Ein endlos breites Schweigen
Fällt durch die Nacht wie steinern Schnee
Und aus der unermessnen Flucht der See
Die Fische [in das Dunkel]1 steigen.
Sie singen eine Weise
Dreitönig kaum.
Danach zuckt eigensam der Raum.
Danach legt sich in Sand die [Woge]2 leise.
Und wenige, die es hören,
Wissen: die Nacht ist wunderbar;
Den vielen andern wird dies nimmer klar.
Das [ists]3 warum sie sich empören.
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View original text (without footnotes)
Confirmed with Hellmut Draws-Tychsen, Mein Westpreußenland: ein Cyclus Heimatlieder, Danzig: Danziger Verlags-Gesellschaft, 1929, page 11.
1 Gessinger: "aus dem Dunkel"; when the text is repeated at the end of the song: "aus dem Dunkeln"
2 Gessinger: "Welle”
3 Gessinger: "ist' "
Authorship:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "The fish are singing", copyright © 2022, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this page: Sharon Krebs
[Guest Editor] This text was added to the website: 2022-09-28
Line count: 12
Word count: 66
A broad, endless silence
Falls through the night like stony snow
And from the immeasurable fleeing of the sea
The fish [descend into]1 the darkness.
They sing a lay
Of barely three tones.
Thereafter, the expanse twitches peculiarly.
Thereafter, the wave lies down softly in the sand.
And few who hear it
Know: night is wondrous;
The many others shall never comprehend it.
That is why they are outraged.