Twilight | At a pond a smudgy pudgy boy played

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by Alfred Lichtenstein (1889 - 1914)

Translation © by Gary Bachlund (b. 1947)

Die Dämmerung

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG

Ein dicker Junge spielt mit einem Teich.
Der Wind hat sich in einem Baum gefangen.
Der Himmel sieht verbummelt aus und bleich,
Als wäre ihm die Schminke ausgegangen.

Auf lange Krücken schief herabgebückt
Und schwatzend kriechen auf dem Feld zwei Lahme.
Ein blonder Dichter wird vielleicht verrückt.
Ein Pferdchen stolpert über eine Dame.

An einem Fenster klebt ein fetter Mann.
Ein Jüngling will ein weiches Weib besuchen.
Ein grauer Clown zieht sich die Stiefel an.
Ein Kinderwagen schreit und Hunde fluchen.

Text Authorship:

by Alfred Lichtenstein (1889 - 1914), "Die Dämmerung" [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), "Die Dämmerung", 2009 [ medium voice or low voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
by Michael Brough (b. 1960), "Die Dämmerung", op. 20 no. 2 (2005) [ voice and piano ], from Zwei Stücke des Expressionismus, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]

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

ENG English (Gary Bachlund) , "Twilight", rhymed paraphrase, copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2010-02-02
Line count: 12
Word count: 81

Twilight

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

At a pond a smudgy pudgy boy played.
The wind had imprisoned itself in a tree.
The sky seemed overly pale and staid,
As if run out of make-up, aimlessly.

Bent over on crutches, long and crook'd,
Two blabbering cripples passed through the land.
A blond author was perhaps as crazy as he looked.
A pony tripped over a woman unplanned.

A fat man was stuck to his window sill.
A searching youth would seek his fair maid.
A gray-day clown pull up his boots for a thrill.
A pram was pushed along and the hounds bayed.

Text Authorship:

by Gary Bachlund (b. 1947), "Twilight", rhymed paraphrase, copyright © 2009, (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 Alfred Lichtenstein (1889 - 1914), "Die Dämmerung"
- Go to the text page.

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2010-02-02
Line count: 12
Word count: 97