by Franz Kafka (1883 - 1924)
Translation by Anonymous / Unidentified Author
The Sirens
Language: English after the German (Deutsch)
Listen: the treacherous voices of the night. The Sirens sang like that. They weren't trying to seduce: they knew that they had claws and were sterile, and they lamented this aloud. They couldn't help it if their laments sounded so beautiful.
Text Authorship:
- by Anonymous / Unidentified Author [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in German (Deutsch) by Franz Kafka (1883 - 1924), from a letter to Robert Klopstock [text unavailable]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Eric Moe (b. 1954), "The Sirens", 1998 [ voice and piano ], from Siren songs, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this page: Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2023-08-30
Line count: 5
Word count: 41