Sachliche Romanze

I have very fond memories of this poem ("Objective romance") by Erich Kästner (known mainly as the author of Emil and the Detectives), learned while studying in beautiful Freiburg im Breisgau.  You can read the original here. 

Eight years they'd known each other well  
(And one can say quite well at that),
When suddenly their love's light fell
Like others lose a cane or hat.

And sadness rose, then merry lies, 
And kisses flew to cloud their fate. 
Without a plan they wed their eyes;
At last she wept, beside her mate.  

The ships were close enough to wave,
When he declared it four-fifteen.
A coffee might this day still save,
Next door a piano's scales were lean.

A small café, the smallest lair
They chose and stirred each with one hand.
When evening came, they sat still there;
They sat alone, no words to share,
And simply couldn't understand.

Comments

[Eugen Wassiliwizky]

Dear Mr. Kamil,

I'm a researcher at the Max-Planck-Institute for empirical Aesthetics in Frankfurt, Germany, working on the emotional effects of poetry. In one of my studies I used Sachliche Romanze and would like to provide the English translation of it in my publication. The paper is about to be published in a scientific journal. Can I use your translation? Of course, I will credit you as the translater of the poem and provide you with the article if you like (once it's published).

Thanks,
Eugen Wassiliwizky

[deeblog]

Hello Eugen

That is no problem at all -- I welcome authorized use of my translations. I look forward to seeing your article in publication soon!

Best wishes,
Hadi

[Eugen Wassiliwizky]

Great! Thank a lot, Hadi!

Best,
Eugen

PS: The paper will be published in about two months in SCAN (Social, Cognitive, and Affective Neuroscience).

[deeblog]

Sounds good, Eugen!

[Eugen Wassiliwizky]

Hi Hadi,

the paper is published now! You can download the Preprint-PDF under the follwoing link:

https://academic.oup.com/scan/article/doi/10.1093/scan/nsx069/3778354/The-emotional-power-of-poetry-neural-circuitry

Thanks again for allowing me to use your translation!

Best,
Eugen

[deeblog]

Hi Eugen

Thanks very much for sending this! Please make sure that you correct the reference: my last name is Deeb, my middle name is Kamil. So the translation should be credited either to Hadi Deeb, or Hadi Kamil Deeb.

Thanks very much again!

Best,
Hadi