A dream | Methinks I dreamed about falling leaves

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by Georg Trakl (1887 - 1914)

Translation © by Bertram Kottmann

Mich däucht, ich träumte von Blätterfall

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG FRE

Mich däucht, ich träumte von Blätterfall, 
Von weiten Wäldern und dunklen Seen, 
Von trauriger Worte Widerhall --
Doch könnt' ich ihren Sinn nicht verstehn.

Mich däucht, ich träumte von Sternenfall, 
Von blasser Augen weinendem Flehn, 
Von eines Lächelns Widerhall --
Doch könnt' ich seinen Sinn nicht verstehn.

Wie Blätterfall, wie Sternenfall, 
So sah ich mich ewig kommen und gehn, 
Eines Traumes unsterblicher Widerhall --
Doch könnt' ich seinen Sinn nicht verstehn.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

by Georg Trakl (1887 - 1914), no title, appears in Gedichte aus dem Nachlass, in Drei Träume, 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 Wolfgang Nening (b. 1966), "Mich däucht ich träumte von Blätterfall", 1989 [ chorus ], from Träume. Zwei Sprechchöre nach Gedichten von Georg Trakl, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
by Paweł Szymański (b. 1954), "Ein Traum", 2002/3 [sung text checked 1 time]

The text above (or a part of it) is used in the following settings:

by Cesar Bresgen (1913 - 1988), "Drei Träume", 1972 [ alto and piano ], from Drei Lieder für Altstimme und Klavier, nach Gedichten von Georg Trakl, no. 1

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

ENG English (Bertram Kottmann) , "A dream", copyright © 2019, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Un rêve", copyright © 2019, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Ingrid Schmithüsen

This text was added to the website: 2013-05-22
Line count: 12
Word count: 68

A dream

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

Methinks I dreamed about falling leaves,
of ample forests and sombre lakes,
of sorrowful words reechoing -
however, I couldn’t make sense of them.

Methinks I dreamed about falling stars,
of weeping and pleading pallid eyes,
of a friendly smile reechoing -
however, I couldn’t make sense of it.

Like falling leaves, like falling stars,
I saw myself evermore come and go,
a dream’s immortal reechoing -
however, I couldn’t make sense of it.

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2019 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 aus dem Nachlass, in Drei Träume, no. 1
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2019-09-10
Line count: 12
Word count: 71