Friday Music: Heia Safari (1916)

October 4, 2019
1 min read


Wie oft sind wir geschritten
Auf schmalem Negerpfad
Wohl durch der Steppen Mitten,
Wenn früh der Morgen naht.
Wie lauschten wir dem Klange,
Dem alten trauten Sange
Der Träger und Askari:
Heia heia Safari!

Und saßen wir am Feuer
Des Nachts wohl vor dem Zelt,
Lag wie in stiller Feier
Um uns die nächt’ge Welt.
Und über dunkle Hänge
Tönt es wie ferne Klänge
Von Trägern und Askari:
Heia heia Safari!

Tret’ ich die letzte Reise,
Die große Fahrt einst an,
Auf, singt mir diese Weise
Statt Trauerlieder dann,
Daß meinem Jägerohre
Dort vor dem Himmelstore
Es kling’ wie ein Halali:
Heia heia Safari!
_______________________
How often did we pass
Narrow native trails
Amid the wide savannah
When early dawn prevails
We listened to the sound of
The old and trusty songs of
The porters and Askari
Hurray! Hurray! Safari!

We sat around the fire
At night before the tent
At peace, at rest, content
The nocturnal world rejoicing
Across the darkened mountain
Echoes are still resounding
Of porters and Askari
Hurray! Hurray! Safari!

When I go on my last trek
The journey is far beyond
Come and sing to me the song
Instead of mournful hymns,
To my hunter’s ear
Before the gates of heaven
It sounds like the Halali (Announcing the end of the hunt)
Hurray! Hurray! Safari!

Raised in a home filled with books on Western civilization, P.G. Mantel became a lover of history at an early age. An amateur writer of verse, he makes himself useful as an editor for Men of the West.

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