Was ist das? … Nichts

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by Edward Elgar, Sir (1857 - 1934)

Translation © by Bertram Kottmann

What is that? ... Nothing

Language: English

Our translations: GER

What is that? ... Nothing;
The leaves must fall, and falling, rustle;
That is all:
They are dead
As they fall, -
Dead at the foot of the tree;
All that can be is said.
What is it? ... Nothing.

What is that? ... Nothing;
A wild thing hurt but mourns in the night,
And it cries
In its dread,
Till it lies
Dead at the foot of the tree;
All that can be is said.
What is it? ... Nothing.

What is that? ... Ah!
A marching slow of unseen feet,
That is all:
But a bier, spread
With a pall,
Is now at the foot of the tree;
All that could be is said.
Is it ... what? ... Nothing.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

by Edward Elgar, Sir (1857 - 1934), "Owls", subtitle: "An epitaph" [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 Gary Bachlund (b. 1947), "Owls - an Epitaph", 2007 [medium voice and piano] [ sung text checked 1 time]
by Edward Elgar, Sir (1857 - 1934), "Owls", subtitle: "An epitaph", op. 53 no. 4 (1908) [ssaattbb chorus] [ sung text checked 1 time]

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

GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , copyright © 2018, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 24
Word count: 114

Was ist das? … Nichts

Language: German (Deutsch) after the English

Was ist das? … Nichts;
die Blätter müssen - raschelnd - fallen;
das ist alles:
Sie sind schon tot
bei ihrem Fallen -
tot am Fuß des Baumes;
Alles, was man sagen kann, ist gesagt.
Was ist es? … Nichts.

Was ist das? … Nichts;
ein wildes Ding, verwundet, nächtens klagt
und heult
in seiner Not,
bis es liegt tot
am Fuß des Baumes;
Alles, was man sagen kann, ist gesagt.
Was ist es? … Nichts.

Was ist das? … Ach!
Ein Marsch verborgner Füße, ohne Hast, 
das ist alles:
Bloß eine Bahre, 
tuchverhüllt,
steht nun am Fuß des Baumes;
alles, was man sagen könnte, ist gesagt.
Ist es … was? … Nichts.

About the headline (FAQ)

Translation of title "Owls - an Epitaph" = "Eulen - ein Grabgedicht"

Text Authorship:

Translation from English to German (Deutsch) copyright © 2018 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 English by Edward Elgar, Sir (1857 - 1934), "Owls", subtitle: "An epitaph"
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2018-08-27
Line count: 24
Word count: 110