Alma Strettell

Alma Gertrude Vansittart Harrison (; 1853–1939) was a British translator and poet known for her translations of folk songs, folk tales, and poems from Greek, Romanian, French, Provençal, German, Norwegian, and other languages.

Early life and family

Alma Gertrude Vansittart Strettell was born 1853, in Genoa, Italy, the daughter of Laura Vansittart (née Neale) and the Reverend Alfred Baker Strettell, the British consular chaplain in Genoa, and subsequently the rector of St. Martin’s Church in Canterbury. Selections from the Greek Anthology (1889, edited by Rosamund Marriott Watson; some 40 translations) The Bard of the Dimbovitza (Vol 1 1891, Vol 2 1894), (translation with Carmen Sylva of Elena Văcărescu's Lieder aus dem Dimbovitzathal (Bonn, 1889), collection of Romanian folk-songs, etc) Lullabies of Many Lands (1894, 1896) Legends from River & Mountain (1896, with Carmen Sylva) Poems of Émile Verhaeren (1899) The Metamorphosis (1922). London Memoirs of Mistral (1907, edited by Constance Maud, with translations from the Provençal) The Wreckers (les naufrageurs) (1909, with Ethel Smyth) Articles "A Little Western Town" (1881, Macmillan's Magazine) "An Indian Festival" (1882, Macmillan's Magazine)

Extract Beware of black old cats, with evil faces; Yet more, of kittens white and soft be wary: My sweetheart was just such a little fairy, And yet she well-nigh scratched my heart to pieces. —Alice Strettell, from her translation of Heinrich Heine's poem "Hüt Dich, mein Freund, vor grimmen Teufelsfratsen"