Floods and tides

Eduard Gurk, Leopoldstadt, Vienna, 2nd March 1830
Eduard Gurk, Leopoldstadt, Vienna, 2nd March 1830

Sanfte Ebb' und hohe Flut 
Tief im Mut, 
Wandr' ich so im Dunkeln weiter;
Steige mutig, singe heiter, 
Und die Welt erscheint mir gut. 

Gentle ebb and high tide,
Deep in courage,
This is how I travel on in the darkness,
I climb courageously, I sing cheerfully,
And the world appears to me to be good.

Friedrich von Schlegel, Der Wanderer	D 649

Mein Herz gleicht ganz dem Meere,
Hat Sturm und Ebb' und Flut,
Und manche schöne Perle
In seiner Tiefe ruht.

My heart is just like the sea,
It has storms, it ebbs and flows,
And lots of beautiful pearls
Are resting in its depths.

Heine, Das Fischermädchen	D 957 10

These patterns are both predictable and chaotic. The ocean tides ebb and flood in accordance with the motions of the moon and the earth, but other variables might lead to extreme events such as ‘tidal waves’, tsunamis or catastrophic flooding. The German word ‘Flut’ (plural ‘Fluten’) appears to be related directly to the English word ‘flood’ but it has a wider range of both denotation and connotation.

Only three of the Schubert song texts which include the word ‘Flut’ appear to involve people dying in, or being rescued from, floods: Johanna Sebus (D 728), Am See (D 124) Das war ich (D 174). However, in Adelaide, where a river overflows its banks the atmosphere is less alarming: her image is reflected in gentle flooded water meadows (D 95).

The word ‘Flut’ might refer to raging, turbulent waters or to calmly flowing streams.

Still beginnt's im Hain zu tauen; 
Ruhig webt der Dämmrung Grauen 
     Durch die Glut 
     Sanfter Flut

Dew is quietly beginning to settle in the grove;
The grey of dusk is calmly weaving its way
Through the glow
On the gentle waters

Silbert, Abendbilder	D 650

Und es wallet und siedet und brauset und zischt,
Wie wenn Wasser mit Feuer sich mengt,
Bis zum Himmel spritzet der dampfende Gischt,
Und Flut auf Flut sich ohn' Ende drängt

And there is surging, boiling, roaring and sizzling
As when water and fire are mixed,
The steaming spray splashes up to the sky
And flood surges over flood endlessly

Schiller, Der Taucher		D 77, D 111

In some contexts the word ‘Fluten’ could denote ‘high tide’, as in Kosegarten’s Der Abend, where the full moon rises over the sea:

Nacht hüllt den Strand,
Temora schwand.
Verlodert sind des Spätrots Gluten.
Das Weltmeer grollt,
Und glutrot rollt
Der Vollmond aus den düstern Fluten.

Night covers the coast,
Temora has disappeared,
The sparks of the late sunset have flared and died.
The ocean grumbles,
And glowing red, rolling
Out of the gloomy floods, rises the full moon.

Kosegarten, Der Abend	D 221

However, elsewhere the same word has connotations of freedom, in contrast with the predictability of the tides, as in Schlechta’s ‘fisherman’s song’,

Doch wer ein Netz will stellen
Braucht Augen klar und gut,
Muss heiter gleich den Wellen
Und frei sein wie die Flut

But anyone who wants to set a net
Needs good clear eyes;
They have to be as jolly as the waves
And as free as the flowing water.

Schlechta, Fischerweise	D 881

The speaker in Leitner’s Drang in die Ferne (Urge to go far away) similarly uses the word ‘Flut’ in connection with freedom. His paternal valley in the Alps becomes too constricting for him and as he looks at the clouds scudding past and the flowing stream (Flut) he longs for escape.

Ach! von Gewölk und Flut 
Hat auch mein wildes Blut 
Heimlich geerbt den Drang, 
Stürmet die Welt entlang. 

Vaterlands Felsental 
Wird mir zu eng, zu schmal; 
Denn meiner Sehnsucht Traum 
Findet darin nicht Raum.  

Oh! From the clouds and the flowing waters
My wild blood has also 
Secretly inherited that urge
To storm through the world!

My fatherland's valley enclosed by cliffs
Is becoming too narrow for me, too constricted;
For my dreams of longing
Cannot find any space within it.

Leitner, Drang in die Ferne	D 770

Such flowing waters (Fluten) can be threatening (as in the Alpine waterfalls in Goethe’s Mignon) or propitious (as in the high waters or flood tides which allow mariners to come safe to harbour in Matthisson’s Lebenslied).

Kennst du den Berg und seinen Wolkensteg?
Das Maultier sucht im Nebel seinen Weg,
In Höhlen wohnt der Drachen alte Brut,
Es stürzt der Fels und über ihn die Flut?

In the mist the mule is trying to find its way;
The dragon's old brood lives in caves;
The cliff falls away and above it there is raging water.

Goethe, Mignon (Kennst du das Land?)	D 321


Günstige Fluten 
Tragen die Guten, 
Fördern die Braven 
Sicher zum Hafen, 
Und, ein harmonisch verklingendes Lied, 
Schließt sich das Leben dem edlen Gemüt!  

Propitious tides
Carry those who are good,
They support those who are worthy,
Taking them safely into harbour,
And, in the form of a harmonious, fading song,
Life comes to a close for those who are noble in spirit!

Matthisson, Lebenslied	D 508, D Anh. I, 23

In English, metaphorical floods tend to refer to negative experiences (being in floods of tears; opening the floodgates to all sorts of unintented consequences etc), but in many German poems floods are presented more positively:

So in Wonne werd ich untergehen,
Süß verschlungen von der Freude Fluten.

I shall thus pass away in bliss,
Sweetly swallowed up in floods of joy.

Schober, Todesmusik		D 758

Noch einmal tön, o Harfe, 
Die nur Gefühle tönt,
Verhalle zart und leise 
Noch jene Schwanenweise, 
Die auf der Flut des Lebens 
Uns mit der Not versöhnt.

Sound once more, oh harp,
You who only give sound to feelings!
Let it die away tenderly and gently
Once more, that swan-song
Which, on the flood of life
Reconciles us with necessity!

Salis-Seewis, Abschied von der Harfe	D 406

Nevertheless, the term ‘Fluten’ can also refer to the inner turbulence of conflicting human emotions. This is particularly the case in the poetry of Ernst Schulze, where it is often not at all clear if there is any boundary between outer and inner reality.

Ich bin von aller Ruh geschieden
Ich treib umher auf wilder Flut;
An einem Ort nur find' ich Frieden,
Das ist der Ort, wo alles ruht.
Und wenn die Wind' auch schaurig sausen,
Und kalt der Regen niederfällt,
Doch will ich dort viel lieber hausen,
Als in der unbeständ'gen Welt.

I have been cut off from all rest,
I am being tossed about on a savage flood;
There is only one spot where I can find peace,
That is the spot where everything is at rest.
And even if the wind roars dreadfully
And cold rain is pouring down,
I would much rather settle there
Than in this inconstant world.

Schulze, Im Jänner 1817 (Tiefes Leid)	D 876

Hier ist Hölle nicht, noch Himmel,
Weder Frost ist hier, noch Glut,
Auf ins feindliche Getümmel,
Rüstig weiter durch die Flut.
 
    Dass noch einmal Wunsch und Wagen,
Zorn und Liebe, Wohl und Weh
Ihre Wellen um mich schlagen
Auf des Lebens wilder See,
Und ich kühn im tapfern Streite
Mit dem Strom, der mich entrafft,
Selber meinen Nachen leite,
Freudig in geprüfter Kraft.

Here is neither hell nor heaven,
There is neither frost nor flame here!
Up into the enemy turmoil,
Confidently pressing on through the flood!

Let them come again - desire and daring,
Rage and love, ecstasy and misery -
Let their waves beat around me
On the savage sea of life;
And I shall be bold in the courageous struggle
With the stream that is engulfing me,
I shall guide my boat myself
Joyfully using my well-tested strength.

Schulze, Lebensmut	D 883

☙

Descendant of: 

WATER  


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