The rats | The autumn moon shines milk-white in the yard

Attention! Some of this material is not in the public domain.

It is illegal to copy and distribute our copyright-protected material without permission. It is also illegal to reprint copyright texts or translations without the name of the author or translator.

To inquire about permissions and rates, contact Emily Ezust at licenses@email.lieder.example.net

If you wish to reprint translations, please make sure you include the names of the translators in your email. They are below each translation.

Note: You must use the copyright symbol © when you reprint copyright-protected material.

by Georg Trakl (1887 - 1914)

Translation © by Bertram Kottmann

Die Ratten

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG FRE ITA

In Hof scheint weiß der herbstliche Mond.
Vom Dachrand fallen phantastische Schatten.
Ein Schweigen in leeren Fenstern wohnt;
Da tauchen leise herauf die Ratten
 
Und huschen pfeifend hier und dort
Und ein gräulicher Dunsthauch wittert
Ihnen nach aus dem Abort,
Den geisterhaft der Mondschein durchzittert
 
Und sie keifen vor Gier wie toll
Und erfüllen Haus und Scheunen,
Die von Korn und Früchten voll.
Eisige Winde im Dunkel greinen.

Text Authorship:

by Georg Trakl (1887 - 1914), "Die Ratten", appears in Gedichte 1909 -1913 [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 Stefan Heucke , "Die Ratten", op. 1 no. 2 (1978/80) [ high voice and string quintet ], from Drei Gesänge nach Gedichten von Georg Trakl, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Steffen Schleiermacher (b. 1960), "Die Ratten", 1984/5 [ chorus a cappella ], from Vier Chöre nach Gedichten von Georg Trakl, no. 3, Deutscher Verlag für Musik [sung text not yet checked]

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

ENG English (Bertram Kottmann) , "The rats", copyright © 2018, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Les rats", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "I topi", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2010-10-29
Line count: 12
Word count: 68

The rats

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

The autumn moon shines milk-white in the yard.
Chimeric shadows fall from eaves and crests.
A silence dwells in empty windows;
then furtively the rats appear

and scurry whistling here and there
and a grayish vapour scents them
following them from the latrine,
on which the moonlight quivers eerily

and they shriek as if mad from greed
and crowd barns and houses,
full of grain and fruit.
Icy winds whine in the darkness.

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English 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 German (Deutsch) by Georg Trakl (1887 - 1914), "Die Ratten", appears in Gedichte 1909 -1913
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2018-11-28
Line count: 12
Word count: 73