Whispered into afternoon | Sun autumnal, frail too soon

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by Georg Trakl (1887 - 1914)

Translation © by Bertram Kottmann, Walter A. Aue

In den Nachmittag geflüstert

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG FRE

Sonne, herbstlich dünn und zag,
Und das Obst fällt von den Bäumen.
Stille wohnt in blauen Räumen
Einen langen Nachmittag.

Sterbeklänge von Metall;
Und ein weißes Tier bricht nieder.
Brauner Mädchen rauhe Lieder
Sind verweht im Blätterfall.

Stirne Gottes Farben träumt,
Spürt des Wahnsinns sanfte Flügel.
Schatten drehen sich am Hügel
Von Verwesung schwarz umsäumt.

Dämmerung voll Ruh und Wein;
Traurige Guitarren rinnen.
Und zur milden Lampe drinnen
Kehrst du wie im Traume ein.

Text Authorship:

by Georg Trakl (1887 - 1914), "In den Nachmittag geflüstert", 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 Felix Wolfes (1892 - 1971), "In den Nachmittag geflüstert", 1961. [
text not verified
]

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

ENG English (Bertram Kottmann) (Walter A. Aue) , title 1: "Whispered into afternoon", copyright © 2007, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , title 1: "Chuchoté l'après-midi", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Bertram Kottmann

This text was added to the website: 2007-02-01
Line count: 16
Word count: 74

Whispered into afternoon

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

Sun autumnal, frail too soon,
and the fruits from trees are falling.
Silence from the blue is stalling
an enlenghtened afternoon.

Sounds of metal death aggrieves;
and a whitish beast collapses.
Ragged tunes of tawny lasses
blow away in falling leaves.

Spirit godlike colour dreams,
feels the gentle wing of madness.
Shadows on the hill in sadness
pirouette in rotting seams.

Twilight full of rest and wine;
sad guitars are softly flowing.
Where the mellow lamp is glowing,
dream yourself into its shrine.

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2007 by Bertram Kottmann and Walter A. Aue, (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.
Walter A. Aue. Contact: waue (AT) dal (DOT) ca
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Based on:

a text in German (Deutsch) by Georg Trakl (1887 - 1914), "In den Nachmittag geflüstert", appears in Gedichte 1909 -1913
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2007-05-03
Line count: 16
Word count: 83