Saturday, April 26, 2008

Die weißen Tauben sind müde

I heard this tune and knew it was trying to be heroic/tragic/epic. I looked up the translation of the lyric (I could get, "Come here Marie" and knew that fliegen had something to do with flight, but that was about as far as my German language aptitude could get me on my own).
While I was looking, I also found a video on youtube.

The music is admittedly bombastic, but I find that to be one of its charms. In someways, this is a musical version of "Dover Beach" by Matthew Arnold. Of course it's a good deal different, written years apart in different languages. But the emotion, the angst is spot on between them two.

It reminds me how silly I am when I'm all angsty and lonely. I still am angsty and lonely, but I know it's silly to look at. :-P





--German from lyric site, translation by google---
Hans Hartz - The White doves Are Tired
Infos Info Interpret: Artist: Hans Hartz Hans Hartz
Album: - --
Songtext-Nummer: Lyrics number: 61931
Eingesendet: Submitted: 02.12.2005
Einsender: One person: ErichG ErichG

Videos Videos Für Hans Hartz - Die Weißen Tauben Sind Müde von Hans Hartz wurden noch keine Videos gespeichert. For Hans Hartz - The White doves Are Tired by Hans Hartz were no videos.

Komm her Marie ein letztes Glas, ---Come here Marie one last glass,
genießen wir den Augenblick, --------we enjoy the moment,
ab morgen gibt’s statt Wein nur Wasser. From tomorrow, there's only water instead of wine.
Komm her und schenk uns noch mal ein,--- Come here and gift us again,
soviel wird morgen anders sein ----so tomorrow will be different
Marie die Welt wird langsam blasser. ---Marie the world is slowly faded.
Die weißen Tauben sind müde, ---The white doves are tired,
sie Fliegen lange schon nicht mehr. ---they fly long, not more.
Sie haben viel zu schwere Flügel; ---You've spent too heavy wings;
und ihre Schnäbel sind längst leer,--- and their beaks are long empty,
jedoch die Falken fliegen weiter, ---However, the hawks fly further,
sie sind so stark wie nie vorher; ---they are as strong as never before;
und ihre Flügel werden breiter, ---and its wings are broader,
und täglich kommen immer mehr, ---and daily more and more
nur weiße Tauben fliegen nicht mehr. ---only white doves fly no more.

Bleib doch Marie, ---Stay but Marie,
der letzte Rest reicht für uns beide alle mal. ---the last remaining enough for both of us all times.
Ab morgen gibt’s statt Brot nur Steine, ---From tomorrow, there's only bread instead of stones,
komm her und schenk uns noch mal ein, ---come, and gift us again,
denn so wie heut wird’s nie mehr sein; ---because as today's will never be more;
Marie die Welt reist von alleine. ---Marie travels the world on their own.
Die weißen Tauben sind müde, ---The white doves are tired,
sie Fliegen lange schon nicht mehr.--- they fly long, not more.
Sie haben viel zu schwere Flügel; ---You've spent too heavy wings;
und ihre Schnäbel sind längst leer,--- and their beaks are long empty,
jedoch die Falken fliegen weiter, ---However, the hawks fly further,
sie sind so stark wie nie vorher; ---they are as strong as never before;
und ihre Flügel werden weiter, ---and will continue their wings,
und täglich kommen immer mehr,--- and daily more and more
nur weiße Tauben fliegen nicht mehr.--- only white doves fly no more.

Sieh dort Marie das leere Bett,--- Look there Marie the empty bed,
der Spiegel unsrer großen Zeit.--- the mirror of our big time.
Ab Morgen gibt’s statt Glas nur Scherben. ---From tomorrow, there's only instead of glass shards.
Komm her und schenk uns noch mal ein,--- Come here and gift us again,
den letzten Schluck vom letzten Wein, ---the last sip from the last wine,
Marie die Welt beginnt zu sterben. ---Marie the world begins to die.
Die weißen Tauben sind müde, ---The white doves are tired,
sie Fliegen lange schon nicht mehr. ---they fly long, not more.
Sie haben viel zu schwere Flügel; ---You've spent too heavy wings;
und ihre Schnäbel sind längst leer, ---and their beaks are long empty,
jedoch die Falken fliegen weiter, ---However, the hawks fly further,
sie sind so stark wie nie vorher;--- they are as strong as never before;
und ihre Flügel werden weiter, ---and will continue their wings,
und täglich kommen immer mehr, ---and daily more and more
nur weiße Tauben fliegen nicht mehr.--- only white doves fly no more.

Die weißen Tauben sind müde,--- The white doves are tired,
sie Fliegen lange schon nicht mehr.--- they fly long, not more.
Sie haben viel zu schwere Flügel; ---You've spent too heavy wings;
und ihre Schnäbel sind längst leer, ---and their beaks are long empty,
jedoch die Falken fliegen weiter,--- However, the hawks fly further,
sie sind so stark wie nie vorher; ---they are as strong as never before;
und ihre Flügel werden weiter,--- and will continue their wings,
und täglich kommen immer mehr, ---and daily more and more
nur weiße Tauben fliegen nicht mehr. ---only white doves fly no more.

Sunday, April 6, 2008

What might the Brits be reading? or How the other half reads.

associative surfing on the web

For a reason I don't remember and can't explain, I ended up on the British Council (registered charity!--remember Paul McCartney's lyric, "If I ever get out of here, THOUGHT of giving it all away / to a registered charity...") Contemporary Authors page.

I learned about an interesting author named Craig Raine. He's a poet and a literary critic. Raine has done a couple of books about T.S. Eliot--In Defence of T.S. Eliot, Hardcover: 608 pages
Publisher: PICADOR (2000)
ISBN-10: 0330375776
and
T. S. Eliot (Lives and Legacies Series), Hardcover: 224 pages
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (November 13, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0195309936

The fact that he admires Eliot and (by report, I haven't read Raine yet)has poetry techniques in common with Eliot have really attracted my interest. I'll put a hold on a Raine's collection of his poetry and see what I think.

From that web page (the Contempory Authors page) I found this link

Which as you may be able to see is something like a readers' advisory web page for people to find book titles from U.K. authors.
http://www.encompassculture.com

Anyway, I found this whole coney trail amusing and interesting and leading as ever to other things.

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

April is National Poetry Month

 
I burned toast today
My mind flew back to when she left
“Charcoal is a universal antidote,”
She said. “I left you toast to help you recover.”
And she slammed the door.

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