The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #70987 Message #1222905
Posted By: Wolfgang
10-Jul-04 - 12:31 PM
Thread Name: Lyr Req: Austrian Cavalry Song 'Morgen Rot'
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Cavalry Song 'Morgen Rot'
No, both lines are correct. It is 'das Grab' here (the grave).
Dative form would be 'in dem Grab(e)'. That could make semantically sense here, but the meter requires 'in das Grab'.
The difference is like: 'tomorrow (I shall lie) in the grave' or 'tomorrow (I shall come) into the grave.
The same reason (meter) requires the singular of 'Kamerad'. 'Ich und manche Kameraden' is perfect German, but the song has the singular 'Ich und mancher Kamerad'.
The dative form in German is very bothersome, even to many students. Just a graffitto for the advanced German speakers about that:
Rettet dem Dativ.
Wolfgang