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LT → English → William Blake → Song → German

Song (German translation)

English
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Song

How sweet I roam’d from field to field
And tasted all the summer’s pride,
Till I the Prince of Love beheld
Who in the sunny beams did glide!
 
He show’d me lilies for my hair,
And blushing roses for my brow;
He led me through his gardens fair
Where all his golden pleasures grow.
 
With sweet May dews my wings were wet,
And Phoebus fir’d my vocal rage;
He caught me in his silken net,
And shut me in his golden cage.
 
He loves to sit and hear me sing,
Then, laughing, sports and plays with me-
Then stretches out my golden wing,
And mocks my loss of liberty
 
Submitted by vevvevvevvev on Fri, 20/11/2020 - 18:38
Last edited by sandringsandring on Tue, 24/11/2020 - 13:17
German translationGerman (metered, poetic, rhyming, singable)
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Lied

Durch's Feld zu geh'n, wie süß das war,
ich schmeckt' des Sommers ganze Pracht,
bis ich den Fürst der Liebe sah,
den mir ein Sonnenstrahl gebracht.
 
Er zeigt' mir Lilien für mein Haar,
und rote Rosen für die Stirn,
und führt' mich durch sein Reich sogar,
wo all die goldnen Freuden blüh'n.
 
Die Flügel feucht vom Tau war'n jetzt,
mein Schreien kümmert' Phoebus nicht,
er fing mich ein im seid'nen Netz.
Im gold'nen Käfig sitze ich.
 
Und wenn ich singe, sitzt er hier,
lacht, spielt mit mir und ist ganz Ohr,
dann spottend streckt die Flügel mir,
weil meine Freiheit ich verlor.
 
Thanks!
❤
thanked 7 times
This is a poetic translation - deviations from the meaning of the original are present (extra words, extra or omitted information, substituted concepts).
Submitted by Drüsi HörbarDrüsi Hörbar on Wed, 25/11/2020 - 00:49
Last edited by Drüsi HörbarDrüsi Hörbar on Mon, 30/11/2020 - 16:36
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William Blake: Top 3
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3.A Cradle Song
Comments
silencedsilenced    Wed, 25/11/2020 - 13:05

A pleasure to read, as always.
Schreien kümmert' Phoebus nicht -> I agree with that. IMO It's about outrage at being captured, not singing. I swept the problem under the rug in my version by remaining elusive, but I prefer your interpretation.

Drüsi HörbarDrüsi Hörbar    Wed, 25/11/2020 - 16:00

You are perfectly right! The Phoebus-line was the sticking point, and I am not sure that what I made of it in my translation really catches the sense. Other proposals welcome!

silencedsilenced    Wed, 25/11/2020 - 16:07

Our Russian friends spent a lot of time trying to make sense of it.
To be honest I suspect the guy was simply at a loss for a rhyme, that would be an Occam's razor for the strange wording Regular smile
As for the meaning, I agree with you. The bird/fairy/girl couldn't escape due to wet wings and cried in outrage when caught in the net. Other interpretations are valid, but that's the one I find most plausible.

Drüsi HörbarDrüsi Hörbar    Wed, 25/11/2020 - 15:53

In my understanding it is a song about a girl / woman, who used to walk about in complete freedom everywhere she wanted, but one day she fell in love ("Till I the Prince of Love beheld"). She enjoyed everything he could give her in his garden (of lust?). Finally she was unable to get away, because her wings were wet from "sweet May dews" (maybe his sweet tallking or any other sticky substances), and thus weren't able to fly. As a consequence the "Prince of Love" captures her and shuts her in a golden cage, where she's not happy ever after... 😛😒

silencedsilenced    Wed, 25/11/2020 - 16:00

Yep, that's the idea. I tried to keep the ambiguity in French, but a woman (or a fairy, if the wings are to be taken literally) seems the most plausible to me. Especially in the imagination of a 13-year-old, however remarkably gifted for poetry.

Drüsi HörbarDrüsi Hörbar    Wed, 25/11/2020 - 15:54

Danke für die Sterne und euer Lob, Vera, Lobo und Silenced.

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