Der Tanz

I – Vierviertelschwein

II – Auftakteule

III – Und (verwirrend melodiös…) Die Säule

The Dance, by German poet Christian Morgenstern (1871 – 1914)

In the composer’s own translation:

A four quarter pig and an upbeat owl

met in the shadow of a pillar

that stood in the mind of its creator.

And to the music of the fiddle bow plant

the two, in dancing, gave each other

foot and hand.

And upon his three pink legs

the four quarter pig hopped gracefully,

and the upbeat owl on her one

swayed her head* rhythmically.

And the shadow fell,

and the plant’s music

sounded bewilderingly melodious.

But the creator’s brain was not of iron,

And the pillar disappeared, as it had come

and so then also our pair

did travel back into their nothingness.

One last stroke

gave the violinerist** –

and then was nothing left as proof.

*translation unclear

**typical Morgenstern neologism

Übersetzung von T. Squire (1989 – )