The air is grey and grey the sea

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by Emanuel von Geibel (1815 - 1884)

Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Die Luft ist grau und grau das Meer

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG

Die Luft ist grau und grau das Meer,
Der Wind fegt pfeifend drüber her,
Die Möwe kreischt, die Brandung wallt, --
Wie ward mein Herz so sterbensalt!
  Traurig rinnen die Tage.

Wohl hab' ich andre Zeit gekannt,
Wir fuhren im Nachen, Hand in Hand,
Das Meer war blau, die Sonne schien,
Ich sah und wußte nichts als ihn;
  Selig waren die Tage.

Nun liegt der Kahn und fault am Strand,
Er aber ging ins fremde Land,
Er ging, ein hohes Weib zu frein, --
Gott geb' ihm Glück! Das Leid ist mein.
  Traurig rinnen die Tage.

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• W. Courvoisier • R. Steuer

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Confirmed with Emanuel Geibel, Spätherbstblätter, Stuttgart: Verlag der J.G. Cotta’schen Buchhandlung, 1877, page 221

Text Authorship:

by Emanuel von Geibel (1815 - 1884), "Nordisch", appears in Spätherbstblätter, in Nachlese älterer Gedichte, in Zwei Mädchenlieder, no. 2 [author's text checked 2 times against a primary source]

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Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Sharon Krebs [Senior Associate Editor], Johann Winkler

This text was added to the website: 2011-08-03
Line count: 15
Word count: 96

The air is grey and grey the sea

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Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

The air is grey and grey the sea,
Whistling, the wind sweeps across it,
The seagull screams, the waves surge, --
How my heart has become so aged with death!
  The days flow by sadly.

Truly I knew another time,
We floated in a barque, hand in hand,
The sea was blue, the sun shone,
I saw and knew nothing but him;
  Blissful were the days.

Now the barque lies moldering on the shore,
But he went into a foreign land,
He went to court a woman of high station, --
May God give him joy! The sorrow is mine.
  The days flow by sadly.

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Translations of title(s):
"Die Luft ist grau" = "The air is grey"
"Traurig rinnen die Tage" = "The days flow sadly"
"Nordisch" = "Nordic"
"Verlassen" = "Forsaken"
"November" = "November"
"Nordisches Mädchenlied" = "Nordic song of a maiden"
"Mädchenlied" = "Song of a maiden"

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2017 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.
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Based on:

a text in German (Deutsch) by Emanuel von Geibel (1815 - 1884), "Nordisch", appears in Spätherbstblätter, in Nachlese älterer Gedichte, in Zwei Mädchenlieder, no. 2
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This text was added to the website: 2017-11-04
Line count: 15
Word count: 105