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Hauf o Life (Hälfte des Lebens into Scots)
Translation by Kathleen Jamie
Bien wi yella pears, fu
o wild roses, the braes
fa intil the loch;
ye mensefu’ swans,
drunk wi kisses
dook yir heids
i the douce, the hailie watter.
But whaur, when winter’s wi us
will ah fin flo’ers;
whaur the shadda
an sunlicht o the yird?
Dumbfounert, the wa’s staun;
the cauld blast
claitters the wethervanes.
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- Poet:
- Friedrich Hölderlin
- Translator:
- Kathleen Jamie
- Original language:
- German
- Issue:
Original poem
About the authors
Poet
Friedrich Hölderlin
Johann Christian Friedrich Hölderlin, (20 March 1770 – 7 June 1843) was a major German lyric poet, commonly associated with th...
» Read moreTranslator
Kathleen Jamie
Kathleen Jamie was born in Renfrewshire, grew up in Midlothian and studied philosophy at Edinburgh University. She published h...
» Read moreHälfte des Lebens
By Friedrich Hölderlin
Mit gelben Birnen hänget
Und voll mit wilden Rosen
Das Land in den See,
Ihr holden Schwäne,
Und trunken von Küssen
Tunkt ihr das Haupt
Ins heilignüchterne Wasser.
Weh mir, wo nehm’ ich, wenn
Es Winter ist, die Blumen, und wo
Den Sonnenschein,
Und Schatten der Erde?
Die Mauern stehn
Sprachlos und kalt, im Winde
Klirren die Fahnen.
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