Heinrich Heine
Death is the Coldness of the Night
Death is the coldness of the night
And life the sultry heat of day.
Darkness falls, and I grow tired;
The light has drained my strength away.In the tree above my bed
A nightingale picks up the theme
And sings of pure undying love;
I hear it even as I dream.
David Cram has been since 1988 University Lecturer in Linguistics and Fellow of Jesus College, Oxford. He co-translated and co-edited, with T J Reed, the volume on Heine in the Everyman’s Poetry series (1997), which includes Reed’s translation of ‘Der Tod, das ist die kühle Nacht’. David Cram’s rather different version follows. His translations from Morgenstern and Ringelnatz appear in this issue.
Translated by David Cram
Page(s) 31
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