The Dark Night of the Soul

German Poetry

Aberystwyth has a wonderful independent book shop -  Ystwyth Books (http://www.ystwythbooks.co.uk/) with the most fantastic range of books. It shamefully panders to the intellect with academic and literary books but it has all the other stuff – crime, thrillers, romance etc. (For some reason, and I have never discovered why - clergy men/persons love a good who done it!) I have not been in such a good book shop for years. The owner Martin Ashby and I remembered the renowned book dealer Alan Hancox of Cheltenham, everyone who dealt in secondhand and antiquarian books knew him. At some point in his life, before becoming a book dealer, Alan had worked in   Cowley Oxford making cars. Someone owes Alan a wikipedia page!

In Ystwyth Books I bought an anthology of German verse which I had been looking for at extremely reasonable price- the version edited by Leonard Forster. There were two poems that I wanted to read in particular, one was Abendphantasie by Holderlin and the other Mignon by Goethe.

 Abendphantasie was reputedly Nietzsche’s favorite poem and influenced his early thought. The poem is a reflection at evening about the nature of life. A ploughman sits down in front of his house and considers his lot. It is almost biblical in that man must earn his living and pay his way by the sweat of his brow. The ploughman thinks that on the whole he has quite a good life - but there is always that ‘thorn’ that goads him – the thought that there might be something better. It is the night and sleep that will now bring him release and joy. Night is also eventually death here.

Abendphantasie

 Vor seiner Hütte ruhig im Schatten sitzt

 Der Pflüger, dem Genügsamen raucht sein Herd.

 Gastfreundlich tönt dem Wanderer im

 Friedlichen Dorfe die Abendglocke.

Wohl kehren itzt die Schiffer zum Hafen auch,

 In fernen Städten, fröhlich verrauscht des Markts

 Geschäftger Lärm; in stiller Laube

 Glänzt das gesellige Mahl den Freunden.

 Wohin denn ich? Es leben die Sterblichen

 Von Lohn und Arbeit; wechselnd in Müh' und Ruh

 Ist alles freudig; warum schläft denn

 Nimmer nur mir in der Brust der Stachel?

 Am Abendhimmel blühet ein Frühling auf;

 Unzählig blühn die Rosen und ruhig scheint

 Die goldne Welt; o dorthin nimmt mich,

 Purpurne Wolken! und möge droben

 In Licht und Luft zerrinnen mir Lieb' und Leid! -

 Doch, wie verscheucht von töriger Bitte, flieht

 Der Zauber; dunkel wirds und einsam

Unter dem Himmel, wie immer, bin ich –

Komm du nun, sanfter Schlummer! zu viel begehrt

Das Herz; doch endlich, Jugend! verglühst du ja,

Du ruhelose, träumerische!

Friedlich und heiter ist dann das Alter

This poem also inspired Edgar Rietz to write the German TV series Heimat. The narrative of the poem is the story of Paul a young man who grows up in a small village in the Hunsruck working with his father- earning his way – keeping his wife and child. But one day the ‘thorn’ goads him and he literally walks away from everything in search of a new life – before the night takes him.

I found seven other poets in this collection with poems about the night as a place to start a journey or find solace – an escape form the world.

Opitz

Lied

Itzund kommt die Nacht herbei

Vieh und Menschen warden frei

Goethe

Willkommen und Abschied

Der Abend wieghte schion die Erde

Und an den Bergen hing die Nacht

Schiller

Der Abend

Senke, strahlender Gott

Holderlin

Sonnenuntergang

Wo bist du? trunken dammert die Seele mir

Novalis 304

Hymnen an die Nacht

Hinhuber wall ich

Unde jede Pein

Wird einst ein Stachel

Der Wollust sein

Brentano

Abendstandchen

Hor, es klagt die Flote wieder

Eichendorff

Der Abend

Schweight der Menshen laute Lust

Mondnacht

Es war, als hatt der Himmel

Die Erde still gekusst

Storm

Zur Nacht

Vorbei der Tag! Nun lass mich unverstellt