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comment by lil
lil  ·  2645 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Elemental haiku

Here's Google Translate's translation. What do you think of it?

The Mistress Stood by the Sea

The mistress stood by the sea

And sighed long and afraid,

It touched her so

The sunset.

My girl! be merry,

That is an old piece;

Down here she goes below

And returns from behind.





veen  ·  2645 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Not bad! Fraulein literally means 'miss', a dimunitive of frau which means 'lady'. Mistress might be too pejorative. I'd translate it like this:

The young lady stood by the sea

And sighed long and weary,

It touched her so much,

the sunset.

'My lady! Worry not,

it's just an old thing

Before you she goes under

And will return from behind.

lil  ·  2645 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Your translation makes more sense.

What a strange choice for your teacher - maybe he liked it because it was short.

veen  ·  2644 days ago  ·  link  ·  

It's supposed to be humorous / ironic, but it's German so it's not.