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  • William Butler Yeats
    William Butler Yeats – When You Are Old

    German translation

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English
Original lyrics

When You Are Old

When you are old and grey and full of sleep,
And nodding by the fire, take down this book,
And slowly read, and dream of the soft look
Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep;
 
How many loved your moments of glad grace,
And loved your beauty with love false or true,
But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you,
And loved the sorrows of your changing face;
 
And bending down beside the glowing bars,
Murmur, a little sadly, how Love fled
And paced upon the mountains overhead
And hid his face amid a crowd of stars.
 
(1893)
 
German
Translation#1#2#3

Wenn Du alt bist

Wenn alt Du bist und grau, und voll von Schlaf,
und nickst bei dem Kamin, nimm vom Regal
dies Buch und lies und träume, wie einmal
Dein Auge sanft aus tiefem Schatten traf:
 
Wie viele liebten solcher Günste Blick
und Deine Schönheit, ehrlich oder nicht;
doch Deine Pilgerseel' und spät' Gesicht
hat einer nur geliebt im Mißgeschick.
 
Und, niederbückend, nah der Scheiter Glut,
sprich traurig murmelnd dann, wie Lieb' entflohn
und, schreitend über Dir auf Gipfeln schon,
barg sein Gesicht in einer Sternenflut.
 
(1893)
 

Translations of "When You Are Old"

Chinese
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French #1, #2, #3
German #1, #2, #3
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Italian #1, #2
Korean
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Polish #1, #2
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Romanian #1, #2, #3, #4, #5
Russian #1, #2, #3, #4, #5
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