Old Age | Old Age is a courteous gentleman

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by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832)

Translation © by Gary Bachlund (b. 1947)

Das Alter

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG

Das Alter ist ein höflich Mann:
Einmal übers andre klopft er an;
Aber nun sagt niemand: Herein!
Und vor der Türe will er nicht sein.
Da klingt er auf, tritt ein so schnell,
Und nun heißts, er sei ein grober Gesell.

Text Authorship:

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832) [author's text not yet checked 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), "Das Alter", 1989 [medium voice or high voice and piano], from Goethe-lieder, no. 1 [ sung text checked 1 time]

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

ENG English (Gary Bachlund) , "Old Age", copyright © 1989, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2007-05-13
Line count: 6
Word count: 41

Old Age

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

Old Age is a courteous gentleman: 
again and again he knocks. 
But nowadays no one says: come in!
And he doesn't want to be in front of the door. 
So he rings and enters quickly, 
and then people claim he is a coarse fellow.

Text Authorship:

by Gary Bachlund (b. 1947), "Old Age", copyright © 1989, (re)printed on this website with kind permission [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Based on:

a text in German (Deutsch) by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832)
- Go to the text page.

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2009-03-11
Line count: 6
Word count: 44