Ich stehe auf dem Berge der Erwartung und öffne die Augen voller Erstaunen
English translation: Upon the mount of expectancy I stand; these opened eyes in awe and wonder see
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GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
German term or phrase:
Ich stehe auf dem Berge der Erwartung und öffne die Augen voller Erstaunen
English translation:
Upon the mount of expectancy I stand; these opened eyes in awe and wonder see
German to English translations [PRO] Art/Literary - Poetry & Literature / Shakespeare quote
German term or phrase:Ich stehe auf dem Berge der Erwartung und öffne die Augen voller Erstaunen
Hi, I am having a hard time with a quote allegedly from a Shakespeare work. I suspect that the German quote has been translated in a way not consistent with the official translations, and online resources have not been helpful.
In German the quote is "Ich stehe auf dem Berge der Erwartung und öffne die Augen voller Erstaunen". I would appreciate any good translation back into English or the original (if it is really by Shakespeare).
Explanation: This sounds nothing like William Shakespeare, even in bad translation. It sounds more like a religious text-John Bunyan for example, perhaps from a hymn, or a romantic poet ("silent upon a hill in Darien"). Are you sure it comes originally from English? I chose mount here instead of mountain because of the religious element, very much suggested by the opened eyes. (No normal mountaineer climbs with closed eyes!) Wonder or amazement are good translations of Estaunen (astonishment would give an inapprorpiately comical touch) -without more context it is impossible to know which is better. I suggest "awe and wonder" for the scanning and because I guess this is about a religious epiphany.
it is neither parody nor bad translation, most likely taken from a German Reader's Digest type of "best quotes"... thanks all for your input. The client will not use this dubious quote, they are going to find something appropriate from Indian Buddhism 3 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer
in connection with Burma's freed opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi. : "She'll be facing a mountain of expectation and challenges ," said Aung Zaw, editor of The Irrawaddy, a Thailand-based exile magazine. ... http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/14/world/asia/14myanmar.html?...
Upon the mount of expectancy I stand; these opened eyes in awe and wonder see
Explanation: This sounds nothing like William Shakespeare, even in bad translation. It sounds more like a religious text-John Bunyan for example, perhaps from a hymn, or a romantic poet ("silent upon a hill in Darien"). Are you sure it comes originally from English? I chose mount here instead of mountain because of the religious element, very much suggested by the opened eyes. (No normal mountaineer climbs with closed eyes!) Wonder or amazement are good translations of Estaunen (astonishment would give an inapprorpiately comical touch) -without more context it is impossible to know which is better. I suggest "awe and wonder" for the scanning and because I guess this is about a religious epiphany.
YorickJenkins Local time: 14:20 Native speaker of: English PRO pts in category: 3
Grading comment
it is neither parody nor bad translation, most likely taken from a German Reader's Digest type of "best quotes"... thanks all for your input. The client will not use this dubious quote, they are going to find something appropriate from Indian Buddhism
Reference information: This a fantastic search engine for all Shakespeare's works. I searched for "mountain" and nothing relevant came up. You might try it for "hill" or other similar words.
My suspicion is that this is NOT Shakespeare. I would contact the client for advice. I personally think it's dreadful to attribute something to Shakespeare that's not by him, or to back-translate something from German and say it's from Shakespeare, whether it is or isn't. At the very least, a footnote of disclaimer is in order, IMHO.
Susan Welsh United States Works in field Native speaker of: English PRO pts in category: 4
Note to reference poster
Asker: Hi Susan, I agree, it is from a "re-organization leaflet for staff" written some 15 years ago for a large company by an external consultancy, and now they want the old German stuff in English for Asian branches.
Asker: Also thanks for the reference, it is cool... but I found nothing relevant either, with other terms, or flowery translations
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The translation workplace 
peer agreement (net): +1
