Random translation fun

[Michael Erwin]

I mentioned before my efforts to translate labor-movement songs into  
Gothic - however anachronistic they may be. I paraphrase-translated  
the first verse and chorus of Ralph Chaplin's "Commonwealth of Toil"  
tonight. I'm not very good at this but practice makes ... better.

Commonwealth of Toil

by Ralph Chaplin

In the gloom of mighty cities
mid the roar of whirling wheels
we are toiling on like chattel slaves of old.
And our masters ever seek
to keep us thus beneath their feet
and to coin our very life-blood into gold.

In sa skadus baurgim mikilaim
miþ *hjulam *ƕirandam
arbaidjam samana skalkos aiwe sineiga.
Jah unsar reikos lustand
du haban uns atbrukjanda
jah du *maunetan unsar bloþ du gulda.

Chorus:
But we have a glowing dream
of how fair the world will seem
when we each can live our lives secure and free -
when the earth is owned by labor
and there's joy and peace for all
in the commonwealth of toil that is to be.

Þan habam *glaujand draum af
ƕaiwa haila airþai wairþiþ
ƕan ains jah alls skulum libam in friþau -
ƕan gawaurstwans aigun airþa
miþ leikainai jah freihala
in þizos gamainons botos gawaurtswane.

(remaining verses not yet translated)

Okay, the first verse is much more literal than the chorus. I  
couldn't find any suitable common-Germanic root for either roar or  
whirl - the former is only attested in West-Germanic and the latter  
is first attested in North-Germanic - but decided that they were  
better than nothing (I ultimately chose WG "howl" over WG "roar").  
The other biggies were "coin," "glow," and, of course, "commonwealth."

(I wanted to avoid trying the ones with lines like "with one big  
industrial union" for the time being).

To make the meter more-or-less hang together (the syllable count  
should work but the rhythm won't), I subbed "in friþau" for "secure  
and free" - and subbed "freihala" for "peace" two lines later. Also  
dropped "that is to be."

Mike
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