Heinrich Heine
Ranked #1,734 in Books, Poetry & Writing, #74,041 overall
Heinrich Heine
He was a supporter of the liberal ideals of the French Revolution (he had to leave his native land for France because of his political views) and of the Young Germany literary movement.
Some of his poetry was published in his Buch der Lieder (1827, translated into English as Book of Songs, 1846). His lyrics were set to music by some of the great classical composers such as Schumann, Schubert, Mendelssohn and Liszt. In all, his lyrics have been used in more than 3,000 musical compositions.
One of the most famous of Heine's poems was "Die Lorelei" (The Loreley), about a beautiful maiden on a rock who used to lure sailors to listen to her unearthly singing and then sink with their vessels against the rock where she was sitting. Almost all German speaking people know this poem in a version that is sung together with a melody written by Friedrich Silcher (1789-1860).
Oh what lies there are in kisses!
"Oh what lies there are in kisses!
And their guile so well prepared!
Sweet the snaring is; but this is
Sweeter still, to be ensnared."
-- Heinrich Heine, The Homecoming, Poem 74
Die Lorelei - GERMAN WORDS
Daß ich so traurig bin,
Ein Märchen aus uralten Zeiten,
Das kommt mir nicht aus dem Sinn.
Die Luft ist kühl und es dunkelt,
Und ruhig fließt der Rhein;
Der Gipfel des Berges funkelt,
Im Abendsonnenschein.
2. Die schönste Jungfrau sitzet
Dort oben wunderbar,
Ihr gold'nes Geschmeide blitzet,
Sie kämmt ihr goldenes Haar,
Sie kämmt es mit goldenem Kamme,
Und singt ein Lied dabei;
Das hat eine wundersame,
Gewalt'ge Melodei.
3. Den Schiffer im kleinen Schiffe,
Ergreift es mit wildem Weh;
Er schaut nicht die Felsenriffe,
Er schaut nur hinauf in die Höh'.
Ich glaube, die Wellen verschlingen
Am Ende Schiffer und Kahn,
Und das hat mit ihrem Singen,
Die Loreley getan.
Die Lorelei - ENGLISH WORDS
Of sorrow that fills my breast:
A fable of old, through it streaming,
Allows my mind no rest.
The air is cool in the gloaming
And gently flows the Rhine.
The crest of the mountain is gleaming
In fading rays of sunshine.
2. The loveliest maiden is sitting
Up there, so wondrously fair;
Her golden jewelry is glist'ning;
She combs her golden hair.
She combs with a gilded comb, preening,
And sings a song, passing time.
It has a most wondrous, appealing
And pow'rful melodic rhyme.
3. The boatman aboard his small skiff, -
Enraptured with a wild ache,
Has no eye for the jagged cliff, -
His thoughts on the heights fear forsake.
I think that the waves will devour
Both boat and man, by and by,
And that, with her dulcet-voiced power
Was done by the Loreley.
Commentary on Die Lorelei Video (see above)
This song is so beloved by the German people that it was impossible even during the Nazi period for the Nazis to censor this song from the people. The only thing that the Nazis could do was to say that the author was "unknown." The music of the song was written by Friedrich Silcher (1789-1860).
In the poem it is said that there was a beautiful woman, who used to sit and sing from the top of a cliff, which is located on the right bank of the Rhine River. Her singing and her beauty were so seductive that the sailors, who were passing the dangerous cliff, could not take there eyes off of her. Then they and their ships were smashed against the rocks of the Lorelei.
A live performance of "Die Lorelei" sung by amadea (Mezzo-Soprano) in an Easter Concert, accompanied by a guitartist and a cellist. April 2007.
Songs of Love and Grief: A Bilingual Anthology in the Verse Forms of the Originals
Songs of Love and Grief: A Bilingual Anthology in the Verse Forms of the Originals (European Poetry Classics)
Amazon Price: $8.38 (as of 06/01/2012)
In any language, who would try to 'imitate' the lyrics of Heinrich Heine. Translation of poetry has to be a form of imitation, as the American poet Robert Lowell demonstrated in his book "Imitations." So it's a brave as well as rash translator who would attempt to translate Heine's lapidary lyrics not only in meaning of the words but also in the verse forms of the original. But that's what Walter Arndt has done, and though he hasn't matched the master, he's come closer than anyone might have expected, poem after poem.
A native German speaker will certainly not need or want, or perhaps approve of, this book. A person who has no German language at all will probably not be persuaded by these translations that Heinrich Heine deserves his reputation as the greatest of all German lyricists. The book will be of great value, however, to those people who have a little German - a year or two of college, or a childhood memory of a grandparent speaking it - who will find Arndt's translation just close enough to make the Deutsch lucidly intelligible.
Book Burning
"Where they burn books, in the end they also burn people."
-- Heinrich Heine, Almansor: A Tragedy (1823)
Latest News on Heinrich Heine
Heinrich Heine (article)
Source: Wikipedia
We Moderns Have Only Opinions
"People in those old times had convictions; we moderns only have opinions. And it needs more than a mere opinion to erect a Gothic cathedral."
-- Heinrich Heine, Französische Bühne (The French Stage), ch. 9 (1837)
Heinrich Heine Books, Items from eBay
I thought I never could bear it
"At first I was almost about to despair, I thought I never could bear it - but I did I bear it. The question remains: how?"
-- Heinrich Heine, An Karl von U. (To Karl von U.)
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AnnaAdam
Feb 2, 2012 @ 6:15 am | delete
- A very nice and informative lens about the great poet Heinrich Heine
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Tolovaj
Jan 28, 2012 @ 10:56 am | delete
- Great poet, a real classic. Thanks for your presentation!
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ComputerSecurityExperts May 11, 2011 @ 4:02 pm | delete
- Nice job.
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HenryMac
Dec 25, 2010 @ 10:16 am | delete
- I would like to recommend this book of translations:
http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/atta-troll-~-a-midsummer-nights-dream/14330170
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