The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #142072   Message #3277919
Posted By: Q (Frank Staplin)
21-Dec-11 - 04:41 PM
Thread Name: Carol: Heil'ge Nacht, ich gruesse dich
Subject: RE: Carol: Heil'ge Nacht, ich gruesse dich
Inversion was necessary to produce sense (to English-speakers) of some sentences in scientific German, which is the only branch of the language I studied.
I wish I had some experience of spoken or vernacular German, and I find I am sometimes (often?) at a loss wirh German poetry, which often leaves some thoughts understated or left 'understood'.

Digressing, I have translations of some of Bach's secular cantatas, which used expressions from the peasants who were subject of some of them. Some words and expressions have been lost to linguists and had to be guessed at or skipped over by the translator.

Yep, need Wolfgang here.