Found for us by Timo Gälzer:
„what the sea swallowed,
time devoured the pain
the sea remains forever.“
„The best books are not the ones that fill us up, but the ones that make us hungry, hungry for life.“
„Ships only strand on rocks that God created.“
„The dead are not dead, they go with us, they are only invisible, their steps are inaudible.“
I shared the information about this hitherto unknown German WW1 poet with AC Benus* and he has very kindly translated some of Gorch’s poems for us. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I have. Thank you so much Timo and AC.
From 1907, Johan worked for the shipping line Hamburg-America in Hamburg. In 1908, Johan married Rosa Elisabeth Reich and the couple had three children.
During the First World War, Johan was drafted into the German Infantry in 1915. He fought in Serbia and Russia and was later at Verdun. In 1916, he requested a transfer to the German Navy and served as a Lookout on the light cruiser WMS Wiesbaden. Johan died when the ship was sunk during the Battle of Jutland on 31st May 1916. His body was washed up on the Swedish Island of Väderöbod and he was buried on the Island of Stensholmen with 2 British and 13 German sailors who died during the Battle. Johan’s body was recognised because he was carrying a poem entitled "Letzter Wunsch", which predicted his death. It was contained in a hermetically sealed box in his pocket.
The German Navy named two training ships in his honour, the Gorch Fock of the Kriegsmarine and the Gorch Fock of the Deutsche Marine. Gorch-Fock-Wall on the Hamburg Wallring is also named after him.
Works by Gorch Fock:
1910 Schullengrieper und Tungenkrieper
1911 Hein Godenwind
1913 Hamborger Janmaten
1913 Seefahrt ist Not! (ISBN 3-499-14148-5)
1914 Fahrensleute
1914 Cilli Cohrs (a play)
1914 Doggerbank (a play)
1914–15 War poems in Plattdüütsch
1918 Sterne überm Meer (Diary notes and poems, published posthumously)
1918 Sterne überm Meer (Diary notes and poems, published posthumously)
Here are some of Gorch's poems from "Sterne überm Meer" - translated by AC Benus:
p. 104
Segle, Herz, mit allen Winden,
wirft nicht deinen Hafen finden.
Hafen? Was soll dir der Hafen?
Legtest dich nur hin zum Schlafen!
Segle, Herz, mit allen Winden!
Sail, heart, with every wind you find,
Heave not for the port you left behind.
Harbour? What harbour's meant for you?
Just lay you down to sleep, dear crew.
Sail, heart, with every wind you find!
p. 174
Galizien
Das erste Kriegergrab am Wegesrand,
wir stehen mit den Müßen in der Hand.
Ob Freund, ob Feind der Tote, der da liegt,
ein Blumenstrauß doch auf den Hügel fliegt.
Im Westen glimmt ein tiefes Abendrot;
wir grüßen ernst und feierlich den Tod!
Dann heult der Zug und es geht rußlandwärts . . .
Bleibst wie du warst, bleibst tapfer, du mein Herz!
Galicia
At the first warrior-grave by the wayside,
We stand with our kit and guts in our hands.
Whether for friend or foe who lies there dead,
a run of flowers flies up the hillsides.
The deep of evening smolders in the west;
we salute death gravely and solemnly.
Then the train wails, we're off towards Russia . . .
Stay as you were, my heart, be strong!
Mein junger Leutnant
Meinen jungen Leutnant sah ich lachen
mit den Augen eines Liliencron;
eine Zigarette schief im Munde,
war ihm jeder Landsturmmann ein Sohn.
Meinen jungen Leutnant sah ich gehen
in den Schüßengräben hin und her.
Kugelhagel. Gab er auf das Lachen?
Strich er seine Flagge? Nimmermehr!
Meinen jungen Leutnant sah ich stürmen,
in der Faust den weißen, blanken Stahl;
zwar die Zigarette flog zu Boden,
doch er lachte trotzig siebenmal.
Meinen jungen Leutnant sah ich fallen,
eine Russenkugel traf fein Herz.
„Weiter!" -- hörte ich ihn lachend rufen,
eisern zwang er nieder seinen Schmerz.
Meinen jungen Leutnant seh’ ich liegen
unter Birken fern im Polenland.
Blumen lachen leuchtend auf dem Hügel;
ladend grüß' ich meinen Leutenant.
Oder soll ich um den Leutnant weinen?
Nein, mein Herz! Er hatte unsern Sinn --
denn wir lachen auch in allen Stürmen,
geben auch das Leben lachend hin!
Vor Brest-Litowsk (16. 8. 1915)
My Young Lieutenant
I have seen my young lieutenant laughing
with the bright eyes of a lyric poet;
a cigarette lightly crooked in his mouth,
with every foot-soldier seeming his son.
I have seen my young lieutenant pacing
back and forth within the dug-out trenches.
Hail of bullets. Did he cease his laughter?
Did he hoist surrender? No, not ever!
I have seen my young lieutenant storming
with white steel gripped in his white-knuckled fist,
and though the cigarette flew in the dirt,
He chuckled defiantly seven times.
I have seen my young lieutenant falling,
a Russian bullet ripped through his chest.
"Forward!" -- I heard him shout beneath laughter,
forced down by pain, though his heart were iron.
I still see my young lieutenant lying
in far-off Poland, beneath the birch trees.
Now laugh flowers brightly upon his hill;
I hail my lieutenant with a salute.
Or, is it for him I should be crying?
No, heart of mine, for he took our measure --
so that we may chuckle through every storm,
and give up our lives laughingly, like him.
Near Brest-Litovsk (16. 8. 1915)
From "Sterne überm Meer" (Diary notes and poems)
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The Battle of Jutland Battle, or the Battle of the Skagerrak, as it was known to the Germans, was the largest naval battle of the First World War. It was fought from 31st May to 1st June 1916 between British and German battleships in the North Sea.
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| German sail training ship Gorch Fock |
*AC Benus is the author of a book about German WW1 poet Hans Ehrenbaum-Degele : “The Thousandth Regiment: A Translation of and Commentary on Hans Ehrenbaum-Degele’s War Poems” by AC Benus (AC Benus, San Francisco, 2020). Along with Hans's story, the book includes original poems as well as translations. ISBN: 978-1657220584
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1657220583
Sources:
https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/what-was-the-battle-of-jutland
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorch_Fock_(author)
https://www.reddit.com/r/europe/comments/5w5geo/gorch_fock_german_navy_training_ship/
