Homewards

Artist: Empyrium
Album: Weiland
Song: Heimwärts
Translation: German → English
Submitted by Sciera on Tue, 05/06/2012 - 10:08

German

Heimwärts

Karges, dunkles Land.
Gänzlich still, weit, unbekannt.
Sollst so manch Legende schüren,
doch heut mir nur die Kutsche führen.

Durch wilde, kahle Klüfte -
hinein ins Ödeland. (still, weit, unbekannt)
Dort herrschen eisge Lüfte,
wie nie zuvor gekannt. (tief drinn im Ödeland)

Wohin ich blick - nur Eis und Schnee...
gespenstge Kiefer, dunkler See...
schauderhaftes schließt mich ein -
kein Weg, kein Steg, kein Lampenschein!

Der Pferde Kräfte schwinden
in einer Nebelwand,
gepeitscht von Geisterwinden,
der Schlaf mich übermannt -
tief drin im Ödeland.

English

Homewards

Sparse, dark land.
Completely calm, large, unknown.
[You [=the land]] are said to fuel many a legend
but today you shall only lead my carriage.¹

Through wild, barren chasms -
into the wasteland. (calm, large, unknown)
Icy airs are reigning there,
as never known before. (deep inside the wasteland)

Wherever I look - only ice and snow...
eery pine tree, dark lake...
[something] ghastly encloses me -
no path, no jetty², no shining lamp³!

The horses' energy is disappearing
inside of a wall of fog
[being] whipped by ghost winds
sleep is overwhelming me -
deep inside the wasteland.

Author's comment:

¹These two lines seem to have no logical connection in the translation. In german they are connected on a pun-like grammatical aspect because "to be said to..." and "to shall" can and is here both being expressed/connected with the verb "sollen".
²"Steg" can also be a jetty on a lake or river and a very small bridge. I don't know if the english expression also is used for that.
"Weg und Steg" also is an idiom, meaning "roads and paths".
³More word by word "shining/glowing of the lamp".

The german text uses some old fashioned and rarely used expressions. It wasn't easy to translate. If someone has suggestions for improvement feel free to write a comment.

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