Blue Volume

The birds outside my window on Monday morning, 5:30 am.
(Here's the download link if you can't stream this)


"Frühling lässt sein blaues Band wieder flattern durch die Lüfte" by Eduard Mörike is the German romantic spring poem - every German knows it. Here's a modern automatic Babelfish translation:

1. German>English

Spring lets blue volume be again to flutter by air Sweet, well-known smells Strip notionful the country Violets dream already, Wools balde come Horch, from a distance a quiet harp clay/tone! Spring, you bist' s! You I heard!


2. German>English>German>English

Spring leaves blue volume, on the airway, which is sweet, to that far away admitted notionful smell strip already to flutter again its countries violet dream, wools, which come balde Horch, from a distance a calm harp loam/clay/tone! Spring, it bist' s! It, which I heard!


3. German>English>German>English>German>English

Spring leaves which is sweet, far certified notionful smell strips, over again from a distance to already flutter its countries violet dream, wools, which come balde Horch, to blue volume, on the airline, a calm harp loam/loam/clay/tone! Spring, it bist' s! It, which I heard!


Babelfish has a number of semantic problems. "Band" means "ribbon", not "volume" in this context. "Wools" is Babelfish's sad attempt to translate the perfectly usual "wollen" which means "want". "Balde" means "soon" and "Horch" is a somewhat oldfashioned way to say "listen".

Here's a manual translation by Bertram Kottmann that is a bit more poetic.

(Incidentally, the guitarist on this photo is called Robert. I wonder why?)


My office this morning. Usually I sit behind these windows, trying to earn some money. Can you imagine that it is difficult to sit inside and work while all the action is outside and the flowers wait to be photographed?