Departure
[Translation]
North and West and South
fragment,
Thrones splinter, empires quake:
Flee you, and in the pure East
Inhale the patriarchs' air!
With loving, drinking, singing
Chiffer's spring should renew you.
There, in righteousness and purity,
I'll perceive the profoundness
Of our race's origins,
Where from God they still receive
heaven's song in earthly refrains
and do not have to rack their brains.
Frigida: cold Return to Chapter I |
Eastern
Promise
[Translation]
Blessèd Longing.
Tell no-one, only the wise,
For the crowd at once derides:
The living I want to praise,
That for a fiery death strives.
In the love-night's coolness,
That showed you where you begat,
Strange feelings overcome you,
When the still candle doth shine.
No longer staying embraced
In the darkness' shadows,
A new desire pulls you
Towards a coupling too high.
No distance stands in your way,
You come flown and banished,
And lastly, desiring light,
You are oh butterfly burnt.
And so long you do not have,
This, die and become!
You are just a dull guest
Upon the dark earth.
Return to Chapter III |
