Comparing Lyrics
Below, find comparisons of selected lyrics and their arrangement throughout the translations of Mother Courage and Her Children by Bentley, Willett, and Hofmann.
BENTLEY
*From the Grove Press edition
"The Song of Mother Courage"
Stop all the troops: here's Mother Courage!
Hey, Captain, let them come and buy!
For they can get from Mother Courage
Boots they will march in till they die!
Your marching men do not adore you
(Packs on their backs, lice in their hair)
But it's to death they're marching for you
And so they need good boots to wear!
Christians, awake! Winter is gone!
The snows depart! Dead men sleep on!
Let all of you who still survive
Get out of bed and look alive!
Your men will walk till they are dead, sir,
But cannot fight unless they eat.
The blood they spill for you is red, sir,
What fires that blood is my red meat.
Cannon is rough on empty bellies:
First with my meat they should be crammed.
Then let them go and find where hell is
And give my greetings to the damned!
Christians, awake! Winter is gone!
The snows depart! Dead men sleep on!
Let all of you who still survive
Get out of bed and look alive!
Note differences in rhyme scheme but relative consistency in syllables/line length.
Bentley incorporates religion into his lyrics, mentioning Christianity in the chorus.
WILLETT/HOFMANN
*Michael Hofmann's translation utilizes lyrics written by John Willett. Note: Song titles are omitted.
You captains, tell the drums to slacken
And give your infanteers a break:
It's Mother Courage with her waggon
Full of the finest boots they make.
With crawling lice and looted cattle,
With lumbering guns and straggling kit -
How can you flog them into battle
Unless you get them boots that fit?
The new year's come. The watchmen shout.
The thaw sets in. The dead remain.
Wherever life has not died out
It staggers to its feet again.
Captains, how can you make them face it - Marching to death without a brew?
Courage has rum with which to lace it
And boil their souls and bodies through.
Their musket primed, their stomach hollow - Captains, your men don't look so well.
So feed them up and let them follow
While you command them into hell.
The new year's come. The watchmen shout.
The thaw sets in. The dead remain.
Wherever life has not died out
It staggers to its feet again.
In the Hofmann version, this song is featured in a Prologue.
Part 2 (Scene 7)
If war don't suit your disposition
When victory comes, you will be dead.
War is a business proposition:
But not with cheese, with steel instead!
Christians, awake! Winter is gone!
The snows depart! Dead men sleep on!
Let all of you who still survive
Get out of bed and look alive!
Too many seek a bed to sleep in:
Each ditch is taken, and each cave
And he who digs a hole to creep in
Finds he has dug an early grave.
And many a man spends many a minute
In hurrying toward some resting place.
You wonder, when at last he's in it
Just why the fellow forced the pace.
And if you feel your forces fading
You won't be there to share the fruits.
But what is war but private trading
That deals in blood instead of boots?
Some people think to live by looting
The goods some others haven't got.
You think it's just a line they're shooting
Until you hear they have been shot.
And some I saw dig six feet under
In haste to lie down and pass out.
Now they're at rest perhaps they wonder
Just what was all their haste about.
Note the missing chorus repetition!
"The Song of the Great Souls of This Earth"
King Solomon was very wise,
So what's his history?
He came to view this life with scorn,
Yes, he came to regret he ever had been born Declaring: all is vanity.
King Solomon was very wise,
But long before the day was out
The consequence was clear, alas:
His wisdom 'twas that brought him to this pass.
A man is better off without.
Old Julius Caesar, he was brave.
His fame shall never cease.
He sat like a god on an altar piece.
Yet they tore brave old Julius limb from valiant limb
And Brutus helped to slaughter him.
Old Julius was very brave
But long before the day was out
The consequence was clear, alas:
His bravery 'twas that brought him to this pass.
A man is better off without.
You all know honest Socrates
Who always spoke the truth.
They owed him thanks for that, you'd think,
But what happened?
Why, they put hemlock in his drink
And swore that he misled the youth.
How honest was this Socrates!
Yet long before the day was out
The consequence was clear, alas:
His honesty had brought him to this pass.
A man is better off without.
Unselfish Martin could not bear
His fellow creatures' woes.
He met a poor man in the snows
And he gave this poor fellow half his cloak to wear:
So both of them fell down and froze.
His brothers' woes he could not bear,
So long before the day was out
The consequence was clear, alas:
Unselfishness had brought him to this pass.
A man is better off without.
God's ten commandments we have kept
And acted as we should.
It has not done us any good.
All you people who sit beside a roaring fire
O help us in our need so dire!
The ten commandments we have kept
And long before the day was out
The consequence was clear, alas:
Our godliness has brought us to this pass.
A man is better off without.
Very small differences exist between the narratives for each "Soul."
You saw sagacious Solomon,
You know what came of him.
To him complexities seemed plain.
He cursed the hour that gave birth to him
And saw that everything was vain.
How great and wise was Solomon!
The world however didn't wait
But soon observed and followed on.
It's wisdom that had brought him to this state - How fortunate the man with none!
You saw courageous Caesar next,
You know what he became.
They deified him in his life
Then had him murdered just the same.
And as they raised the fatal knife
How loud he cried: You too, my son!
The world however didn't wait
But soon observed what followed on.
It's courage that had brought him to that state.
How fortunate the man with none!
You heard of honest Socrates,
The man who never lied:
They weren't so grateful as you think.
Instead the rulers fixed to have him tried
And handed him the poisoned drink.
How honest was the people's noble son!
The world however didn't wait
But soon observed what followed on.
It's honesty that brought him to that state.
How fortunate the man with none!
St Martin couldn't bear to see
His fellows in distress.
He met a poor man in the snow
And shared his cloak with him, we know.
Both of them therefore froze to death.
His place in Heaven surely won!
The world however didn't wait
But soon observed what followed on.
Unselfishness had brought him to that state.
How fortunate the man with none!
Here you can see respectable folk
Keeping to God's own laws.
So far he hasn't taken heed.
You who sit safe and warm indoors,
Help to relieve our bitter need!
How virtuously we had begun!
The world however didn't wait
But soon observed what followed on.
Its fear of God that brought us to that state.
How fortunate the man with none!
The Voice's Song, Scene 10
In March a bush we planted
To make the garden gay.
In June we were enchanted:
A lovely rose was blooming
The balmy air perfuming!
Blest are they
Who have gardens gay!
In June we were enchanted.
When snow falls helter-skelter
And loudly blows the storm
Our farmhouse gives us shelter.
The winter's in a hurry
But we've no cause to worry.
We are warm
In the midst of the storm!
Our farmhouse gives us shelter.
Bentley is explicit with his mention of months, while Willett is not.
The roses in our arbour
Delight us with their show:
They have such lovely flowers,
Repaying all our labour
After summer showers.
Happy are those with gardens now:
They have such lovely flowers.
When winter winds are freezing
As through the woods they blow
Our home is warm and pleasing.
We fixed the thatch above it
With straw and moss we wove it.
Happy are those with shelter now
When winter winds are freezing.