by Hermann Hesse (1877 - 1962)
Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Lej Nair
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Our translations:  CAT ENG
Hinter strengem Felsenriegel
Den die Weidenrosen mildern,
Dehnt sich dunkeln Wassers Spiegel,
Wolken, Wald und Berg zu schildern.

Schwarze Bläue, kühle Feuchte
Füllt die Mulde satt, ihr Schweigen
Scheint vom See hinauf zur Leuchte
Frischen Gipfelschnees zu steigen.

Talwärts mit verschlafenem Rieseln
Träge Wasserfäden schleichen,
Über Schlamm und braunen Kieseln
Alte Baumgerippe bleichen.

Arve starrt und Lärche schattet,
Selbst der Wind, noch eben rege,
Zögert jetzt und sucht ermattet,
Wo er sich zur Ruhe lege.

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.

Confirmed with Hermann Hesse, Sämtliche Werke, herausgegeben von Volker Michels, Band 10 Die Gedichte, bearbeitet von Peter Huber, Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp Verlag, 2002, pages 394-395.


Text Authorship:

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

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

  • CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "Llac Negre", copyright © 2025, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "Black lake", 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: 2014-08-02
Line count: 16
Word count: 75

Black lake
Language: English  after the German (Deutsch) 
Behind a stern ring of rocky cliffs
That are softened by meadow roses,
There stretches a dark mirror of water,
In order to tell of clouds, forest and mountain.

Black blueness, cool dampness
Fills the syncline to the brim, its silence
Seems to rise from the lake to the luminosity
Of the fresh summit snow.

Down toward the valley with a sleepy trickling
Languid threads of water creep,
Above the silt and brown gravel
Old tree skeletons are bleaching [in the sun].

Mountain pines gaze [into the distance], larches cast their shade,
Even the wind, which was only just astir,
Hesitates now, and fatigued, it seeks
A place to lay itself to rest.

Translation of subtitle: "A little black sea in Engadine above Surlej"

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: 

Based on:

  • a text in German (Deutsch) by Hermann Hesse (1877 - 1962), "Lej Nair", subtitle: "Kleiner schwarzer Waldsee im Engadin über Surlej", written 1961, first published 1962

 

This text was added to the website: 2014-08-02
Line count: 16
Word count: 113