Friday 15 July 2022

Hermann Hesse: 'Dunkelste Stunden'




DUNKELSTE STUNDEN

 

Das sind die Stunden, die wir nicht begreifen!

Sie beugen uns in Todestiefen nieder

Und löschen aus, was wir von Trost gewußt,

Sie reißen uns geheimgehaltene Lieder

Mit blutend wunden Wurzeln aus der Brust.

Und doch sind das die Stunden, deren Last

Uns Stille lehrt und innerlichste Rast

Und die zu Weisen uns und Dichtern reifen.

 

 

DARKEST OF HOURS                  NON-RHYMING ENGLISH VERSION

 

These are the hours which we fail to fathom!

They force us down to deathlike depths of anguish

And snuff out any solace we have known,

And rip out songs we’ve from ourselves kept secret

With roots all raw and bleeding from our breast.

And yet these are the very hours whose burden

Will teach us quietness and rest within

And turn us into wise, poetic beings.

 

 

DARKEST OF HOURS                  FINAL ENGLISH VERSION

 

These are the hours which baffle comprehension!

They force us down to deathlike depths of anguish

And snuff out solace gained at our behest,

And rip out secret songs, in which we languish,

With roots still raw and bleeding from our breast.

And yet these are the hours whose heavy load

Will teach us peace and rest if once bestowed

And make us poets, wise, through maturation.

 

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