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Das Todaustreiben

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German folksong
"Das Todaustreiben"
"Des Knaben Wunderhorn" (1806, I) with the text of the song
Song
LanguageGerman
English titleDriving out Death
Publishednot later than 1570
GenreFolk
Songwriter(s)Traditional

"Das Todaustreiben" (Driving out Death) is an old German song named after a folk custom of Todaustragen [de] from the Middle Ages.

History

The first time the song had been mentioned in the sources is not later than 1570. It was included in volume 1 of Des Knaben Wunderhorn (DKW), an 1806 German folklore collection. An older Protestant song underlies the version published by Achim von Arnim and Clemens Brentano.

As wrote a researcher of DKW, its authors cleaned their text from any denomational features. The poets left all original verses save the last one which contains a Protestant prayer.

Christian and pagan traditions

The folk custom of Driving out Death in Moravia.

The song is based on an old pagan custom of Driving out Death. The Christians considered death as Antichrist, who was to be banished, to free the way for the Saviour.

That holiday has been held in many lands (such as Silesia, Thuringia, Franconia) for ages. The custom of Driving out Death (also known as Driving out Winter) meant the struggle against Winter and the following awakening of Earth in Spring.

Words

So treiben wir den Winter aus,
Durch unsre Stadt zum Tor hinaus,
Mit sein' Betrug und Listen,
Den rechten Antichristen.

Wir stürzen ihn von Berg und Tal,
Damit er sich zu Tode fall',
Und uns nicht mehr betrüge
Durch seine späten Züge.

Und nun der Tod das Feld geräumt,
So weit und breit der Sommer träumt,
Er träumet in dem Maien
Von Blümlein mancherleien.

Die Blume sproßt aus göttlich Wort
Und deutet auf viel schönern Ort,
Wer ist's, der das gelehret?
Gott ist's, der hat's bescheret.

Poetic translation
Drive out Winter with her hate,
Drive out from the town gate,
With all her wiles and twisters,
True Antichrist and trickster.

We hunted her by hill and dale,
To make the robber breathe away:
Thou canst no longer swindle
With all thy frosts and windfalls!

And now Death has left the fields,
And now Summer spreads the wings,
While dreaming of the blossom
In May, still mud and earthen.

By th'word of God, the summer bloom
Could climb a stone in the gloom.
Who has that sprout risen?
The Lord, the Earth to brighten.

References

  1. ^ Rieser, Ferdinand (1908). "Des Knaben Wunderhorn" und seine Quellen (in German). Dortmund: Friedrich Wilhelm Ruhfus [de]. p. 125 – via Internet Archive.
  2. Russell, Peter (2002). The Themes of the German Lied from Mozart to Strauss. Studies in the history and interpretation of music, vol. 84. Edwin Mellen Press. pp. 208, 223. ISBN 978-0-88946-426-1. Retrieved 2024-12-08.
  3. Schem, Alexander Jacob (1874). Deutsch-amerikanisches Conversations-Lexikon: Mit specieller Rücksicht auf das Bedürfniß der in Amerika lebenden Deutschen ... (in German). New York: E. Steiger. p. 356. Retrieved 2024-12-08.
  4. Frazer, James George (2012). The Golden Bough: A Study in Comparative Religion. Cambridge Library Collection – Classics. Cambridge University Press. pp. 271–276. ISBN 978-1-108-04752-4. Retrieved 2024-12-08.
  5. S. Pavlov. Das Todaustreiben  – via Wikisource.

External links

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