The Seafarer Songtext
von Stick in the Wheel

Hung about with icicles
Hail flew in showers
There I heard nothing But the roaring sea
The ice-cold wave
At times the swan′s song
I took for myself as pleasure
The gannet's noise
The voice of the curlew
Instead of the laughter of men
The singing gull
Instead of the drinking of mead
Storms there beat the stony cliffs Where the tern spoke
Icy-feathered Always the eagle cried at it
Dewy-feathered
No cheerful kinsman Can comfort The poor soul
Indeed he credits it little
The one who has joys of life
Dwells in the city
Far from terrible journey
Proud and wanton with wine
How I weary often Had to endure In the sea-paths
The shadow of night darkened
It snowed from the north
Frost bound the ground Hail fell on earth
Coldest of grains


He never in his seafaring
Has a worry
Not for him is the sound of the harp
Nor the giving of rings
No worldly glory
Nor anything at all Unless the tossing of waves
Always longing
The cities grow fair
The world seems new
All these things urge on
The eager of spirit
The mind to travel
In one who so thinks To travel far On the paths of sea
So the cuckoo warns With a sad voice
Keeper of song
Bodes a sorrow Grievious in the soul
This the man does not know
The warrior lucky in worldly things
And now my spirit twists Out of my breast
Over the whale′s path
It soars widely over the sea
Comes back Eager and unsated
The lone-flier screams

I do not believe That the riches of the world Will stand forever
And so it is for each man
The praise of the living Of those who speak afterwards
That is the best epitaph
That they should work Before they must be gone
Bravery in the world
Against devils
Daring deeds against the fiend
So that the sons of men Will praise him afterwards
And he lives forever
The days are gone Of all the glory
All that old guard is gone
And the revels are over
The glory is fled
The greybeard laments
He knows that his old friends
Have been given to the earth
A fool is the one who does not fear
Keep faith in men
Keep everything in balance
And be pure in wisdom