Help interpreting the German poem Num seh’ ich wohl, warum so dunkle Flammen
Any poetry lovers here? Working on Mahler Kindertotenlieder (Songs on the Deaths of Children, very morbid I know), with text by Friedrich Rückert. I find the text of the second song the most elusive and wanted to ask some natives what they make of my understanding of this poem. Put some stuff in parenthesis, because it’s how I’m understanding things that are zwischen den Zeilen.
Nun seh’ ich wohl, warum so dunkle Flammen
ihr sprühtet mir in manchem Augenblicke,
o Augen! o Augen!
Gleichsam, um voll in einem Blicke zu drängen eure ganze Macht zusammen.
Doch ahnt’ ich nicht, weil Nebel mich umschauen,
gewoben vom verblendenden Geschicke,
daß sich der Strahl bereits zur Heimkehr schicke,
dorthin, dorthin, von Wannen alle Strahlen stammen.
Ihr wollte mir mit eurem Leuchten sagen:
wir möchten nah die bleiben gerne!
Doch ist uns das vom Schicksal abgeschlagen.
Sieh’ uns nur an, denn bald sind wir dir ferne!
Was dir nur Augen sind in diesen Tagen:
in künftigen Nächten sind se dir nur Sterne.
Now I understand why your shoot such dark flames to me (from your eyes) in certain moments,
oh (your) eyes! o (your) eyes!
As if in that one glance you could fully harness all of your power.
But I didn’t recognize it because I was surrounded by a fog,
that was woven out of dazzling destiny (fate?),
that the beam (from your eyes) was already returning home,
to the place from whence all such beams originate.
You wanted to say to me with your shining (eyes):
“we want to stay near you!
But fate ruled that out for us.
Look at us, because soon we’ll be far away.
What our eyes are to you will appear to you as stars in nights to come.”