Poems of Friedrich Hölderlin


 


Celebration of Peace - 3


For a god, knowing always the proper measure,
Touches sparingly and just for a moment the homes
Of men—unexpectedly, and no one knows when.
But something impertinent might pass by, and wildness
Must come to the holy place from afar:
Groping about wildly it exercises madness,
And fulfills some destiny thereby.
But gratitude doesn't follow immediately after
The god-given gift: it has to be studied first.
From the blessing of the hearth both
Roof and floor would have gone up in flames
If the giver had not been sparing.

We've received much from the gods.
Fire was handed to us, and the ocean’s
Flood and shores. Much more even,
For in a human way these alien powers
Have become familiar to us. The stars
Before your eyes can teach you things,
Even though you cannot equal them.
Yet from the ever-living god—from whom
Come many joys and songs—there is a son,
One who is quietly powerful. And now
We recognize him, now that we know the Father,
Now that the high Spirit of the World
Has descended to the world of men
To keep the holidays.


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