages,
And the print is small;
Mocking the winds
That from the darkness call;
Feeble the fire that lends
Its light withal. 

O ghost, draw nearer;
Let thy shadowy hair
Blot out the pages
That we cannot share;
Be ours the one last leaf
By Fate left bare! 

Let's Finis scrawl,
And then Life's book put by;
Turn each to each
In all simplicity:
Ere the last flame is gone
To warm us by.

Text Authorship:

by Walter De la Mare (1873 - 1956), "Vigil", appears in Motley and Other Poems, first published 1918 [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 (Edward) Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976), "Vigil", published 1969 [ voice and piano ], from Tit for tat, no. 4 [sung text checked 1 time]

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

CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "Vetlla", copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Veille", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , "Wache", copyright © 2013, (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: 24
Word count: 103

Wache

Language: German (Deutsch) after the English

Dunkel die Nacht,
das Feuer verzehrt;
Stund, Tag und Jahr
sind in Asche verkehrt;
müh' mich, zu lesen,
hätte Helle begehrt.
 
Zerlesen das Buch
der Druck zu klein;
im Düster Winde
Spott und Hohn spei'n;
müde das Feuer
und fahl sein Schein.
 
O Geist, rück näher,
dass dein lichtloses Haar
lösch aus die Seiten,
die uns nicht mehr gewahr;
und das Schicksal uns leer
die letzte Seite bewahr.
 
Lasst Finis¹ kritzeln,
dann das Lebensbuch beiseit'.
Wendet euch zu
in Bescheidenheit:
eh das Letzte erloschen,
das uns Wärme bereit'.

View text without footnotes
¹ i.S.v. Ende, Schluss.

Text Authorship:

Translation from English to German (Deutsch) copyright © 2013 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 Walter De la Mare (1873 - 1956), "Vigil", appears in Motley and Other Poems, first published 1918
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2013-11-09
Line count: 24
Word count: 89