The Striking Weavers of Silesia
For weary weavers, everywhere....
The Weavers of Silesia (poem)
The German lyrics (below the paywall) are by Heinrich Heine (1797–1856),
writing about a labor uprising of 1844. An all-out German revolution was diverted, in part, by the innovative and popular reforms of the kaiser’s Chancellor Otto von Bismarck (1815-1898), who instituted the first national health-care program — the predecessor of Germany’s system today…. Käthe Kollwitz’s illustrations, like the one above, show images of struggling workers in a later “Weavers Uprising” (1893-97). The artist would have worked on these images when she was in her late 20s. -ts
English interpretation
© Topper Sherwood, 2024
Dark eyes, countless, dry of tears;
Countless hands on looms tonight.
Weaving shrouds for Germany.
Our Homeland — or so we thought.
Homeland! Or so it was we’d thought….
Weave the cloth, a curse times three!
Into the cloth, our curses — three!
We’re weaving-weaving-weaving;
Weaving-weaving-weaving….
A curse for their gods we’ve begged for food;
And shelter from the coming storm;
We sit in vigil, hope in vain;
Overworked and mocked, we mourn.
Weave the cloth, a curse times three!
Into the cloth, our curses — three!
We’re weaving-weaving-weaving;
Weaving-weaving-weaving.
A second curse on the wealthy king;
Squeezing pennies from our work,
No misery will hinder him;
From grinding us into the dirt.
Weave in the cloth, a curse times three!
Into the cloth, our curses — three!
We’re weaving-weaving-weaving;
Weaving-weaving-weaving.
A final curse on ‘Fatherland.’
Reign of riches, crime, and greed;
Its flowers plucked before they bloom,
Oppresses an entire folk, in need.
Weave in the cloth, a curse times three!
Into the cloth, our curses — three!
We’re weaving-weaving-weaving;
Weaving-weaving-weaving.
Shuttle threads across the weave;
Storm advancing, day by day;
A shroud for homeland, Germany;
And in the cloth, a curse — times three!
Weave in the cloth, a curse times three!
Into the cloth, our curses — three!
We’re weaving-weaving-weaving;
Weaving-weaving-weaving!