Often by the well at dawning

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by Georg Trakl (1887 - 1914)

Translation © by Bertram Kottmann

Oft am Brunnen, wenn es dämmert

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG FRE ITA

Oft am Brunnen, wenn es dämmert,
Sieht man sie verzaubert stehen
Wasser schöpfen, wenn es dämmert.
Eimer auf und nieder gehen.

In den Buchen Dohlen flattern
Und sie gleichet einem Schatten.
Ihre gelben Haare flattern
Und im Hofe schrein die Ratten.

Und umschmeichelt von Verfalle
Senkt sie die entzundenen Lider.
Dürres Gras neigt im Verfalle
Sich zu ihren Füßen nieder.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

by Georg Trakl (1887 - 1914), no title, appears in Gedichte 1909 -1913 , in Die junge Magd, 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 Paul Hindemith (1895 - 1963), "Oft am Brunnen", op. 23 no. 2a (1922), first performed 1922 [alto, flute, clarinet, and string quartet], from Die junge Magd, no. 1. [ sung text verified 1 time]

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

ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , title 1: "Presso alla fonte", copyright © 2007, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English [singable] (Bertram Kottmann) , copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Bertram Kottmann

This text was added to the website: 2007-02-01
Line count: 12
Word count: 60

Often by the well at dawning

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

Often by the well at dawning
people see her standing spellbound 
scooping water when it’s dawning. 
Up and down the pails are going. 

In the beeches jackdaws flutter 
and she seems to be a shadow. 
E’en her yellow hair does flutter,
in the backyard rats are screaming. 

And caressed by dissolution
she just closes her sore eyelids. 
Wispy grass, disintegrating
bends and bows down to her feet.

About the headline (FAQ)

Translation of title "Oft am Brunnen" = "Often by the well"

Text Authorship:

Singable 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
If you wish to commission a new translation, please contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

a text in German (Deutsch) by Georg Trakl (1887 - 1914), no title, appears in Gedichte 1909 -1913 , in Die junge Magd, no. 1
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2016-11-30
Line count: 12
Word count: 67