Translation Trashbin - 44. Shlaf ich an silbernen Bächen

I read this first just before heading out for a walk in the woods this morning, much like that described, so the symbolism gave me food for thought along the way.  

14 minutes ago, Backwoods Boy said:

I read this first just before heading out for a walk in the woods this morning, much like that described, so the symbolism gave me food for thought along the way.  

Awesome, Jon. I'm glad the weather has been decent enough to get outside. It's been raining here today, off and on 

The moon is shining on the nearby stream as I read this, casting shadows on the the silvered water. I sense a deep harmony and recognition in this poem, for Platen names something in me even as he does the same for himself. I’m most grateful for your translation work. 

This touched my heart deeply.  It is a lovely poem that reminded me of the time in my life when I was contemplating staying in my mountain home, or moving to Thailand.  Many times found my self thinking the same things, in similar spots in the forests around my home then.

I live in the eastern part of The Netherlands, Nijmegen, the oldest city in the kingdom. Close to the German border, I understand German, speaking the language is not that easy, but I understand the language completely. So it was so nice to read this old German poem.
Thank you, for using this in  Translation Trashbin

On 5/6/2023 at 4:48 PM, Backwoods Boy said:

I read this first just before heading out for a walk in the woods this morning, much like that described, so the symbolism gave me food for thought along the way.  

Thank you, Jon. This does seem like a good poem for a person to take with them as they hike through nature. She (nature) is the poet's omnipresent muse 

(oops! I liked your comment so much, I replied twice 😂 )

On 5/6/2023 at 6:58 PM, Parker Owens said:

The moon is shining on the nearby stream as I read this, casting shadows on the the silvered water. I sense a deep harmony and recognition in this poem, for Platen names something in me even as he does the same for himself. I’m most grateful for your translation work. 

You know, there are mountains of Platen poetry yet to be translated into English. I'd speculate that it's his very comfort with being Gay (and printing so many open and honest explorations of what it means) that has kept him from our bookshelves. For folks like Goethe and Schiller, some careful Gay-erasure via translation can hide the nature of their love poetry -- but not Platen!

On 5/6/2023 at 7:36 PM, raven1 said:

This touched my heart deeply.  It is a lovely poem that reminded me of the time in my life when I was contemplating staying in my mountain home, or moving to Thailand.  Many times found my self thinking the same things, in similar spots in the forests around my home then.

Thank you, Terry. I just translated this piece last week, and did so by accident. Somehow I'd snagged this lyrical poem when gathering his Sonnets to translate. Once I got into this poem, however, I just had to drop everything and bring its lovely contemplation to an up-to-date, honest rendering in English.

I'm pleased it's been received so well

On 5/7/2023 at 4:38 AM, Job said:

I live in the eastern part of The Netherlands, Nijmegen, the oldest city in the kingdom. Close to the German border, I understand German, speaking the language is not that easy, but I understand the language completely. So it was so nice to read this old German poem.
Thank you, for using this in  Translation Trashbin

Thanks for reading and commenting, Job. I haven't been exposed to the work of August von Platen for very long, but everywhere I look, I seem to find incredible poetry from him. He was very upfront too about love and sex, which is remarkably unlike his English-speaking Romantic era counterparts. 

Thanks again!