''Galgenlieder'' () is a collection of poems by

Christian Morgenstern Christian Otto Josef Wolfgang Morgenstern (6 May 1871 – 31 March 1914) was a German author and poet from Munich. Morgenstern married Margareta Gosebruch von Liechtenstern on 7 March 1910. He worked for a while as a journalist in Berlin ...

. Following ten years of writing work, it was first published in March 1905 by

Bruno Cassirer Bruno Cassirer (12 December 1872 – 29 October 1941Barbara Falk: ''No Other Home: an Anglo-Jewish family in Australia 1833–1987'', Penguin Books, Melbourne, 1988.) was a publisher and gallery owner in Berlin who had a considerable influence on ...

Poems

* Titelansage * Motto. Dem Kinde Im Manne * Versuch Einer Einleitung * Wie Die Galgenlieder Entstanden * Lass Die Molekuele Rasen * Bundeslied Der Galgenbrueder * Galgenbruders Lied an Sophie, Die Henkersmaid * Nein! * Das Gebet * Das Grosse Lalula * Der Zwoelf-Elf * Das Mondschaf * Lunovis * Der Rabe Ralf * Fisches Nachtgesang * Galgenbruders Fruehlingslied * Das Hemmed * Das Problem * Neue Bildungen, Der Natur Vorgeschlagen * Die Trichter * Der Tanz * Das Knie * Der Seufzer * Bim, Bam, Bum * Das Aesthetische Wiesel * Der Schaukelstuhl Auf Der Verlassenen Terrasse * Die Beichte Des Wurms * Das Weiblein Mit Der Kunkel * Die Mitternachtsmaus * Himmel Und Erde * Der Walfafisch Oder Das ueberwasser * Mondendinge * Die Schildkroete * Der Hecht * Der Nachtschelm Und Das Siebenschwein * Die Beiden Esel * Der Steinochs * Tapetenblume * Das Wasser * Die Luft * Wer Denn? * Der Lattenzaun * Die Beiden Flaschen * Das Lied Vom Blonden Korken * Der Wuerfel * Kronpraetendenten * Die Weste * Philanthropisch * Der Mond * Die Westkuesten * Unter Zeiten * Unter Schwarzkuenstlern * Der Traum Der Magd * Zaezilie * Das Nasobem * Anto-Logie * Die Hysterix * Die Probe * Im Jahre 19000 * Der Gaul * Der Heroische Pudel * Das Huhn, Moewenlied * Igel Und Agel * Der Werwolf * Die Fingur * Das Fest Des Wuestlings * Km 21 * Geiss Und Schleiche * Der Purzelbaum * Die Zwei Wurzeln * Das Geburtslied Oder Die Zeichen * Galgenkindes Wiegenlied * Wie Sich Das Galgenkind Die Montasnamen Merkt * Galgenberg

English translations

*''The Gallows Songs. Christian Morgenstern's Galgenlieder'', translated by Max Knight (University of California Press, 1964). *''Gallows Songs'', translated by W.D. Snodgrass and Lore Segal (Michigan Press, 1967). *''Songs from the Gallows: Galgenlieder'', translated by Walter Arndt (Yale University Press, 1993). *''Lullabies, Lyrics and Gallows Songs'', translated by

Anthea Bell Anthea Bell (10 May 1936 – 18 October 2018) was an English translator of literary works, including children's literature, from French, German and Danish. These include '' The Castle'' by Franz Kafka, '' Austerlitz'' by W. G. Sebald, the ''In ...

with illustrations by Lisbeth Zwerger (North South Books, 1995). *A number of these poems were translated into English by

Jerome Lettvin Jerome Ysroael Lettvin (February 23, 1920 – April 23, 2011), often known as Jerry Lettvin, was an American cognitive scientist, and Professor of Electrical and Bioengineering and Communications Physiology at the Massachusetts Institute of Tec ...

with explanations of Morgensterns wordplay methods and their relationship to

Lewis Carroll Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (; 27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet and mathematician. His most notable works are '' Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (1865) and its sequ ...

's methods. These were published in a journal calle
The Fat Abbot
in the Fall Winter 1962 edition, along with an essay illuminating subtle characteristics of the originals.

Selected translations

Visual poems

"Fisches Nachtgesang" ("Fish's Night Song") consists only of patterns of macrons and breves printed to suggest fish scales or ripples.Gillian Lathey - Translating Children's Literature -2015 Page 108 131762131X "Bell's translation of other poems in the collection ranges from non-intervention in "Fisches Nachtgesang" ("Fish's Night Song"), which consists entirely of patterns of dashes and brackets turned sideways to replicate waves and bubbles made in ...

Musical settings

*Galgenlieder, six songs by

Hanns Eisler Hanns Eisler (6 July 1898 – 6 September 1962) was an Austrian composer (his father was Austrian, and Eisler fought in a Hungarian regiment in World War I). He is best known for composing the national anthem of East Germany, for his long artisti ...

1917 *Galgenlieder a 5, cycle of 14 songs by Sofia Gubaidulina (b.1931) *Galgenlieder, 10 songs for mezzo and trio by Anders Brødsgaard (b.1955) *Galgenlieder, Op. 129, 8 songs for soprano' harp and tuba by Jan Koetsier (1911-2006) *Galgenlieder, chamber composition by Jacqueline Fontyn (b.1930) *Galgenlieder, five song cycle by

Siegfried Strohbach Siegfried Strohbach (27 November 1929 – 11 July 2019) was a German composer and conductor. He founded and directed choirs and the vocal ensemble Collegium Cantorum and is notable for the composition of choral music. He was a conductor of major t ...

for male choir a cappella. *Galgenlieder, five songs "Mondendinge" ; "Der Hecht" ; "Die Mitternachtsmaus" ; "Das Wasser" ; "Galgenkindes Wiegenlied", by Vincent Bouchot (b.1966)

References

{{reflist 1905 poems