“Die Tage gingen und die Nacht ging auch
Und nichts war anders außer mancherlei”
The days went by, the nights went by as well
I find it interesting that Bertolt Brecht did not write “die Nächte” following “Die Tage”.
I am aware of such a thing as poetic license. But is there something else linguistic there? Is it common to talk or write like that?
That is indeed an interesting question.
As far as I know (German is my native language) there is no common phrase like that. You would say “(die) Tage vergingen” or “Tage und Nächte vergingen”.
My guess is that Brecht is referring to the “Nacht” in a metaphorical sense.
Cheers
Thanks a lot. I like your response.
Ich empfinde es außerdem noch so, dass die Nacht durch Singular zum etwas viel Urweltlicheren und Standhafteren wird. Bertolt Brecht habe ich leider noch nie gelesen, aber den Satz finde ich umwerfend schön!
As this is from one of Brecht’s moments of levity, he will have used the singular simply for the sake of scanning, I fear. (But the metaphorical and/or Urweltlicheren und Standhafteren explanations are brilliant.)
What do you mean here by “scanning”?
p.s. thanks for the kudo 
It is from a song, so the rhythm has to be right, the metre of the line has to fit the rest of the text. I can’t remember the melody, though, and so cannot swear to it that all is well on the poetry front.