Émile Storck
1899-1973, Guebwiller (F)
Émile Storck (* 22 November 1899 – 9 November 1973) lived in Guebwiller (Alsace). He was a poet and writer.
He is the author of books of poetry and theater-plays, written in Alsatian.
And here is the translation of the text:
Language
Every people has the language it deserves,
And if it does not draw strength from its poets,
its own language becomes doughy and fades away ...
like an apple in the winter snow.
Life and Work
Émile Storck was born in 1899 as the 7th child in a family of 10 children in Guebwiller. At the age of 17 he attended the teacher training seminar in Colmar (held in German). But the war interrupted his teacher training abruptly. At the age of 18 he was drafted.
After the end of the war his homeland belonged to France again. Thus he completed his primary teacher training in French. After teaching at a primary school for a few years, he continued his education and was able to teach at a grammar school after his state examination. In 1949, he entered the service of the Ecole Normale (teacher training college) in Guebwiller.
From now on, parallel to his pedagogical mission as an instructor, he would wander through the landscapes of the Flower Valley (Florival) and the High Vosges, capturing their beauty and mood and putting them down on paper in poetry.
In 1954, "Der goldig Wаage" (The Golden Chariot) was published by Alsatia 1, a dramatic poem in five pictures, inspired by a legend from the Vosges. In the prologue, Storck wrote a kind of manifesto for the Alsatian language:
Der Dìchter glàuibt, dàss unseri Sproch so gschèit
wie jedi Schrìftsproch ìsch fer аlles sàge,
àui wenn sie nìt ìn d’eint oder d’ànder kèit.
Der eige Geischt ìsch stàrk gnüe fer sie tràge.
(The poet believes that our language, Alsatian,
is as capable as any written language
to express everything.
One's own spirit is strong enough to sustain it)
In 1957 "Melodie uf der Pаn-Fleet" (The melody on the pan flute) was published and in 1962 "Lieder vu Sunne un Schatte" (Songs of sun and shadows).
Émile Storck was rather shy and introverted. This is probably the reason for his receiving little recognition during his lifetime and having to publish his works at his own expense. He writes:
ìch hàn mìch mìt de Mensche nie vertrait.
Dàs ìsch nìt ìmmer vu mìr kumme (...)
Un wil ìch mìch hàlt nie hà kenne bucke,
hàn ìch mìch igmürt ìn mi eigne ìch.
(I didn't mix well with other people.
But it was not always my fault.
And because I was not willing to buckle,
I walled myself up in my own self.)
Thanks to the Émile Storck Circle, founded in 2000, this great master of Alsatian poetry has been brought back to poetic light. The bilingual collection of his poems, with important dialect authors collaborating for the French translations, is today the best testimony to his uniqueness; as well as the fact that he has found his place on all poets' paths in Alsace.
Literary work
I. Poems
MELODIE UF DE PANFLEET, 1957.
LIEDER VU SUNNE UN SCHATTE, 1962.
II. Plays
DER GOLDIG WAGE, 1954.
MAIDLE WISS IN THE ROCK VALLEY, 1962.
E SUMMERTRAUIM, 1962.
FORGIVE US OUR GUILT, 1966.
MATHIS NITHART, E KINSCHTLER IM BÜREKRIEG, DRAME HISTORIQUE EN QUATRE ACTES, 1967.
III. Translations:
BAUDELAIRE ET VERLAINE EN ALSACIEN,
PRÉSENTATION PAR JEAN-PAUL SORG, ÉDITIONS BF, 1999.
IV. Others
ALLTAG UND SONNTAG, COURS PRATIQUE D'ALLEMAND, ALSATIA 1954.
Further information on Emile Storck:
Alsatian Wikipedia: als.wikipedia.org/wiki/Émile_Storck
French Wikipedia: fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Émile_Storck
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator-Help (free version), hn, march 2022