Angelica Kauffmann: Portrait of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 1787. Public domain.

The Holy Longing

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Tell a wise person, or else keep silent,
Because the mass man will mock it right away.

I praise what is truly alive,
What longs to be burned to death.

In the calm water of love nights,
Where you were begotten, where you have begotten,

A strange feeling comes over you
When you see the silent candle burning.

Now you are no longer caught
In the obsession with darkness,

And a desire for higher lovemaking
Sweeps you upward.

Distance cannot make you falter
Now, arriving in magic, flying
And finally insane for the light,
You are the butterfly, and you are gone.

And so long as you haven’t experienced this:
To die, and so to grow,

You are only a troubled guest
On the dark earth.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a wide-ranging influence on literary, political, Christian views, and philosophical thought in the Western world from the late 18th century to the present. Wikipedia

Born August 28, 1749, Goethe House, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

Died March 22, 1832 (age 82 years), Weimar, Germany

(Contributed by John Atwater, H.W.)