Der Leiermann ( The Organ Grinder ) is the final poem.
Synopsis: At the end of the village he finds the old barefooted hurdy-gurdy man, winding away his tunes, but no-one has given him a penny, or listens, and even the dogs growl at him. But he just carries on playing, and the poet thinks he will cast in his lot with him. The parallel with the singer singing his sad songs in the ice and the slow, unresolved melody of the hurdy-gurdy concludes the cycle with an eerily unfinished feel perfectly in character with the lonely wandering of the singer.
The poem, translated from german
There, behind the village,
stands an organ-grinder,
And with numb fingers
he plays the best he can.
Barefoot on the ice,
he staggers back and forth,
And his little plate
remains ever empty.
No one wants to hear him,
no one looks at him,
And the hounds snarl
at the old man.
And he lets it all go by,
everything as it will,
He plays, and his organ
is never still.
Strange old man,
shall I go with you?
Will you play your organ
to my songs?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winterreise is a cycle of twenty-four poems by http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhelm_M%C3%BCller
Der Leiermann ( The Organ Grinder ) is the final poem.
Synopsis: At the end of the village he finds the old barefooted hurdy-gurdy man, winding away his tunes, but no-one has given him a penny, or listens, and even the dogs growl at him. But he just carries on playing, and the poet thinks he will cast in his lot with him. The parallel with the singer singing his sad songs in the ice and the slow, unresolved melody of the hurdy-gurdy concludes the cycle with an eerily unfinished feel perfectly in character with the lonely wandering of the singer.
The poem, translated from german
There, behind the village, stands an organ-grinder, And with numb fingers he plays the best he can.
Barefoot on the ice, he staggers back and forth, And his little plate remains ever empty.
No one wants to hear him, no one looks at him, And the hounds snarl at the old man.
And he lets it all go by, everything as it will, He plays, and his organ is never still.
Strange old man, shall I go with you? Will you play your organ to my songs?