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by Friedrich Heinrich Karl, Freiherr de La Motte-Fouqué (1777 - 1843)
Translation © by Michael P Rosewall
Am gewaltigen Meer
Language: German (Deutsch)
Our translations: ENG
Am [gewaltigen]1 Meer In der Mitternacht, Wo der Wogen Heer An die Felsen kracht, Da schau' ich vom [Turme]2 hinaus. Ich erheb' einen Sang Aus [starker]3 Brust Und mische den Klang In die wilde Lust, In die Nacht, in den Sturm, in den Graus. Dringe durch, dringe durch [Recht]4 freudenvoll, Mein Lied, von der Burg In das Sturmgeroll, [Verkünd' es weit]5 durch die Nacht, Wo [schwanket]6 ein Schiff [Durch die]7 Fluth entlang, Wo schwindelt am Riff Des [Wanderers]8 Gang: Daß [oben ein Mensch hier]9 wacht: Ein kräftiger Mann, Recht frisch [bereit]10, Wo er helfen kann, [Zu wenden das]11 Leid Mit [Ruf]12, mit Leuchte, mit Hand. Ist zu schwarz die Nacht, Ist zu fern der Ort, [Da schickt er mit Macht Seine Stimme fort]13 Mit Trost über See und Land. Wer auf Wogen schwebt, [Sehr]14 leck sein [Kahn]15, Wer im Walde bebt, Wo sich Räuber nah'n, Der [denke]16: Gott hilft wohl gleich. Wen das wilde Meer Schon hinunter schlingt, Wem des Räubers Speer In die Hüfte dringt, Der [denkt' an das]17 Himmelreich.
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)Confirmed with Geschichte der deutschen Literatur mit ausgewählten Stücken aus den Werken der vorzüglichsten Schriftsteller von Heinrich Kurz, Dritter Band, Leipzig, Druck und Verlag von V. G. Teubner, 1859, page 189.
1 Banck: "gewalt'gen"2 Banck: "Turm"
3 Banck: "voller"
4 Banck: "So"
5 Banck: "Verkünd' es laut"; Reinecke: "Verkünde es weit"
6 Gade: "wanket"; Reinecke: "da wanket"
7 Reinecke: "Die"
8 Banck, Reinecke: "Wand'rers"
9 Banck: "hier oben ein Mensch noch"
10 Reinecke: "und bereit"
11 Gade: "Abzuwenden"
12 Reinecke: "Rufen"
13 Reinecke: "Da schickt micht Macht/ Seine Stimme er fort"
14 Banck: "Schon"
15 Reinecke: "schwacher Kahn"
16 Banck: "denkt"
17 Banck: "denk' an das"; Reinecke: "denke ans"
Text Authorship:
- by Friedrich Heinrich Karl, Freiherr de La Motte-Fouqué (1777 - 1843) [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 Carl Banck (1809 - 1889), "Turmwächters Lied", op. 12 (Sieben Lieder und Gesänge) no. 4 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Waldemar Edler von Baußnern (1866 - 1931), "Turmwächterlied", op. 3 (Für Bass) no. 16 [ bass, piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Erna Becker-Ernst (1885 - 1945), "Turmwächters Lied", 1916 [ baritone and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Karl Blank , "Am gewaltigen Meer in der Mitternacht", op. 12 no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Niels Wilhelm Gade (1817 - 1890), "Turmwächterlied", op. 33 (5 Lieder für Männerchor. 4tes Heft) no. 2 (1858), published 1858 [ men's chorus ], Leipzig, Breitkopf und Härtel [sung text checked 1 time]
- by I. Hindenburg , "Turmwächterlied" [sung text not yet checked]
- by Conradin Kreutzer (1780 - 1849), "Am gewaltigen Meer in der Mitternacht", op. 98 no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Friedrich Kriegeskotten , "Turmwacht", op. 54 [ SATB chorus ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Vinzenz Lachner (1811 - 1893), "Turmwächterlied", op. 76 [ men's chorus ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Carl Lafite (1872 - 1944), "Turmwächters Lied", op. 39 [ men's chorus and orchestra ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Julius Matthes , "Thurmwächterlied", published 1886 [ bass and piano ], from Kompositionen für Gesang. Heft 4. Vier Lieder für Bass mit Pianoforte, no. 2, Berlin, Annecke [sung text not yet checked]
- by Carl Borromäus von Militz (1781 - 1845), "Am gewaltigen Meer", S. 14 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Hans Georg Nägeli (1773 - 1836), "Der Sänger am Limmat", op. 1 no. 22 [sung text not yet checked]
- by F. Rathmann , "Am gewaltigen Meer", from Zwei Lieder, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Karl Heinrich Carsten Reinecke (1824 - 1910), "Thurmwächter-Lied", op. 27 (Sechs Lieder umd Gesänge) no. 3 (1850) [ baritone or bass and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Wilhelm Heinrich Riehl (1823 - 1897), "Turmwächterlied" [ voice, piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Hans Schläger (1820 - 1885), "Thürmerlied", published 1865 [ baritone solo and vocal quartet for male voices a cappella ], from 3 Lieder für 4 Männerstimme, no. 1, Wien, Haslinger [sung text not yet checked]
- by Carl Julius Schmidt (1851 - 1917), "Thurmwächterlied", op. 2 (Vier Lieder für vierstimmigen Männerchor) no. 1, published 1878 [ four-part men's chorus a cappella ], Leipzig, Breitkopf & Härtel [sung text not yet checked]
- by Johann Hugo Christian Ludwig Herkules Staehle (1826 - 1848), "Turmwächterlied", op. 5 no. 4, published 1849 [ baritone or bass and piano ], from Sechs Lieder für Bariton (oder Bass) mit Pianoforte, no. 4, Cassel, Luckhardt [sung text not yet checked]
- by Paul Umlauft (1853 - 1934), "Thurmwächterlied", op. 20 no. 1, published 1891 [ men's chorus ], from Sechs Gesänge für Männerchor, no. 1, Leipzig, Kistner [sung text not yet checked]
- by Heinrich Weidt (1824 - 1901), "Turmwächters Lied", op. 85 [ bass, piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Michael P Rosewall) , copyright © 2022, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Johann Winkler
This text was added to the website: 2005-11-24
Line count: 40
Word count: 171
Beside the mighty ocean
Language: English after the German (Deutsch)
Beside the mighty ocean, At midnight, Where ranks of waves Crash against the rocks, I look out from the tower. I call up a song From my muscled breast And hurl the sound Into the wild tumult, Into the night, the storm, the terror. Break through, break through, Oh, so joyfully, My song, from out of the castle Into the gale of the storm, Proclaiming far into the night, Where a ship pitches Amidst the tides, To where, churning against the reef The course of the adventurer runs: That here, above, a man keeps watch: A powerful man, Fresh and truly ready, Where he can help To allay the distress With a call, with a lantern, with a hand. The night is too black, The place is too distant, So, with power He casts forth his voice With reassurance across sea and land. He who sways upon the waves, In a leaking boat, He who quivers in the woods, As a robber draws near, He will think: God will indeed help me. When the wild ocean Is already eddying downward, When the bandit’s spear Has pierced his hip, He will think about the kingdom of heaven.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2022 by Michael P Rosewall, (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 Friedrich Heinrich Karl, Freiherr de La Motte-Fouqué (1777 - 1843)
This text was added to the website: 2022-07-12
Line count: 40
Word count: 196