Amen | Decayed gliding through the derelict room

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by Georg Trakl (1887 - 1914)

Translation © by Bertram Kottmann

Amen

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG FRE

Verwestes gleitend durch die morsche Stube;
Schatten an gelben Tapeten; in dunklen Spiegeln wölbt
Sich unserer Hände elfenbeinerne Traurigkeit.
 
Braune Perlen rinnen durch die erstorbenen Finger.
In der Stille
Tun sich eines Engels blaue Mohnaugen auf.
 
Blau ist auch der Abend;
Die Stunde unseres Absterbens, Azraels Schatten,
Der ein braunes Gärtchen verdunkelt.

Text Authorship:

by Georg Trakl (1887 - 1914), "Amen", appears in Rosenkranzlieder, 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 Oliver Knussen, CBE (1952 - 2018), "Amen", op. 9 no. 3 (1972) [ soprano, clarinet in Bb, viola, and piano ], from Rosenkranz Lieder, no. 3, London, Faber [sung text not yet checked]

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

ENG English (Bertram Kottmann) , "Amen", copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Amen", copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2013-11-21
Line count: 9
Word count: 52

Amen

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

Decayed gliding through the derelict room; 
shadows on yellow wallpapers; in dark mirrors 
the ivory sadness of our hands arches. 

Brown beads run through the withered fingers. 
In the stillness 
the blue poppy-eyes of an angel open. 

Blue the evening, too; 
the hour of our dying, Azrael's shadow, 
that darkens a brown, little garden.

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2017 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), "Amen", appears in Rosenkranzlieder, no. 3
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2017-09-07
Line count: 9
Word count: 54