The creaking of a broken branch | Splintery broken branch

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by Hermann Hesse (1877 - 1962)

Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Knarren eines geknickten Astes

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: CAT ENG

Splittrig geknickter Ast,
Hangend schon Jahr um Jahr,
Trocken knarrt er im Wind sein Lied,
Ohne Laub, ohne Rinde,
Kahl, fahl, zu langen Lebens,
Zu langen Sterbens müd.
Hart klingt und zäh sein Gesang,
Klingt trotzig, klingt heimlich bang
Noch einen Sommer,
Noch einen Winter lang.

Please note: this text, provided here for educational and research use, is in the public domain in Canada, but it may still be copyright in other legal jurisdictions. The LiederNet Archive makes no guarantee that the above text is public domain in your country. Please consult your country's copyright statutes or a qualified IP attorney to verify whether a certain text is in the public domain in your country or if downloading or distributing a copy constitutes fair use. The LiederNet Archive assumes no legal responsibility or liability for the copyright compliance of third parties.

Note: Quiel's score notes this as Hesse's last poem.

Confirmed with Hermann Hesse, Sämtliche Werke, herausgegeben von Volker Michels, Band 10 Die Gedichte, bearbeitet von Peter Huber, Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp Verlag, 2002, page 398.

Text Authorship:

by Hermann Hesse (1877 - 1962), "Knarren eines geknickten Astes", written 1962 [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 John Frandsen (b. 1956), "Knarren eines geknickten Astes", 1989 [ voice and piano ], from Winternächte, no. 3, confirmed with a CD booklet [sung text checked 1 time]
by Hildegard Quiel (1888 - 1971), "Knarren eines geknickten Astes", published 1967 [ voice and piano ], from Hesse-Lieder, no. 8 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Rudi Spring (b. 1962), "Knarren eines geknickten Astes", op. 92 no. 3 (2013) [ baritone and piano ], from Wünschelrute. Liederzyklus für Bariton und Klavier , no. 3, note: the last version of the poem is used in this setting [sung text not yet checked]

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

CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "El cruixir d’una branca trencada", copyright © 2025, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "The creaking of a broken branch", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2014-06-05
Line count: 10
Word count: 46

The creaking of a broken branch

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

Splintery broken branch,
Hanging there year after year already,
Dryly it creaks its sorrow in the wind,
Without leaves, without bark,
Bare, pallid, weary of too long a life,
Too long a dying.
Its song sounds hard and tenacious,
Sounds defiant, sounds secretly anxious
Another summer yet,
Another winter long.

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2014 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 Hermann Hesse (1877 - 1962), "Knarren eines geknickten Astes", written 1962
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2014-06-05
Line count: 10
Word count: 50