Und es sind die finstern Zeiten
The short song 'Und es sind die Finstern Zeiten' (And the Times are Dark and Fearful) was composed by Hanns Eisler to a text from the Svendborger Gedichte, a set of poems written by Brecht when he was in exile in the harbour city Svendborg, Denmark in 1939. The times have become foreign and frightening, the lyrics tell us, and yet 'how light is every footstep and untroubled brow' reflecting the transitions between hope and despair experienced by many exiles.
And there are dark moments in the foreign city
But we keep the step light, and the forehead is smooth
Hard and impassive humanity, like fish frozen by the cold
But the heart always beats fast and the smile stays sweet
The poem comes from the sixth section titled "Motto: Du der du sitzend im Buge des Bootes…". Brecht assembled the Svendborger Gedichte , as the title page says, 'refuged beneath this Danish thatched roof'.
Und es sind die finstern Zeiten in der anderen Stadt.
Doch es bleibt beim leichten Schreiten und die Stirn ist glatt.
Harte Menschheit, unbewegt, lang erfror'nem Fischvolk gleich.
Doch das Herz bleibt schnell geregt und das Lächeln weich.
And there are dark moments in the foreign city
But we keep the step light, and the forehead is smooth
Hard and impassive humanity, like fish frozen by the cold
But the heart always beats fast and the smile stays sweet