The Song of the blond Cork | A blond cork reflected on himself

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by Christian Morgenstern (1871 - 1914)

Translation © by Gary Bachlund (b. 1947)

Das Lied vom blonden Korken

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG FRE

Ein blonder Korke spiegelt sich
in einem Lacktablett --
allein er säh' sich dennoch nich,
selbst wenn er Augen hätt'!

Das macht, dieweil er senkrecht steigt
zu seinem Spiegelbild!
Wenn man ihn freilich seitwärts neigt,
zerfällt, was oben gilt.

O Mensch, gesetzt, du spiegelst dich
im, sagen wir, -- im All!
Und senkrecht! -- wärest du dann nich
ganz in demselben Fall?

Text Authorship:

by Christian Morgenstern (1871 - 1914), "Das Lied vom blonden Korken", appears in Galgenlieder, in Der Ginganz und Verwandtes [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 Gary Bachlund (b. 1947), "Das Lied vom blonden Korken", 2010 [ soprano and piano ], from Zehn Morgenstern-lieder, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Richard Farber (b. 1945), "Das Lied vom blonden Korken", from Galgenlieder, no. 39 [sung text not yet checked]

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

ENG English (Gary Bachlund) , "The Song of the blond Cork", rhymed paraphrase, copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "La chanson du bouchon blond", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2010-02-03
Line count: 12
Word count: 59

The Song of the blond Cork

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

A blond cork reflected on himself
By peering at a lacquered tray --
Alas he didn't see very much,
For without eyes he had no way!

Still, he would stand right straight up
In hopes of that mirrored view!
Of course when he was tilted sideways,
He would not spoil the precious brew.

O man, so frail, you see like him
In all things, shall we say!
And uprightly -- are you also then
Useful for a time, then tossed away?

Text Authorship:

by Gary Bachlund (b. 1947), "The Song of the blond Cork", rhymed paraphrase, copyright © 2010, (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 Christian Morgenstern (1871 - 1914), "Das Lied vom blonden Korken", appears in Galgenlieder, in Der Ginganz und Verwandtes
- Go to the text page.

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2010-02-03
Line count: 12
Word count: 79