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by Christian Morgenstern (1871 - 1914)
Translation © by Gary Bachlund (b. 1947)

Das Wasser
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Our translations:  ENG
Ohne Wort, ohne Wort
rinnt das Wasser immerfort;
andernfalls, andernfalls
sprach' es doch nichts andres als:

Bier und Brot, Lieb und Treu,-
und das wäre auch nicht neu.
Dieses zeigt, dieses zeigt,
dass das Wasser besser schweigt.

The poem is headed with (Dem Dichter Franz Servaes)

Text Authorship:

  • by Christian Morgenstern (1871 - 1914), "Das Wasser" [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 Wasser", 2010 [ soprano and piano ], from Zehn Morgenstern-lieder, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]
  • by Richard Farber (b. 1945), "Das Wasser", from Galgenlieder, no. 34 [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Ralf Albert Franz (b. 1969), "Das Wasser", from Galgenlieder, no. 13 [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Siegfried Strohbach (b. 1929), "Das Wasser", from 5 Galgenlieder nach Christian Morgenstern, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]

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

  • ENG English (Gary Bachlund) , "Water", rhymed paraphrase, copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2008-07-30
Line count: 8
Word count: 37

Water
Language: English  after the German (Deutsch) 
Without words, wordy words
Running water bubbles on;
Otherwise, yea otherwise
It would chatter dawn to dawn.

Beer and bread, love and care, --
Nothing new is said or sung.
All this shows is that water knows
It is best to hold one's tongue.

Text Authorship:

  • by Gary Bachlund (b. 1947), "Water", 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 Wasser"
    • Go to the text page.

 
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2010-02-03
Line count: 8
Word count: 43

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