The seagull | High in the air the seagull soars

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by Anna (Nuhn) Ritter (1865 - 1921)

Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Die Möve

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG FRE

In hoher Luft die Möve zieht
Auf einsam stolzen Wegen, 
Sie wirft mit todesmuth'ger Brust 
Dem Sturme sich entgegen.

Er rüttelt sie, er zerrt an ihr
In grausam wildem Spiele --
Sie weicht ihm nicht, sie ringt sich durch,
Gradaus, gradaus zum Ziele.

O laß mich wie die Möve sein,
Wie auch der Sturm mich quäle,
Nach hohem Ziel, durch Kampf und Noth:
Gradaus, gradaus, o Seele!

Note: [sic] for the word "Möve"

Confirmed with Anna Ritter, Gedichte, Neunte Auflage, Stuttgart: J.G. Cotta'sche Buchhandlung Nachfolger, 1900, page 76.

Text Authorship:

by Anna (Nuhn) Ritter (1865 - 1921), "Die Möve", appears in Gedichte, in 2. Vermischte Gedichte, 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 Gerardus Hubertus Galenus von Brucken Fock (1859 - 1935), "Die Möve", subtitle: "Amsterdam: De Nieuwe Muziekhandel", op. 18 (14 Lieder für Sopran und Pianoforte) no. 1, published 1907 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]

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

ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "The seagull", copyright © 2019, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Le goéland", copyright © 2019, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2019-05-09
Line count: 12
Word count: 66

The seagull

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

High in the air the seagull soars
Upon lonely, proud routes,
With death-defying courage
It launches itself into the storm.

The storm shakes it, wrenches it
In cruelly wild play --
[The seagull] does not retreat before [the storm], it fights its way through,
Straight ahead, straight ahead to the goal.

Oh let me be like the seagull,
However much the storm may torture me;
Toward the lofty goal, through battle and suffering:
Straight ahead, straight ahead, oh my soul.

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.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

a text in German (Deutsch) by Anna (Nuhn) Ritter (1865 - 1921), "Die Möve", appears in Gedichte, in 2. Vermischte Gedichte, no. 6
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2019-11-12
Line count: 12
Word count: 79