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Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen

Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen;
Tod und Verzweiflung flammet um mich her!
 
Fühlt nicht durch dich Sarastro Todesschmerzen,
So bist du meine Tochter nimmermehr!
 
Verstossen sei auf ewig,
Verlassen sei auf ewig,
Zertrümmert sei'n auf ewig
Alle Bande der Natur
Wenn nicht durch dich Sarastro wird erblassen!
 
Hört! Hört! Hört, Rachegötter!
 
Hört der Mutter Schwur!
 
Übersetzung

Hell's vengeance seethes

Hell's vengeance seethes in my heart,
Death and despair blaze around me!
If, through you, Sarastro shall not feel
the pain of death,
Then are you my daughter nevermore
Then are you my daughter nevermore.
 
Disowned be forever,
Abandoned be forever,
Shattered be forever
all the bonds of Nature,
If not, through you,
Sarastro shall expire.
 
Hear, Gods of Vengeance,
Hear the Mother's geas!
 
Sammlungen mit "Der Hölle Rache ..."
Kommentare
Natur ProvenceNatur Provence    Fr, 23/11/2018 - 12:30

It is interesting to follow the discussion if oth or geas (never heard before and as explained of gaelic origin) is the better translation of Schwur. Oath is parent with "Eid", Schwur is parent with "to swear", but it seems that the verb swear has no noun. May be that "vow" is an alternative?

GlennGlenn
   Di, 15/01/2019 - 09:41

I would agree that the term "vow" could be used as an alternative to "oath".
However, the key difference between those terms and the proposed term, "geas", is that a vow / oath one swears willingly oneself, whereas a geas is an obligation that is imposed upon one.
The latter is the theme of this aria; the Königin der Nacht imposes the geas upon her daughter, Pamina.
(Unsuccessfully, as the plot of the opera eventually shows, but even so the obligation is imposed rather than willingly undertaken.)

Natur ProvenceNatur Provence    Di, 15/01/2019 - 17:16

This interpretation of the german wording is not correct. The mother swears herself , she imposes nothing.

GlennGlenn
   Di, 15/01/2019 - 17:29

With the greatest respect, there is no interpretation involved.

The plot of the Magic Flute includes the scene in which the Queen of the Night tries to impose this obligation upon her daughter, Pamina, and not upon herself.

She gives Pamina a dagger, she orders her to kill Sarastro with that dagger and she threatens to disown her daughter if she does not fulfil the obligation.

GlennGlenn
   So, 20/01/2019 - 19:37

I have presented my translation together with the rationale for the choice of the term "geas", a term which is in accord with the plot of The Magic Flute.

If you wish to differ in your interpretation, please create your own separate translation and then readers can decide for themselves which translation they prefer.

Natur ProvenceNatur Provence    Mo, 21/01/2019 - 10:34

Please explain what is exactly " "imposed". Mother swears that the bonds will be torn ("shattered" as you translate) between mother and daughter.
I will add another translation, together with an explanation of the plot.

GlennGlenn
   Di, 22/01/2019 - 17:20

Natur Provence,

That explanation has already been provided to you in the preceding post; for your convenience, here it is again -

"The plot of the Magic Flute includes the scene in which the Queen of the Night tries to impose this obligation upon her daughter, Pamina, and not upon herself.

She gives Pamina a dagger, she orders her to kill Sarastro with that dagger and she threatens to disown her daughter if she does not fulfil the obligation."

If you wish to devise a plot which differs from the libretto used by Mozart, then please append it to your own translation thread, not to this one.

Natur ProvenceNatur Provence    Di, 22/01/2019 - 21:07

I insist: your interpetation is not correct. A dagger is a "Dolch", the instrument to commit the murder, but is not a oath/vow.
The lines "Hört ihr Rachegötter, hört der Mutter Schwur" imposes nothing, but affirms that the bonds between mother and daughter will be torned if the daugther does not kill Sarastro. Mother is threatening the daughter but the "Schwur" is made to herself.
If she is "ordering" or asking is also a question of interpretation, in any case daughter did not follow.
Btw: I did not add an other plot here but on my own contribution, Your request is gratuitous.

PreslynnPreslynn    So, 20/01/2019 - 20:59

Schwur is still a very common word in German, whereas geas is archaic and obscure in English. This piece would be easily understood by native speakers of German so introducing a word most native English speakers would need a dictionary to understand in the translation seems counter-intuitive. It gives the impression that Schwur is some obscure, rarely used German word when it isn't.

If your average native English speaker doesn't even know what it means (and if you have to define it in a footnote, you already concluded that they would not) then using it is not doing anything to help them understand no matter how exact it is. People won't go "Oh, here it means THIS" if they don't know what geas means.

You are free to interpret this as you wish, of course, but I tend to agree with Natur Provence. I'm sure there are many words in old English that would give more exact definitions of many things, but even the rules of this website favor language that is easy to understand.

GlennGlenn
   Di, 22/01/2019 - 17:11

Preslynn,

As I say in the footnote "the translation as "oath" may be considered more accessible".

So if the reader wishes to read the text as "oath" rather than "geas", then that option is freely available to them.

But more accessible is not the same as more accurate.