Mailied

Well, since my last post was "Aprillied," (pronounced "April leed") this might be as good a time as any to do this: I want to do an English translation of my favorite Johann von Goethe poem, "Mailied" ("May Song"). It rhymes in German, but I'm not going to try in English.

The original is this:

Wie herrlich leuchtet
Mir die Natur!
Wie glänzt die Sonne!
Wie lacht die Flur!

Es dringen Blüten
Aus jedem Zweig,
Und tausend Stimmen
Aus dem Gesträuch,

Und Freud' und Wonne
Aus jeder Brust.
O Erd', o Sonne!
O Glück, o Lust!

O Lieb', o Liebe,
So golden schön,
Wie Morgenwolken
Auf jenen Höhn;

Du segnest herrlich
Das frische Feld,
Im Blütendampfe
Die volle Welt.

O Mädchen, Mädchen,
Wie lieb' ich dich!
Wie blickt dein Auge!
Wie liebst du mich!

So liebt die Lerche
Gesang und Luft,
Und Morgenblumen
Den Himmelsduft,

Wie ich dich liebe
Mit warmem Blut,
Die du mir Jugend
Und Freud' und Mut

Zu neuen Liedern
Und Tänzen gibst!
Sei ewig glücklich
Wie du mich liebst!


My translation:

How nobly nature
Beams upon me!
How the sun shines!
How the meadow laughs!

Blossoms burst forth
From every twig
And a thousand voices
From the brush

And joy and delight
From every breast.
O earth, O sun!
O joy, O desire!

O love, O lover!
So golden lovely,
Like morning clouds
On far-off hills.

You sweetly bless
The dewy field,
In the blossom-damp
The full world.

O darling girl,
How I love you!
How your eyes glance!
How you love me!

Just as the lark
Loves song and air,
And morning flowers
The heaven's dew,

So I love you
With warm blood,
For you give me youth
And joy and a mood

For new songs
And new dances.
Be ever blessed,
As you love me!

Aprillied

To dwell in clouds of leaves
And drown in seas of grass,
To smell rich earth and the
Sharp fragrance of the sky,
To have lakes for mirrors
And the plains for a bed,
To draw up and spread with
The trees and run deep like
The valleys, to live and die
Under the fierce gold sun:

These are enough, and yet
Not enough. They are the
Wish, but not the desire,
The choice, but not salvation.