by Hans Bötticher (1883 - 1934), as Joachim Ringelnatz
Translation © by Gary Bachlund (b. 1947)

Logik
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Our translations:  ENG
Die Nacht war kalt und sternenklar,
Da trieb im Meer bei Norderney
Ein Suahelischnurrbarthaar. -
Die nächste Schiffsuhr wies auf drei.

Mir scheint da mancherlei nicht klar,
Man fragt doch, wenn man Logik hat,
Was sucht ein Suahelihaar
Denn nachts um drei am Kattegatt?

Text 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 (Gary Bachlund) , copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2009-12-05
Line count: 8
Word count: 43

The night was cold and starlit
Language: English  after the German (Deutsch) 
The night was cold and starlit,
In the sea near Norderney1 drifted
A Swahili's moustache hair. -
The next ship's bells would be three.

Some things seem to me not clear,
And so one asks, when one is being logical,
How is it one seeks a Swahili's hair
About three bells on the Kattegat2?

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)
1 Norderney: one of the seven East Frisian Islands off the North Sea coast of Germany; also, a municipality in the district of Aurich in Lower Saxony.
2 Kattegat: a sea area bounded by Jutland, Scania, Halland and Bohuslän.

Text Authorship:

Based on:

 
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2009-12-05
Line count: 8
Word count: 55