I never saw a moor,
I never saw the sea;
Yet know I how the heather looks,
And what a wave must be.
I never spoke with God,
Nor visited in heaven;
Yet certain am I of the spot
As if the chart were given.
About the headline (FAQ)
Authorship:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Ronald A. Beckett , "I never saw a moor", from My Letter to the world, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Leonard Berkowitz (b. 1926), "I never saw a moor", published 1968 [ SATB chorus a cappella ], from Four Songs on Poems of Emily Dickinson, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Arthur Farwell (1872 - 1952), "I never saw a moor", op. 105 no. 5 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Isadore Freed (1900 - 1960), "Chartless", published 1946 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Helen Sewall Leavitt (1880/90 - ?), "Chartless" [sung text not yet checked]
- by Robert Muczynski (1929 - 2010), "I never saw a moor" [ SATB chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by John Charles Sacco (1905 - 1987), "Revelation", published 1941 [ high voice, piano ], from Three Songs [sung text not yet checked]
- by Richard Pearson Thomas (b. 1957), "I never saw a moor" [ voice and piano ], from At last, to be identified, no. 4, confirmed with a concert program [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Adolf Weiss (1891 - 1971), "Chartless", 1928, published c1930 [ soprano and string quartet ], from Seven Songs for Soprano and String Quartet, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Walter A. Aue) , copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Mai vidi una brughiera", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [
Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 8
Word count: 45
Ich sah noch nie ein Moor,
sah auch das Meer noch nie,
doch weiß ich von der Heide Flor
und von der Wogen Spiel.
Ich sprach noch nie mit Gott,
war nie bei ihm zu Gast;
doch bin ich mir des Orts gewiss,
als wäre er erfasst.