Immaculate is the stillness of this golden day

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by Georg Trakl (1887 - 1914)

Translation © by Bertram Kottmann

Vollkommen ist die Stille dieses...

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG FRE ITA

Vollkommen ist die Stille dieses goldenen Tags.
Unter alten Eichen
Erscheinst du, Elis, ein Ruhender mit runden Augen.
 
Ihre Bläue spiegelt den Schlummer der Liebenden.
An deinem Mund
Verstummten ihre rosigen Seufzer.
 
Am Abend zog der Fischer die schweren Netze ein.
Ein guter Hirt
Führt seine Herde am Waldsaum hin.
O! wie gerecht sind, Elis, alle deine Tage.
 
Leise sinkt
An kahlen Mauern des Ölbaums blaue Stille,
Erstirbt eines Greisen dunkler Gesang.
 
Ein goldener Kahn
Schaukelt, Elis, dein Herz am einsamen Himmel.

About the headline (FAQ)

Confirmed with Deutsche Lyrik seit Liliencron, herausgegeben von Hans Bethge, Leipzig: Hesse & Becker Verlag, 1921, pp. 254-255.

Text Authorship:

by Georg Trakl (1887 - 1914), no title, appears in Sebastian im Traum, in Sebastian im Traum, in Elis, no. 1 [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 Jacques G. Goosen (b. 1952), "Elis 1", 1976, from Georg-Trakl-Lieder, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
by Wilhelm Killmayer (1927 - 2017), "Elis (1. Fassung)", 1996, first performed 1996 [ tenor and piano ], from Trakl-Lieder II : Schweigen und Kindheit, no. 3, Mainz, Schott [sung text not yet checked]
by Hermann Reutter (1900 - 1985), "An den Knaben Elis von F. [!] Trakl. Ruhig", op. 18 no. 2 (1925-1930) [ alto, clarinet, and strings ], from Gesang vom Tode, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]

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

ENG English (Bertram Kottmann) , copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Elis 1", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this page: Ferdinando Albeggiani , Laura Prichard [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2008-08-15
Line count: 15
Word count: 82

Immaculate is the stillness of this...

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

Immaculate is the stillness of this golden day.
Under ancient oak trees
you appear, Elis, reposing one and round your eyes.

Their blueness mirrors the lovers’ slumber.
On your lips
her rosy sighs grew mute.

In the evening the fisherman hauled in the heavy nets.
A caring shepherd
leads his flock along the forest edge.
O! How righteous, Elis, are all your days.

Softly sinks
along bleak walls the olive tree’s blue stillness;
an old man’s dark song dies away,

A golden boat,
Elis, cradles your heart in the lonesome sky.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2016 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
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Based on:

a text in German (Deutsch) by Georg Trakl (1887 - 1914), no title, appears in Sebastian im Traum, in Sebastian im Traum, in Elis, no. 1
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2016-06-26
Line count: 15
Word count: 91