Dawlish, Aug. 16. 1851.
_Wolken Zug, English Term corresponding to._--Coleridge (_Death of
Wallenstein_, Act V. Sc. 1.) gives the lines--
"Fast fly the clouds, the sickle of the moon
Struggling, darts snatches of uncertain light."
as a translation of
"---- schnell geht
Der Wolken Zug: die Mondessichel wankt
Und durch die Nacht zuckt ungewisse Helle."
In a note on this passage he says:
"The words _wanken_ and _schweben_ are not easily translated. The
English words by which we attempt to render them are either vulgar
or pedantic, or not of sufficiently general application. So 'der
Wolken Zug,' the draft, the procession of clouds, the masses of
the clouds sweep onward in swift _stream_."
On reading this, it struck me that the English word _rack_ exactly
expresses the meaning of "der Wolken Zug."
Malone, in his note on the _Tempest_, Act IV. Sc. 1., says:
"_Rack_ is generally used for a _body of clouds_, or rather for
_the course of clouds in motion_."
I add a few instances of the use of this word, many of which are
collected in the note I have referred to.