by Anna (Nuhn) Ritter (1865 - 1921)
Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Sturmeswerben
Language: German (Deutsch) 
Our translations:  ENG FRE
Hei, wie er tobt!
Wie er die nackten,
Sehnigen Schultern
Wild an die zitternden Scheiben stemmt.
Wie er ruft,
Wie er lockt!
   Auf dem Tische das Flämmchen
   Huscht hin und her,
   Als ob es gescheucht,
   Verängstigt wär,
   Und die Rose im Glase
   Strömt schweren Duft
   In die dumpfe,
   Brütende Kammerluft.
Was willst du von mir,
Du trotz'ger Geselle?
Was schaust du mit irren,
Glühenden Augen
In meine einsame
Kammer hinein?
Dein soll ich sein,
Mit dir wandern?
   Wohl thät ich's gern,
   Denn mein Blut ist heiß,
   Doch will ich dir sagen,
   Was Keiner weiß:
   In Liebe bin ich
   Und süßer Noth,
   In Sehnsucht, Jubel.
   In Lust und Tod --
      Eines Andern!

Confirmed with Anna Ritter, Gedichte, Neunte Auflage, Stuttgart: J.G. Cotta'sche Buchhandlung Nachfolger, 1900, pages 74-75.


Text Authorship:

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

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

  • ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "The wooing of the storm", copyright © 2019, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "La cour de l'ouragan", copyright © 2019, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2011-07-10
Line count: 31
Word count: 110

The wooing of the storm
Language: English  after the German (Deutsch) 
Ho, how he clamours!
How he wildly braces
His naked, sinewy shoulders
Against the trembling windowpanes.
How he calls,
How he entices!
  Upon the table the little flame
  Flutters back and forth,
  As if it were startled,
  Frightened,
  And the rose in the vase
  Pours forth heavy scent
  Into the dull,
  Brooding air of the chamber.
What do you want of me,
You froward fellow?
Why, with your 
Insane, glowing eyes, 
Do you peer
Into my lonely chamber?
I am to be yours,
I am to wander with you?
  I would gladly do it,
  For my blood is heated,
  But I shall tell you
  What no one knows:
  In love and
  In sweet distress,
  In yearning, rejoicing.
  In passion and death --
  I belong to another!


Text Authorship:

  • Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2019 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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This text was added to the website: 2019-06-19
Line count: 31
Word count: 126