British Diana (asker) Nov 2, 2010:

Qual der Wahl It was pretty tough deciding between all these great possibilities. In the end I had to reject those which did not roughly follow the structure of the original and those which were too imaginative ("arbitrary addition of adjectives"). And then some had a (for me..) crucial element missing if they did not convey the "element of encouraging/beginning" enough.
Thank you all for your help!

British Diana (asker) Nov 1, 2010:

@Helen What I am looking for is exactly what you say, "something along the lines of the German that will work well as the caption of the picture." Thus it COULD be a non-literal translation. HOWEVER, when the calender is printed, both versions (German + English)are included, each on a separate line of a two-line caption above the picture.
As some of the people who look at the calender will know both languages and might start comparing the two, I don't want to stray unnecessarily from the original.
As far as the length is concerned, it does of course look better if the English is roughly the same length. Last year the German was shorter in 5 cases and the English in 7.

Sorry, I should have told you all this earlier on.

Lancashireman Oct 31, 2010:

Syllables? Who's counting, Phil? But I agree with you on the arbitrary addition of adjectives.

Helen Shiner Oct 31, 2010:

@ philgoddard I guess it all depends on whether BD is looking for a translation or something along the lines of the German that will work well as the caption to a picture.

Annett Kottek (X) Oct 31, 2010:

Yes, but it still doesn't sing to me . . . .

philgoddard Oct 31, 2010:

That's why I suggested "When the light plays, the shadows dance", which actually has fewer syllables than the (as you point out) light-footed German.

Annett Kottek (X) Oct 31, 2010:

@ philgoddard Agree - - but don't you think that 'when the light begins to play, the shadows dance' sounds a little cumbersome in comparison to the German expression, which is much more light-footed? And 'aufspielen' itself has festive connotations.

philgoddard Oct 31, 2010:

I think many of these suggestions are too over the top and too far away from the German. it doesn't say anything about "sweet" or "soft" or "shimmering" or "melodies" - it just says "when the light plays, the shadows dance".

British Diana (asker) Oct 31, 2010:

Amazing! All these lovely, poetic suggestions and so quickly, too! TAL
Please enter your proposals, Annett and Helen, and your addition, pillee, so that people can give their Agrees.

phillee Oct 31, 2010:

Oh well ... The shadows begin to dance to the tune of shimmering (rays of) light

Helen Shiner Oct 31, 2010:

Or When melodies of light cause shadows to dance...

Helen Shiner Oct 31, 2010:

@ Annett That's lovely. 'When the sweet/soft play of light....'

Annett Kottek (X) Oct 31, 2010:

Tall order indeed! How about 'The sweet play of light calls the shadows to dance' - - or is that too crazy?