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    AC Benus
  • AC Benus
  • Author
  • 02/10/2023
  • 185 Words
  • 448 Views
  • 5 Comments
Poetry posted in this category are works of fiction. Names, places, characters, events, and incidents are created by the authors' imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual persons (living or dead), organizations, companies, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you. 

Translation Trashbin - 40. At Bedtime

 

. . . more words for music . . .

for my mother 2022, 5 years gone already

.

Performance translation of

Richard Strauss' Beim Schlafengehen

by Herman Hesse

 

Beim Schlafengehen

 

Nun der Tag mich müd gemacht,

Soll mein sehnliches Verlangen

Freundlich die gestirnte Nacht

Wie ein müdes Kind empfangen.

 

Hände, laßt von allem Tun;

Stirn, vergiß du alles Denken;

Alle meine Sinne nun

Wollen sich in Schlummer senken.

 

Und die Seele unbewacht

Will in freien Flügen schweben

Um im Zauberkreis der Nacht

Tief und tausendfach zu leben.

 

 

-----------------------------------------------------------------

 

At Bedtime

 

Now that day has worn me out,

I uncover my strongest lingering desire’s

To greet the night’s stars as devout

As a child who knows how the whole world tires.

 

Hands, forget all of your work;

Brow, forsake every single thought;

All other sensations I shall shirk

And let me by slumber be caught.

 

Then my soul, roving about,

Wants to float and fly; seeks to mount and climb

Through the magic circles’ route

Where I’ll live a thousand- (a thousand-) fold in the nighttime.

 

 

-----------------------------------------------------------------

 

Lucia Popp:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXQCUYjoUmI&list=PLTkvXBsaaUxnxiL8RHhI-J3o2fNWESen3&index=11

Copyright © 2018 AC Benus; All Rights Reserved.
  • Love 3
Poetry posted in this category are works of fiction. Names, places, characters, events, and incidents are created by the authors' imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual persons (living or dead), organizations, companies, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you. 
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AC Benus
3 minutes ago, Parker Owens said:

This speaks to me this morning, on a day after I exhausted myself in work, but could not find sleep. 

Hugs, I'm sorry slumber was elusive for you last night. You read this piece months ago, and I thank you for sharing your thoughts on its structure back then. I've decided, warts and all, it's the best I can do with Strauss' transcendental setting of this song. 

Thanks again

  • Love 2
AC Benus
10 hours ago, raven1 said:

After a restless night, finding this poem was a bit ironic.  Reading this poem was like saying a prayer.

Thank you, Terry. It's arguable that Hesse's original poem is all about putting the day's cares aside and recharging oneself in sleep. But it's clear Richard Strauss used the text to talk about being ready to leave life and move on to the next world. "At Bedtime" is number 3 from the composer's last composition, Four Final Songs

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