Light & Dragonflies: Nature Poems/Love Poems - 15. To quiet loved children

I have to say, the final word of this poem ("dut") has me stumped. There's no question of it being a printing mistake, for, besides it appearing dut in Runge's 1918 posthumous volume of poetry, it also appears like this in its original magazine printing from a few years earlier.

I cannot trace down any meaning for dut other than a later 20th century acronym for something unrelated, but that is spelled DUT.

So, is the intended word really duft (scent)? Or something else? If anyone has any ideas, I warmly welcome hearing them  

I ran this poem through two differing language translation programs, and your translation makes much more sense.

Good poem.

Thus seems to fit, at least in your excellent translation. Would that there were comfortable, gentle hands in a world too addicted to rough, sneering power. 

21 hours ago, ReaderPaul said:

I ran this poem through two differing language translation programs, and your translation makes much more sense.

Good poem.

Yay! I'm still beating the machines. One point for Team AC, hehe.

But seriously, thanks for reading and commenting. I'm rather fond of this particular Runge poem. He uses the innocence of children often, and when you consider he was writing from the trenches of World War One, this metaphor takes on great significance. We have only to picture the dirty, frightened faces of kids in Gaza or Ukraine right now to know what the poet felt and intended to convey.

Thanks again  

12 hours ago, Parker Owens said:

Thus seems to fit, at least in your excellent translation. Would that there were comfortable, gentle hands in a world too addicted to rough, sneering power. 

Thank you, Parker. Yes, sneering power is running rampant in several parts of the world right now, and it's cold comfort to think that at least the Brits got rid of Boris, and Americans got rid of the Dumpster, but other places -- like Hungary; like Italy -- are going more fully to the dark side of the Putins, Xis, Kims and other despots of the world