Nightly o’er the grassless meadow

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by Georg Trakl (1887 - 1914)

Translation © by Bertram Kottmann

Nächtens übern kahlen Anger

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG FRE ITA

Nächtens übern kahlen Anger
Gaukelt sie in Fieberträumen.
Mürrisch greint der Wind im Anger
Und der Mond lauscht aus den Bäumen.

Balde rings die Sterne bleichen
Und ermattet von Beschwerde
Wächsern ihre Wangen bleichen.
Fäulnis wittert aus der Erde.

Traurig rauscht das Rohr im Tümpel
Und sie friert in sich gekauert.
Fern ein Hahn kräht. Übern Tümpel
Hart und grau der Morgen schauert.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

by Georg Trakl (1887 - 1914), no title, appears in Gedichte 1909 -1913 , in Die junge Magd, no. 3 [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), "Nächtens übern kahlen Anger", op. 23 no. 2c (1922) [alto, flute, clarinet, and string quartet], from Die junge Magd, no. 3. [ sung text verified 1 time]

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

ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , title 1: "Di notte vaga sopra un deserto campo", 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: 63

Nightly o’er the grassless meadow

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

Nightly o’er the grassless meadow 
bound in fever dreams she’s fluttering. 
Winds whine dourly in the meadow -
from the trees the moon is listening. 

Soon around, the stars turn paler 
and, exhausted from complaining, 
waxen turn her cheeks -  and paler. 
Rottenness from earth is rising. 

Sadly water reeds are rustling 
and curled up the maid is freezing. 
Distant cock-crows. Morning shivers 
grey and grimly o'er the water.

About the headline (FAQ)

Translation of title "Nächtens übern kahlen Anger" = "Nightly o’er the grassless meadow"

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
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Based on:

a text in German (Deutsch) by Georg Trakl (1887 - 1914), no title, appears in Gedichte 1909 -1913 , in Die junge Magd, no. 3
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2016-12-18
Line count: 12
Word count: 67