back to Georg Trakl

“Summer” by Georg Trakl 🇦🇹 (3 Feb 18873 Nov 1914)
Translated from the German by James Wright & Robert Bly
At evening the complaint of the cuckoo
Grows still in the wood.
The grain bends its head deeper,
The red poppy.
Darkening thunder drives
Over the hill.
The old song of the cricket
Dies in the field.
The leaves of the chestnut tree
Stir no more.
Your clothes rustle
On the winding stair.
The candle gleams silently
In the dark room;
A silver hand
Puts the light out;
Windless, starless night.