Lingo Slinger

Totentanz (Dance of Death)
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Der Türmer, der schaut zu Mitten der Nacht The warder looks down at the mid hour of night,
Hinab auf die Gräber in Lage; On the tombs that lie scatter’d below:
Der Mond, der hat alles ins Helle gebracht; The moon fills the place with her silvery light,
Der Kirchhof, er liegt wie am Tage. And the churchyard like day seems to glow.
Da regt sich ein Grab und ein anderes dann: When see! first one grave, then another opes wide,
Sie kommen hervor, ein Weib da, ein Mann, And women and men stepping forth are descried,*
In weißen und schleppenden Hemden. In cerements** snow-white and trailing.

Das reckt nun, es will sich ergetzen sogleich, In haste for the sport soon their ankles they twitch,
Die Knöchel zur Runde, zum Kranze, And whirl round in dances so gay;
So arm und so jung, und so alt und so reich; The young and the old, and the poor, and the rich,
Doch hindern die Schleppen am Tanze. But the cerements stand in their way;
Und weil hier die Scham nun nicht weiter gebeut, And as modesty cannot avail them aught here,
Sie schütteln sich alle, da liegen zerstreut They shake themselves all, and the shrouds soon appear
Die Hemdlein über den Hügeln. Scatter’d over the tombs in confusion.

Nun hebt sich der Schenkel, nun wackelt das Bein, Now waggles the leg, and now wriggles the thigh,
Gebärden da gibt es vertrackte; As the troop with strange gestures advance,
Dann klippert’s und klappert’s mitunter hinein, And a rattle and clatter anon rises high,
Als schlüg’ man die Hölzlein zum Takte. As of one beating time to the dance.
Das kommt nun dem Türmer so lächerlich vor; The sight to the warder seems wondrously queer,
Da raunt ihm der Schalk, der Versucher, ins Ohr: When the villainous Tempter speaks thus in his ear:
Geh! hole dir einen der Laken. “Seize one of the shrouds that lie yonder!”

Getan wie gedacht! und er flüchtet sich schnell Quick as thought it was done! and for safety he fled
Nun hinter geheiligte Türen. Behind the church-door with all speed;
Der Mond, und noch immer er scheinet so hell The moon still continues her clear light to shed
Zum Tanz, den sie schauderlich führen. On the dance that they fearfully lead.
Doch endlich verlieret sich dieser und der, But the dancers at length disappear one by one,
Schleicht eins nach dem andern gekleidet einher, And their shrouds, ere they vanish, they carefully don,
Und, husch, ist es unter dem Rasen. And under the turf all is quiet.

Nur einer, der trippelt und stolpert zuletzt But one of them stumbles and shuffles there still,
Und tappet und grapst an den Grüften; And gropes at the graves in despair;
Doch hat kein Geselle so schwer ihn verletzt, Yet ’tis by no comrade he’s treated so ill
Er wittert das Tuch in den Lüften. The shroud he soon scents in the air.
Er rüttelt die Turmtür, sie schlägt ihn zurück, So he rattles the door—for the warder ’tis well
Geziert und gesegnet, dem Türmer zum Glück, That ’tis bless’d, and so able the foe to repel,
Sie blinkt von metallenen Kreuzen. All cover’d with crosses in metal.

Das Hemd muß er haben, da rastet er nicht, The shroud he must have, and no rest will allow,
Da gilt auch kein langes Besinnen, There remains for reflection no time;
Den gotischen Zierat ergreift nun der Wicht On the ornaments Gothic the wight seizes now,
Und klettert von Zinne zu Zinnen. And from point on to point hastes to climb.
Nun ist’s um den armen, den Türmer getan! Alas for the warder! his doom is decreed!
Es ruckt sich von Schnörkel zu Schnörkel hinan, Like a long-legged spider, with ne’er-changing speed,
Langbeinigen Spinnen vergleichbar. Advances the dreaded pursuer.

Der Türmer erbleichet, der Türmer erbebt, The warder he quakes, and the warder turns pale,
Gern gäb er ihn wieder, den Laken. The shroud to restore fain had sought;
Da häkelt—jetzt hat er am längsten gelebt— When the end,—now can nothing to save him avail—
Den Zipfel ein eiserner Zacken. In a tooth formed of iron is caught.
Schon trübet der Mond sich verschwindenden Scheins, With vanishing lustre the moon’s race is run,
Die Glocke, sie donnert ein mächtiges Eins, When the bell thunders loudly a powerful One,
Und unten zerschellt das Gerippe. And the skeleton fails, crush’d to atoms.

One of my favorites

Mein Deutsche ist sehr schlect.

Selina… I almost missed my plane today because my cellphone fell into a shoe. I woke up at 4 AM with plenty of time to make the 7 AM flight (live 20 minutes from the airport) and I spent an hour or so tearing the house apart for a freaking cellphone that was on vibrate.

So what happens? I make the plane and they keep it grounded after we boarded to de-ice the wings. This is FREAKING CALIFORNIA!!! De-icing a fucking plane? WTF!!!

Landed late, missed my meeting by half an hour.

I made up for it and came home this evening… on the 4pm flight. Which was a day early.

Panos31: Thanks for the Goethe! One of the greatest thinkers ever in my opinion. Here’s one of my favourite quotes from him:

“Certain defects are necessary for the existence of individuality.”

Steve: Ich spreche laut und abscheulich, aber nie auf Deutsch

Oh man… Looking for a cellphone on vibrate must suck. Did you at least have a cordless phone with you to walk around dialing the number with?

That de-icing thing sounds a bit dodgy… maybe it was more of a passenger-removal thing.

DavidBale: Thanks!! I was practicing this one in the car on the way into work this morning (late of course) and I was getting the funniest looks from cars driving by. I am pumped about performing it.

Hello SeLiNa, my late but cool friend.
Life’s kinda short…so why be prompt ’til the end?

I’ve always been a free-wheelin’ bloke…
Time management to me was always a joke.

“Track your billable hours” is the man’s decree…
But I’m just killin’ time ’til it kills me.

I’m late for a meeting, so I’d better hustle…
Guess I’ll have to flex my “why-I’m-late” muscle…

Great post as usual, you tardy gal…
Talk to you later, from Zambo your pal…

Um yeah…ditto the Goethe dude.

I liked the poem too.

Selina,

Your Goethe quote is very much in line with Islamic (especially Sufi) scholarship and practice. When one weaves a carpet, one always purposly introduces an imperfection because only God is perfect.

have a great holiday.

Roger