Let's start with one of the shortest poems in 'Messer', "Mädchen Tot". Click below for more.
[Updated 12th Dec 2012]
(Poem no. 20 out of 54, located pg. 54 of ‘Messer’, 2010 print.)
Disclaimer: Poem copyrighted to Till Lindemann. This post does not include photos/illustrations of said poem from 'Messer'. The original German text is also not included. This is only a interpretive translation and accuracy is not guaranteed.
Dead Girl
She lies there now
Stiff like a board
Has no suitcase under the bed
Lies so cold on the forest edge
Assassinated by her own hand
Her eyes are devoid of shine
She will never be seventeen again
Original Meter: Regular iambic terameter. First two lines have two iambs each, but they belong together rhyming-wise.
Original Rhyme Scheme: AABBCC. Again, count first two lines as the same line.
Comments:
The only word really worth changing was 'she' instead of 'they' in the
last line. I thought 'sie wird' meant 'they will' for some reason
because I was even more of a derpington than I am now back when I first
tried translating this. Every other correction is an attempt to fit the
meter - the first two lines of the translation I feel like I have done
okay with, they're iambic tetrameter. The rest... eh.
I believe the meaning of this little vignette is clear enough.
Edits, corrections and suggestions welcome.
I often wonder if this is about one of his classmates at the swim school. It was so harsh and the steriods did so much harm to pubescent kids...
ReplyDeleteI always wondered at the line:
ReplyDelete'Has no suitcase under the bed'
That was always the one that threw me, because this is an otherwise easy to read poem.