German Language Course

39. Die Lorelei

von Heinrich Heine (1824)

Ich weiss nicht, was soll es bedeuten,

I don't know what it means

Dass ich so traurig bin;

That I'm so sad;

Ein Märchen aus alten Zeiten,

A fairy tale from ancient times,

Das kommt mir nicht aus dem Sinn.

I can't get that out of my mind.

Die Luft ist kühl, und es dunkelt,

The air is cool, and it is getting dark,

Und ruhig fliesst der Rhein;

And the Rhine flows calmly;

Der Gipfel des Berges funkelt

The peak of the mountain sparkles

Im Abendsonnenschein.

In the evening sunlight.

Die schönste Jungfrau sitzet

The most beautiful maiden sits

Dort oben wunderbar,

Wonderful up there,

Ihr goldenes Geschmeide blitzet,

Her golden jewelry sparkles,

Sie kämmt ihr goldenes Haar.

She combs her golden hair.

Sie kämmt es mit goldenem Kamme

She combs with a golden comb

Und singt ein Lied dabei;

And sings a song;

Das hat eine wundersame,

That has a miraculous,

Gewaltige Melodei.

Powerful melody.

Den Schiffer im kleinen Schiffe

The skipper on the small ship

Ergreift es mit wildem Weh;

Seize it with wild woe;

Er schaut nicht die Felsenriffe,

He doesn't look at the rocky reefs,

Er schaut nur hinauf in die Höh.

He just looks up into the sky.

Ich glaube, die Wellen verschlingen

I think the waves are swallowing

Am Ende Schiffer und Kahn;

In the end, the boatman and boat;

Und das hat mit ihrem Singen

And that has to do with her singing

Die Lorelei getan.

The Lorelei done.

Great work!
You have finished the lessons in this course.

For your final lesson, you can now read a poem by a famous German writer, Heinrich Heine, from the year 1824. It is an actual piece of German poetry. It uses a bit of old-fashioned style and words, but I believe you should be able to understand most of it. Note that some words are also a bit modified to fit the song better, a freedom that poets have known as poetic license. There are probably some unknown words in this song for you, but if you are able to handle this song and find your way through it, then this course has served its purpose.

You should now be ready to move on to other German content and broaden your German vocabulary and your understanding of German grammar.

If you haven't done it already, I strongly suggest you try "Nico's weg". This is a video material provided by Deutsche Welle available on YouTube. You can use the transcription of the video material and use it together with the video, to learn more about German language and to broaden you vocabulary. More information about this is available if you click "Other" in the main menu.

German Language Course

39. Die Lorelei

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