“Hyacinth Scent” by Theodor Storm

The nineteenth-century speaker is waiting out in the dark. Drugged by the erotic flower-scent, he is a bitter window-voyeur of the dance hall, where his beloved must dance. It has been observed that, in the German, the conflicting emotions are expressed by a vowel conflict: the long sensuous “ah” (“schlafen” etc.) versus the shrill jarring “ei” (“die Geigen schreien” etc.). The English language does not have this long “ah” here available, and the literal prosaic translation, “I want to sleep,” lacks this crucial sound effect. The nearest I could get to this rich effect is: “I long for slumber.”