The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #52807   Message #3852912
Posted By: keberoxu
28-Apr-17 - 02:22 PM
Thread Name: German Folk Songs
Subject: RE: German Folk Songs
From the nineteenth century -- and thus, in the public domain --
an English translation of "Grad' aus dem Wirthshaus."

THE TOPER'S DILEMMA.

Just from the inn my departure I took;
Street, thou hast surely a marvelous look!
Right side and left side are both out of place;
Street, thou art tipsy! -- a very clear case.

Moon, what a comical face thou dost make,
One of thine eyes asleep, t' other awake!
Thou, too, art tipsy, I plainly can see;
Shame, my old comrade, oh shame upon thee!

Look at the lampposts too, here is a sight,
Not one among them can now stand upright;   
Flickering and flackering to right and to left,
Sure they all seem of their sense bereft.

All things around me are whirling about,
One sober man alone, dare I come out?
That seems too venturesome, almost a sin --
Think I had better go back to the inn.

English translation by Henry William Dulcken.   Pages 113 - 114,
The Book of German Songs.