H. L. Fischer (Henry Lee Fischer) was a Pennsylvania German language

Pennsylvania German language

The Pennsylvania German language is a variety of West Central German possibly spoken by more than 250,000 people in North America...

 writer and translator. He was born in what was called the Dutch Settlement in Franklin County

Franklin County, Pennsylvania

As of the census of 2000, there were 129,313 people, 50,633 households, and 36,405 families residing in the county. The population density was 168 people per square mile . There were 53,803 housing units at an average density of 70 per square mile...

, Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

, USA in 1822, and died in 1909. He worked as a teacher and lawyer, and in later years during a siege of illness, wrote a lot of Pennsylvania German language poetry, including the translation of Edgar Allan Poe

Edgar Allan Poe

Edgar Allan Poe was an American author, poet, editor and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective...

's "The Raven

The Raven

"The Raven" is a narrative poem by American writer Edgar Allan Poe, first published in January 1845. It is often noted for its musicality, stylized language, and supernatural atmosphere. It tells of a talking raven's mysterious visit to a distraught lover, tracing the man's slow descent into madness...

", which was published in pamphlet form at his Mapleshade home at York, 1891-07-07.

A few lines from "Der Krab", his translation of "The Raven":

Es war mitternacht un' schaurig,

Ich war schlaf'rig, mud, un traurig

Uewer fiel so alte Bucher

Foll so ganz fergess'ne ne Lehr;

Un' ich hab so halwer g'schlummert -

Hot 's uf e'mol so gebummert -

So wie 's macht wan 's bissel dunnert
-
Das es rappelt an der Dheer;

" 'S isch en B'sucher," sag ich zu mer

Selwert, - "Klopt an meiner Dheer -

Des, allee, isch 's was ich hor."