I want the storm! | I want the storm that with its giant fists

Attention! Some of this material is not in the public domain.

It is illegal to copy and distribute our copyright-protected material without permission. It is also illegal to reprint copyright texts or translations without the name of the author or translator.

To inquire about permissions and rates, contact Emily Ezust at licenses@email.lieder.example.net

If you wish to reprint translations, please make sure you include the names of the translators in your email. They are below each translation.

Note: You must use the copyright symbol © when you reprint copyright-protected material.

by Anna (Nuhn) Ritter (1865 - 1921)

Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Ich will den Sturm

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG

Ich will den Sturm, der [mit den]¹ Riesenfäusten
Vom Boden der Alltäglichkeit mich reißt 
Und mich hinauf in jene Höhen schleudert,
Wo erst das Leben wahrhaft Leben heißt!

Ich will den Sturm, der mit gewaltigem Athem
Zur lichten Gluth die stillen Funken schürt
Und alle Kräfte dieser Brust entfesselnd,
Zum Siege oder zur Vernichtung führt. 

Laß mich nicht sterben, Gott, eh' meine Seele
Ein einzig Mal in Siegeslust gebebt --
Ich kann nicht ruhig in der Erde schlafen, 
Eh' ich nicht einmal, nicht einmal ganz gelebt!

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• B. Wegener-Koopman

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Anna Ritter, Befreiung. Neue Gedichte, Fünfte Auflage, Stuttgart: J.G. Cotta'sche Buchhandlung Nachfolger, 1900, page 232.

¹ Wegener-Koopman: "mit"

Text Authorship:

by Anna (Nuhn) Ritter (1865 - 1921), "Ich will den Sturm!", appears in Befreiung. Neue Gedichte, in 7. Vom Sturm, no. 6 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

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

by Bertha Frensel Wegener-Koopman (1874 - 1953), "Ich will den Sturm", published 1909, from Acht Lieder, no. 8 [sung text checked 1 time]

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

ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "I want the storm!", copyright © 2023, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this page: John Versmoren , Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 86

I want the storm!

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

I want the storm that with its giant fists
Rips me away from the everyday
And flings me up to those heights
Where life truly means life!

I want the storm that with tremendous breath
Fans the quiet sparks to a bright blaze
And, unlocking all the powers of this my breast,
Leads either to victory or to annihilation.

Let me not die, God, ere my soul
For one single moment has trembled in the joy of victory --
I cannot sleep quietly in the earth
Until I have just once, just once lived utterly!

View original text (without footnotes)
¹ Wegener-Koopman: "with"

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2023 by Sharon Krebs, (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.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

a text in German (Deutsch) by Anna (Nuhn) Ritter (1865 - 1921), "Ich will den Sturm!", appears in Befreiung. Neue Gedichte, in 7. Vom Sturm, no. 6
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2023-11-07
Line count: 12
Word count: 94