Es dringt kein Laut bis her zu mir
von der Nationen wildem Streite,
ich stehe ja auf keiner Seite;
denn Recht ist weder dort noch hier.
Und weil ich nie Horaz vergaß
bleib gut ich aller Welt und halte
mich unverbrüchlich an die alte
aurea mediocritas.
Der erscheint mir als der Größte,
der zu keiner Fahne schwört,
und, weil er vom Teil sich löste,
nun der ganzen Welt gehört.
Ist sein Heim die Welt; es misst ihm
doch nicht klein der Heimat Hort;
denn das Vaterland, es ist ihm
dann sein Haus im Heimatsort.
In dubiis
No sound till now assails my ear
Of nations’ gruesome homicide.
I do not stand on either side;
Justice is neither there nor here.
Mindful of Q. Horatius,
I’m friends with all the world, and hold
Irrevocably to the old
Aurea Mediocritas.
He stands out as most great-hearted,
Loyal to no flag unfurled,
Who, from one small fragment parted,
Now belongs to all the world.
If his home’s the world, his homeland
Measures to no little space:
For his fatherland’s his cottage,
In his own familiar place.
Ich fürchte mich so vor der Menschen Wort.
Sie sprechen alles so deutlich aus:
Und dieses heißt Hund und jenes heißt Haus,
und hier ist Beginn und das Ende ist dort.
Mich bangt auch ihr Sinn, ihr Spiel mit dem Spott,
sie wissen alles, was wird und war;
kein Berg ist ihnen mehr wunderbar,
ihr Garten und Gut grenzt grade an Gott.
Ich will immer warnen und wehren: Bleibt fern.
Die Dinge singen hör ich so gern.
Ihr rührt sie an: sie sind starr und stumm.
Ihr bringt mir alle die Dinge um.
The words of humanity scare me no end
The words of humanity scare me no end.
Each one has a definite meaningful sound,
And this is a house and that is a hound,
And here’s a beginning, and there is an end.
And I don’t like their taunting, their quiddity-quod,
They know what is coming and what came before,
No mountain is magical, not any more,
Having high homes and gardens, good neighbours to God.
I want to warn always and ward them away:
‘To be hearing things singing, I’m happy that way.
You annoy, you dismay! Things are numb, they are dumb!
You go on bringing things to their ultimate doom.’
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I —
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
That Road, I Trod It Not
Two roads! At a fork in an autumn wood
I was sorry I could not go down both
Without bifurcating. Long I stood
looking down road X as far as I could
till it slank out of sight in that sylvan growth.
And I took road Y, which could turn a trick,
Alluring, and angling for priority,
That is, it was grassy and in good nick,
Though I must say footfall and walking-stick
Had worn both roads with comparability.
And both that morning similarly lay
Intact, no taint of any trampling black.
I put off Road X for a distant day,
Though, knowing how way links up with way,
I hardly thought that I would go back.
I shall spout this story and I shall sigh,
Who knows how soon, or in what locality:
Two roads at a fork in a wood, and I –
Shunning busy road X, I took road Y! –
With what upshot? A thoroughgoing dissimilarity!
The story behind this poem:
Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken" is both humorous and ironic, reflecting the poet's playful side. In the early 20th century, Frost became close friends with the English writer Edward Thomas. They often took long walks together through the countryside, where Thomas would frequently express regret over not choosing a different path once they had gone a certain way. Frost, amused by Thomas's indecision and tendency to second-guess himself, decided to write a poem as a gentle parody of his friend.
In 1915, Frost penned "The Road Not Taken," intending it as a playful mockery of Thomas’s indecisiveness. The poem's narrator stands at a fork in the woods, choosing one path over another, only to later claim that the choice made "all the difference," despite the paths being equally worn. Frost sent the poem to Thomas, expecting his friend to catch the humor. However, Thomas did not realize that the poem was meant to be lighthearted and instead interpreted it as a serious reflection on choice and consequence. This misunderstanding disappointed Frost but also deepened the poem’s legacy, as it highlighted how easily people can misconstrue intentions based on their perspectives.
Interestingly, this poem, which Frost intended as a joke, became one of his most famous and is often quoted as an inspiring message about individualism and the significance of choices in life. Yet, Frost’s original intent was more about poking fun at the human tendency to overthink and attribute deep meaning to decisions that, in hindsight, may not have been as significant as we believe.
This story not only sheds light on the poem’s true meaning but also adds a layer of irony, as the world continues to interpret the poem in a way that differs from Frost’s original playful intent.
The way a crow
Shook down on me
The dust of snow
From a hemlock tree
Has given my heart
A change of mood
And saved some part
Of a day I had rued.
Dust of Snow
I'm glad that a crow
shook down just now
my dusting of snow
from a poison-bough:
a try-again start
transforming my mood,
and saving a part
of a day not good.
Some one came knocking
At my wee, small door;
Someone came knocking;
I'm sure-sure-sure;
I listened, I opened,
I looked to left and right,
But nought there was a stirring
In the still dark night;
Only the busy beetle
Tap-tapping in the wall,
Only from the forest
The screech-owl's call,
Only the cricket whistling
While the dewdrops fall,
So I know not who came knocking,
At all, at all, at all.
Who was that? By Wally d l M.
Who was that knocking
At my dainty door?
That was a knocking
That I’m vouching for;
Hark, hark, unlatch, unlatch,
Look this way and that!
But nought was a stirring,
All was black as your hat;
Only a busy bug
Tapping in a wall,
Only from woodland
A shrill owl’s call,
And Jiminy’s whistling
As dawndrops fall,
So I know not who was knocking,
At all, at all, at all.
Drinnen im Saal eine Geige sang,
sie sang von Liebe so wild, so lind.
Draussen der Wind durch die Zweige sang:
Was willst du, Menschenkind?
Drinnen im Saale die Geige sang:
Ich will das Glück, ich will das Glück!
Draussen der Wind durch die Zweige sang:
Es ist das alte Stück.
Drinnen im Saale die Geige sang:
Und ist es alt, für mich ist's neu.
Draussen der Wind durch die Zweige sang:
Schon mancher starb an Reu.
Der letzte Geigenton verklang;
die Fenster wurden bleich und blind;
aber noch lange sang und sang
im dunklen Wald der Wind ...
Was willst du, Menschenkind?
Wind and Fiddle
Inside the hall a fiddle sang,
It sang of love, so sweet and wild.
Outside, the wind in the branches sang:
What do you wish for, human child?
Inside the hall a fiddle sang:
Fortune’s my wish, and happiness.
Outside, the wind in the branches sang:
Old cant! I’ve heard it to excess.
Inside the hall a fiddle sang:
Old it may be, for me ’tis new.
Outside, the wind in the branches sang:
Many have died of bitter rue.
At last the fiddle-song was done,
The panes no longer gleamed and smiled;
And still the wind sang on, sang on,
Out in the forest dark and wild.
What do you wish for, human child?
Es pfeift der Wind. Was pfeift er wohl?
Eine tolle, närrische Weise.
Er pfeift auf einem Schlüssel hohl,
bald gellend und bald leise.
Die Nacht weint ihm den Takt dazu
mit schweren Regentropfen,
die an der Fenster schwarze Ruh
ohn End eintönig klopfen.
Es pfeift der Wind. Es stöhnt und gellt.
Die Hunde heulen im Hofe.
Er pfeift auf diese ganze Welt,
der große Philosophe.
The Wind’s a Whistler
The wind’s a whistler. His will be
a melody mad and mental,
all in a single dismal key,
now bellowing, now gentle.
Night weeps the pulse that he maintains,
sends heavy raindrops pounding
on the black peaceful window-panes,
relentlessly resounding.
A roaring, groaning sibilant,
In all the world he’ll whistle.
Let yard-dogs rant: he’s Newton, Kant,
Socrates, Bertrand Russell.
Ein Wiesel
saß auf einem Kiesel
inmitten Bachgeriesel.
Wißt ihr
weshalb?
Das Mondkalb
verriet es mir
im Stillen:
Das raffinier-
te Tier
tat’s um des Reimes willen.
The Aesthetic Weasel
A weasel
sat on an easel
no, a pebble
in the Ribble.
Are you aware, for
why, and wherefore?
The mooncalf
blew the gaff
in a quiet time:
The tiny mammal,
a refined animal,
loved the laugh
and the rhyme.
Ein Knie geht einsam durch die Welt.
Es ist ein Knie, sonst nichts!
Es ist kein Baum! Es ist kein Zelt!
Es ist ein Knie, sonst nichts.
Im Kriege ward einmal ein Mann
erschossen um und um.
Das Knie allein blieb unverletzt-
als wärs ein Heiligtum.
Seitdem gehts einsam durch die Welt.
Es ist ein Knie, sonst nichts.
Es ist kein Baum, es ist kein Zelt.
Es ist ein Knie, sonst nichts.
The Knee
A knee is on a solo spree.
It’s just a knee, that’s all!
It’s not a tree, nor a tepee,
It’s just a knee, that’s all.
A soldier in sharp shots was swathed,
Shocked, shellacked, shattered, shanked.
The knee alone remained unscathed,
Seemingly sacrosanct.
It still is on a solo spree.
It’s just a knee, that’s all.
It’s not a tree, nor a tepee,
It’s just a knee, that’s all.
Ich bin zwar nur ein Droschkengaul, –
doch philosophisch regsam;
der Freß-Sack hängt mir kaum ums Maul,
so werd ich überlegsam.
Ich schwenk ihn her, ich schwenk ihn hin,
und bei dem trauten Schwenken
geht mir so manches durch den Sinn,
woran nur Weise denken.
Ich bin zwar nur ein Droschkengaul, –
doch sann ich oft voll Sorgen,
wie ich den Hafer brächt ins Maul,
der tief im Grund verborgen.
Ich schwenkte hoch, ich schwenkte tief,
bis mir die Ohren klangen.
Was dort in Nacht verschleiert schlief,
ich konnt es nicht erlangen.
Ich bin zwar nur ein Droschkengaul, –
doch mag ich Trost nicht missen
und sage mir: So steht es faul
mit allem Erdenwissen;
es frisst im Weisheitsfuttersack
wohl jeglich Maul ein Weilchen,
doch nie erreicht's – o Schabernack –
die letzten Bodenteilchen.
The Cabbie’s Nag
I may be just a cabbie’s nag:
I’m busy with a puzzle.
Philosophy! My dinner-bag
hangs almost off my muzzle.
I swing it here, I swing it there,
swing back and forth for ages:
I think my thoughts, and they compare
with thoughts of saints and sages.
I may be just a cabbie’s nag.
I think about the bottom,
the last oats in my dinner-bag:
it’s ages since I got ’em.
I’ve swung it high, I’ve swung it low,
I’ve set my eardrums humming:
what’s veiled in darkness down below
is never, ever, coming.
I may be just a cabbie’s nag,
and yet I seek for solace.
I tell myself: here is the snag
about all earthly knowledge.
In wisdom’s nosebag, eager lips
go seeking wholesome fare,
but never, as the muzzle dips,
get to the lowest layer.
