Abendlied–Wanderers Nachtlied II
Über allen Gipfeln
Ist Ruh.
In allen Wipfeln
Spürest du
Kaum einen Hauch.
Die Vöglein schweigen im Walde.
Warte nur, balde
Ruhest du auch.
Evensong–Wayfarer’s Nightsong II
All around these summits
Is still.
In all the tree-tops
You may feel
Barely a breeze.
The birds in the trees stilled their song.
wait now, ere long
You’ll be at peace.
Translated by Matthias Daues, © 2008
3 Comments
Beautiful poem. First heard it through the Hebrew translation, but as soon as I found the original, while not understanding a word of it, the rhymes were music to my ears. Very nice English translation, too. “Is still” loses a bit from the “Ruh“‘s “HU”, though. Still, it keeps the idea going
I appreciate your appreciation. Thanks.
Here’s another nice translation of another poem called “Nähe des Geliebten” (yes, Goethe must have written at least two of them
)
http://www.amazon.de/Goethes-Song/dp/B002J7E580 or a bit longer here: http://www.sandsfamilyfolk.com/music.html (Goethe’s Song)