Quote:
Originally Posted by AngelicaDeAlquezar
"Licencias poéticas" las llaman. 
Gracias a ambos.  |
Hi Angelica. Here is a very imprecise translation, which I hope still works as a poem.
MONDNACHT Joseph von Eichendorf
Es war, als hätt der Himmel
Die Erde still geküßt,
Daß sie im Blütenschimmer
Von ihm nun träumen müßt.
Die Luft ging durch die Felder,
Die Ähren wogten sacht,
Es rauschten leis' die Wälder,
So sternklar war die Nacht.
Und meine Seele spannte
Weit ihre Flügel aus,
Flog durch die stillen Lande,
Als flöge sie nach Haus
A German friend asked me to translate this into a rhyming English poem.. or song lyric. Here is my version.
In order to maintain rhyme, rhythm, register, feeling and general essence, I had to make many compromises. A more literal translation, which she had found elsewhere, retained none of the original impact or "singability".
The significance of "her" and "him" is not immediately obvious to the English ear, as they refer to the masculine and feminine genders of Himmel und Erde.
It was as though the heaven
Had softly kissed the ground,
Coaxing her to dream of him
As blossoms shimmered round.
Through the fields there passed a breeze
To waft the ears of corn,
It gently rustled in the trees,
Before the distant dawn.
Spreading out its wings in flight
My soul began to roam
O'er silent lands through star-lit night
As if returning home.