English translation: and he festively blesses it who as a child...
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05:00 Jul 26, 2011
German to English translations [PRO] Art/Literary - Poetry & Literature
German term or phrase:und ihn segnet festlich wer als Kind...
This comes from a poem written by a son to his elderly father in 1870, which begins:
Heil diesem schönen Tage,
Der Ihnen das Leben gab!
Und ihn segnet festlich wer als Kind
Ihr Herz voll Liebe kennt,
Es gut und wohl wollend immer find't,
Und jedes Glück Ihnen wünschet.
I have tentatively translated it as:
Hail to this beautiful day,
Which gave you life!
And may it be solemnly blessed by him, who as a child
Knew your heart filled with love,
Still finds it good and benevolent,
And wishes you every good fortune.
The "wer als Kind" part is where I get lost. Does this refer to someone (anyone) who knew the father's loving heart as a child, perhaps even a reference to God? Or does it refer to someone (anyone) who as a child was familiar with the father's loving heart, etc.? I don't believe it refers to the author of the poem (the father's son), since the following lines are:
Auch ich, o Vater grüße heut
Ihn mit frohem Blick,
Und wünsche Ihnen aus Dankbarkeit,
Der frohen Tage wahres Glück.
So the son seems to be setting himself apart from the first six lines, noting that he ALSO greets this day with joyful anticipation, etc.
I agree that 'ihn' would' be the day.
Maybe the son has brothers and sisters who also knew their dad when they were little. And/or there may also be grandchildren who find the (grand)father's heart just as full of love as the author did as a child.
Based on your input, I think I'll change my proposed translation to:
Hail to this beautiful day,
Which gave you life!
And which is solemnly blessed by anyone who as a child
Knew your heart filled with love,
Still finds it good and benevolent,
And wishes you every good fortune.
In my opinion, it means anyone who as a child knew the father and so solemnly blesses the day he was born. I would translate it as "anyone who" rather than "him, who". (Also, there should be no comma - it's a defining relative clause)
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Answers
13 mins confidence:
And solemly bless who as a child
Explanation: Und ihn festlich segnet wer als Kind, means that the day will bless the person, who as a child, recognized her heart....
"ihn" refers to the person, not to the day.
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 39 mins (2011-07-26 05:40:10 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
The form "Sie", "Ihnen" and "Ihr" is old German. We have to ways to address people, "you" friends, family, children, and "Sie" strangers, authorities; and address which was formerly used by children to address their parents.
Therefore, the male noun is the father - not the day -, being addressed by his son.
Correction to the part "her heart", yes, it's <strong>your</strong> (the father's) heart
Thayenga Germany Local time: 14:21 Specializes in field Native speaker of: German PRO pts in category: 8
Notes to answerer
Asker: What person could "ihn" refer to? The only preceding masculine noun is "Tag." I'm also certain that "Ihr Herz" doesn't refer to "her heart" but rather to "Your heart" (the son is addressing the father on his birthday in this poem, and consistently uses the formal "Sie," "Ihnen," "Ihr").
Asker: Of course, I understand the use of "du" as opposed to "Sie," but I'm still not getting this. The writer consistently refers to his elderly father in the 2nd person "You" throughout the poem, so why would he switch to 3rd person and refer to "him" in one line? I'm still convinced that the "ihn" in the third line refers to "den Tag."
The translation workplace 
