Having no country

Heimatlos

Max Herrmann-Neiße (1886-1941)

Heimatlos
Wir ohne Heimat irren so verloren und sinnlos durch der Fremde Labyrinth. Die Eingebornen plaudern vor den Toren vertraut im abendlichen Sommerwind. Er macht den Fenstervorhang flüchtig wehen und läßt uns in die lang entbehrte Ruh des sichren Friedens einer Stube sehen und schließt sie vor uns grausam wieder zu. Die herrenlosen Katzen in den Gassen, die Bettler, nächtigend im nassen Gras, sind nicht so ausgestoßen und verlassen wie jeder, der ein Heimatglück besaß und hat es ohne seine Schuld verloren und irrt jetzt durch der Fremde Labyrinth. Die Eingebornen träumen vor den Toren und wissen nicht, daß wir ihr Schatten sind.
Having no country
We with no country, this is how we wander among the foreigners, lost in their maze. The 'born-heres' at their gates or in their doorways chat and relax in summer’s evening breeze: it stirs the curtains, shows us the contentment that's ours no more: a parlour lapped in peace, secure and safe; then suddenly it closes, cruelly hides the scenery of bliss. Stray cats about the lanes, and luckless beggars who sleep on sodden grass or naked earth, are less cast out, are less ignored, abandoned than all these who once had a happy hearth and lost it through no fault, and lost their country and wander now around this foreign maze. The 'born-heres' at their gates or in their doorways dream on, not knowing us, their ghosts, their shades.

Translation: Copyright © Timothy Adès

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Skye Boat Song

Sir Harold Boulton, Bt. (1859-1935)

Translated into Latin by Timothy Adès
Skye Boat Song
Speed bonny boat, like a bird on the wing,     Onward! the sailors cry: Carry the lad that’s born to be king     Over the sea to Skye. Loud the winds howl, loud the waves roar,     Thunderclaps rend the air, Baffled our foes stand on the shore,     Follow they will not dare. Many’s the lad fought on that day     Well the claymore could wield, When the night came, silently lay     Dead on Culloden’s field. Though the waves leap, soft shall you sleep,     Ocean’s a royal bed: Rocked in the deep, Flora will keep     Watch by your weary head. Burned are their homes, exile and death     Scatter the loyal men: Yet ere the sword cool in the sheath,     Charlie will come again!
i, ratis, i, velut ales avis,     porro cient nautae: per mare fer, qui rex iuvenis     spes Caledoniae. saevit hiems, unda stridet,     fulmine flent caeli: hostis haerens litus habet,     pavidus insequi. plurimus vir, Marte sollers,     nisus erat ferro: venerat nox, iacet iners     mortuus in solo. spuma salit, lassus dormit,     cubat in gurgite: una sedet, fida manet     vigil pro capite. igni suos, exilio,     morte sparsos queror: ense tamen non tepido     reveniet victor!

Translation: Copyright © Timothy Adès

More poems by Sir Harold Boulton, Bt....