I have had a box of old photos that I have not opened. Last week I decided to look at a few. I came across one taken when my parents must have been coming back from Southern Germany taken in July 1962. The quotation on the back reads "Ich weiss nicht was soll es bedenten das ich so trerrig bin". I would be grateful if one of you fluent German speakers could give me a translation.
The Lorelei Rock: I have had a box of... - Positive Wellbein...
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The Lorelei Rock
Written by
prunus
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“I dont know what it means that I’m so dreary” is what Google says it means.... but it seams an odd thing to have written on the back of a photo!
Many thanks for that.
I think it comes from a poem called Die Lorelei by Heinrich Heine.
leo60 in reply to
It is, the first two lines "I don't know what it means that I am so sad" xx
Many thanks for the translation. Now I have heard from both you and Hylda between you I am left wondering about the rest of the poem and if there is an English translation of the whole anywhere.
prunus in reply to
Thanks for that - very interesting.
This is a line from a song I sang at school long ago when first learning German. Roughly it means 'I don't know what makes me feel so melancholy', and as others have pointed out it's originally from a Heinrich Heine poem and later the song.
It's based on an old legend that the Lorelei rock is a maiden who lured boatmen on the river Rhine, to their deaths.
Here's a complete translation I found online:
I know not if there is a reason
Why I am so sad at heart.
A legend of bygone ages
Haunts me and will not depart.
The air is cool under nightfall.
The calm Rhine courses its way.
The peak of the mountain is sparkling
With evening's final ray.
The fairest of maidens is sitting
So marvelous up there,
Her golden jewels are shining,
She's combing her golden hair.
She combs with a comb also golden,
And sings a song as well
Whose melody binds a wondrous
And overpowering spell.
In his little boat, the boatman
Is seized with a savage woe,
He'd rather look up at the mountain
Than down at the rocks below.
I think that the waves will devour
The boatman and boat as one;
And this by her song's sheer power
Fair Lorelei has done.
Hello. A fleeting visit, but your post caught my eye.
I speak German (I have a master's degree in the subject). The line you've cited translates into English as follows:
"I do not know how to construe my sadness."
I've actually visited the Lorelei (Loreley) Rock, located in St Goarshausen, a sleepy town on the banks of the River Rhine. This was many years ago when I was still in secondary school.
Like I said, a fleeting visit to Health Unlocked (my health is indifferent and I am drowning in tax paperwork), but I hope to have helped your research.
I really appreciate your help. Many thanks. Years ago my parents regularly went to Southern Germany. I loved going too but preferred to fly. Good luck to you for your tax return!
My pleasure.
Oddly, though, the Loreley rock isn't in southern Germany! It stands in the River Rhine further towards the north. Lookup St Goarshausen on a map...
And - thank you! I need to get the bulk of it done today 🥵
I tried to look up St Goarshausen in my atlas. The problem is it wasn't given. Which larger town is it near? Hope you're managing your tax. I see everyone has got another month's reprieve.
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