The ship went on with solemn face

The ship went on with solemn face;
   To meet the darkness on the deep,
      The solemn ship went onward.
I bowed down weary in the place;
   For parting tears and present sleep
      Had weighed mine eyelids downward.

The new sight, the new wondrous sight!
   The waters around me, turbulent,
      The skies, impassive o'er me,
Calm in a moonless, sunless light,
   As glorified by even the intent
      Of holding the day glory!

Love me, sweet friends, this Sabbath day.
   The sea sings round me while ye roll
      Afar the hymn, unaltered,
And kneel, where once I knelt to pray,
   And bless me deeper in your soul
      Because your voice has faltered.

And though this sabbath comes to me
   Without the stolèd minister,
      And chanting congregation,
God's Spirit shall give comfort. He
   Who brooded soft on waters drear,
      Creator on creation.

He shall assist me to look higher,
He shall assist me to look higher,
   Where keep the saints, with harp and song,
      An endless [endless]1 sabbath morning,
      An endless sabbath morning,
And, on that sea commixed with fire,
And that sea commixed with fire,
   Oft drop their eyelids raised too long
      To the full Godhead's burning.
      The full Godhead's burning.

Translation(s): CAT GER GER ITA

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About the headline (FAQ)

Authorship

• by Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806 - 1861), "A Sabbath on the Sea", appears in The Amaranth, first published 1839, rev. 1850 [ author's text checked 1 time]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive)

• by Edward Elgar, Sir (1857 - 1934), "Sabbath Morning at Sea", op. 37 no. 3, first performed 1899, from Sea Pictures, no. 3. [
   text verified 1 time
  ]

Available translations, adaptations, and transliterations (if applicable):

• GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , title 1: "Sabbatmorgen auf See", copyright © 2004, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• GER German (Deutsch) (Linda Godry) , title 1: "Sabbatmorgen auf See", copyright © 2004, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , title 1: "Mattino di sabato sul mare", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , title 1: "Matí de sàbat al mar", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Text added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.

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Mattino di sabato sul mare

Con fare solenne avanzava la nave
incontro all'oscurità, verso il largo,
solenne procedeva la nave.
Io mi chinavo stanco dove ero rimasto;
Perché le lacrime dell'addio e ora il sonno
mi avevano appesantito le palpebre.

Un nuovo paesaggio, di meraviglioso aspetto!
Le acque , tutt'intorno, agitate,
il cielo, indifferente, là in alto
in una luce calma, non di luna o di sole,
come glorificato dal suo proposito
di contenere lo splendore del giorno.

Amatemi, miei dolci amici, in questo giorno di sabato.
Intorno a me il mare, mentre vi allontana ondeggiando,
sempre eguale e solenne leva il suo canto.
Inginocchiatevi, dove una volta mi inginocchiavo in preghiera,
e beneditemi nel più profondo dell'anima
perché la vostra voce si è fatta fioca.

E sebbene questo sabato si presenti a me
senza sacerdoti in vesti paludate
o canti di fedeli,
lo spirito divino mi darà conforto. Lui
che lieve sovrasta sulle acque cupe,
del creato, creatore.

Lui mi aiuterà a guardare più in alto,
mi aiuterà a guardare più in alto,
là dove i santi, con arpe e con canti,
mantengono un eterno mattino di sabato,
un eterno mattino di sabato,
ma spesso, su questo mare mescolato col fuoco,
su questo mare mescolato col fuoco,
fanno cadere, quelli, lo sguardo troppo a lungo levato,
verso il pieno splendore del volto divino,
il pieno splendore del volto divino.

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Authorship

• Translation from English to Italian (Italiano) copyright © 2010 by Ferdinando Albeggiani, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
  
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• a text in English by Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806 - 1861), "A Sabbath on the Sea", appears in The Amaranth, first published 1839, rev. 1850 CAT GER GER
• This text was set to music by the following composer(s): Edward Elgar, Sir. Go to the text.

Text added to the website: 2010-09-06.
Last modified: 2014-06-16 10:03:59
Line count: 34
Word count: 225