Traum vom Fliegen (Dream of Flying) is a German poem by Karl Kraus. Below you can listen to a recording while reading along with the German text, followed by an English translation.
MP3 Recording of Traum vom Fliegen
Traum vom Fliegen
Und wieder mir träumte, ich wäre geflogen,
und diesesmal war es doch sicherlich wahr,
denn ich hatte so leicht wie die Luft ja gewogen
und hatte die Knie an den Körper gezogen,
und es ging wie im Flug, im beherztesten Bogen
hoch über der schwergewichtigen Schar,
es war keine Täuschung, ich war nicht betrogen,
es flogen die Stunden, die Tage, das Jahr.
Mit fliegenden Hoffnungen vollgesogen,
so wach’ ich mit müderen Gliedern auf.
Zu Lande ist Leben; und angelogen,
vom leichtesten Trug an der Nase gezogen,
aus allen Himmeln zur Erde geflogen,
da lieg’ ich, da liegen die Lügen zuhauf.
Und trotzdem bleib’ ich dem Traume gewogen,
so läuft er sich leichter, der Lebenslauf.
English Translation:
Dream of Flying
And again I dreamed that I had flown,
and this time it was certainly true
because I was as light as the air,
and had pulled my knees into my body,
and I went airborne, in the most spirited arc
High above the dense crowd,
it was not a delusion, I was not deceived,
The hours, the days, the year flew.
Drenched in flying hopes,
Like this I wake up with tired limbs.
On land is life; and deceived,
pulled by the nose by the slightest deception,
flown to Earth from the sky,
there I lie, there the lies lie in droves.
And yet I’m left satisfied from the dream,
so the course of life runs easier.
Translated by Lisa Yannucci
Read by Eva K.
Thanks to Monique and Maguy for proofing the translation.
Enjoy!
Mama Lisa
This article was posted on Thursday, June 28th, 2018 at 7:17 pm and is filed under Countries & Cultures, German, German Poems, Germany, Languages, Mama Lisa, Poems, Poetry. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.