Take This Waltz Poem by Leonard Cohen

Take This Waltz

Rating: 3.0


(After Lorca)

Now in Vienna there are ten pretty women.
There's a shoulder where death comes to cry.
There's a lobby with nine hundred windows.
There's a tree where the doves go to die.
There's a piece that was torn from the morning,
and it hangs in the Gallery of Frost—
Ay, ay ay ay
Take this waltz, take this waltz,
take this waltz with the clamp on its jaws.

I want you, I want you, I want you
on a chair with a dead magazine.
In the cave at the tip of the lily,
in some hallway where love's never been.
On a bed where the moon has been sweating,
in a cry filled with footsteps and sand—
Ay, ay ay ay
Take this waltz, take this waltz,
take its broken waist in your hand.

This waltz, this waltz, this waltz, this waltz
with its very own breath
of brandy and death,
dragging its tail in the sea.

There's a concert hall in Vienna
where your mouth had a thousand reviews.
There's a bar where the boys have stopped talking,
they've been sentenced to death by the blues.
Ah, but who is it climbs to your picture
with a garland of freshly cut tears?
Ay, ay ay ay
Take this waltz, take this waltz,
take this waltz, it's been dying for years.

There's an attic where children are playing,
where I've got to lie down with you soon,
in a dream of Hungarian lanterns,
in the mist of some sweet afternoon.
And I'll see what you've chained to your sorrow,
all your sheep and your lilies of snow—
Ay, ay ay ay
Take this waltz, take this waltz
with its "I'll never forget you, you know!"

And I'll dance with you in Vienna,
I'll be wearing a river's disguise.
The hyacinth wild on my shoulder
my mouth on the dew of your thighs.
And I'll bury my soul in a scrapbook,
with the photographs there and the moss.
And I'll yield to the flood of your beauty,
my cheap violin and my cross.
And you'll carry me down on your dancing
to the pools that you lift on your wrist—
O my love, O my love
Take this waltz, take this waltz,
it's yours now. It's all that there is.

COMMENTS OF THE POEM
David Perrings 04 May 2006

My comments have been mixed in with the song Take this Waltz by Leonard Cohen Now in vienna there’s ten pretty women attendees at the service There’s a shoulder where death comes to cry people consoleing each other There’s a lobby with nine hundred windows a church for a funeral service There’s a tree where the doves go to die a crucifix There’s a piece that was torn from the morning a women who died to young And it hangs in the gallery of frost the casket Ay, ay, ay, ay Take this waltz, take this waltz this life that they once had together Take this waltz with the clamp on it’s jaws clamp- no way to communicate now with the departed Oh I want you, I want you, I want you On a chair with a dead magazine he is remembering her and he wants her right their on the chair in the sitting room with the old copies of magezines. In the cave at the tip of the lily the flowers In some hallways where love’s never been in the hallways of the building On a bed where the moon has been sweating in bed with each other In a cry filled with footsteps and sand a walk along the beach Ay, ay, ay, ay Take this waltz, take this waltz Take it’s broken waist in your hand the waltz or dance that they did together ended so it is broken This waltz, this waltz, this waltz, this waltz With it’s very own breath of brandy and death Dragging it’s tail in the sea he is remembering there relationship and morning it and the lose of her life There’s a concert hall in vienna she was a singer Where your mouth had a thousand reviews the audience There’s a bar where the boys have stopped talking her fans They’ve been sentenced to death by the blues Ah, but who is it climbs to your picture a picture of her that he is looking at which is hard to look (he has to climb to it) at now With a garland of freshly cut tears? and he is crying Ay, ay, ay, ay Take this waltz, take this waltz Take this waltz it’s been dying for years the memory had been fading as time went by There’s an attic where children are playing they talked of having children together Where I’ve got to lie down with you soon memories of being with her / whats to be with her again In a dream of hungarian lanterns a dream In the mist of some sweet afternoon And I’ll see what you’ve chained to your sorrow whats to know why see killed her self All your sheep and your lilies of snow Ay, ay, ay, ay Take this waltz, take this waltz With it’s I’ll never forget you, you know! he wont ever forget her This waltz, this waltz, this waltz, this waltz... And I’ll dance with you in vienna I’ll be wearing a river’s disguise ? still have not gotten this one The hyacinth wild on my shoulder, My mouth on the dew of your thighs And I’ll bury my soul in a scrapbook, loosing himself in her memory With the photographs there, and the moss mementos And I’ll yield to the flood of your beauty My cheap violin and my cross my guitar and my cross And you’ll carry me down on your dancing To the pools that you lift on your wrist she slit her wrists Oh my love, oh my love Take this waltz, take this waltz It’s yours now. it’s all that there is. all he has to give her is the memory of what they had.

3 0 Reply
Sapphire Woods 01 July 2007

'Take this waltz, take this waltz, take its broken waist in your hands' The above line could represent a relationship once had that is now broken instead of a dance they once did together that ended

1 0 Reply
Susan Williams 18 February 2018

There is such dark genius to his writings that draws me to read and reread this poem... song... this comment on the state of mankind.

0 0 Reply
* Sunprincess * 10 November 2016

...........super nice, a stunning piece of work and honestly in my opinion the poet's best ★

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Fabrizio Frosini 28 November 2015

Leonard Cohen translated Federico Garcia Lorca's ''Pequeno Vals Vienes'' (Little Viennese Waltz) from Spanish to English and made of it a true song, with music.. (see below)

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Fabrizio Frosini 28 November 2015

Here is the original poem in Spanish, by Federico Garcia Lorca (1898-1936) , translated by Leonard Cohen as “Take This Waltz”. ______________________________________ ''Pequeno Vals Vienes'' - (''Little Viennese Waltz'') En Viena hay diez muchachas, un hombro donde solloza la muerte y un bosque de palomas disecadas. Hay un fragmento de la manana en el mueso de la escarcha Hay un salon con mil ventanas Ay, ay, ay, ay, Toma este vals con la boca cerrada Este vals, este vals, este vals, de si, de muerte y de conac que moja su cola en el mar Te quiero, te quiero, te quiero, con la butaca y el libro muerto, por el melancolico pasillo en el oscuro desvan del lirio, en nuestra cama de la luna y en la danza que suena la tortuga. Ay, ay, ay, ay, Toma este vals con la boca cerrada En Viena hay cuatro espejos donde juegan tu boca y los ecos, Hay una muerte para piano, que pinta de azul a los muchachos. Hay mendigos por los tejados Hay frescas guirnaldas de llanto Ay, ay, ay, ay, Toma este vals con la boca cerrada Porque te quiero, te quiero, amor mio, en el desvan donde juegan los ninos, sonando viejas luces de Hungria por los rumores de la tarde tibia, viendo ovejas y lirios de nieve por el silencio oscuro de tu frente. Ay, ay, ay, ay, Toma este vals con la boca cerrada En viena bailare contigo con un disfraz que tenga cabeza de rio. Mira que orillas tengo de jacintos Dejare mi boca entre tus piernas, mi alma en fotografias y azucenas, y en las ondas oscuras de tu andar quiero, amor mio, amor mio, dejar, violin y sepulcro, las cintas del vals. ______________________________________ Lorca lived in New-York City in 1929-1930. There he wrote the collection ''Poeta en Nueva-York'', which includes ''Pequeno Vals Vienes'' (''Little Viennese Waltz'') .

9 0 Reply
Sally Plumb Plumb 17 March 2011

This is a beautiful piece of work.

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