The Hermit
Joseph von Eichendorff (Germany, 1837)
translated by Ad Blankestijn
Come, comfort of the world, you silent night!
How gently you climb down from the hills,
The breezes are all asleep,
Just a sailor, wearied of traveling,
Sings his evening song over the waters
In praise of God in the harbor.
The years go by like the clouds
And leave me here in solitude,
Forgotten by the world,
You miraculously came to me,
While I was sitting lost in thought
Here at the rustling forest.
O comfort of the world, you silent night!
The day made me so tired,
The wide sea is already dark,
Let me rest from joy and trouble,
Until the eternal dawn
Shoots through the silent forest.
Der Einsiedler
Komm, Trost der Welt, du stille Nacht!
Wie steigst Du von den Bergen sacht,
Die Lüfte alle schlafen,
Ein Schiffer nur noch, wandermüd,
Singt übers Meer sein Abendlied
Zu Gottes Lob im Hafen.
Die Jahre wie die Wolken gehn
Und lassen mich hier einsam stehn,
Die Welt hat mich vergessen,
Da tratst Du wunderbar zu mir,
Wenn ich beim Waldesrauschen hier
Gedankenvoll gesessen.
O Trost der Welt, Du stille Nacht!
Der Tag hat mich so müd gemacht,
Das weite Meer schon dunkelt,
Lass ausruhn mich von Lust und Not,
Bis dass das ew’ge Morgenrot
Den stillen Wald durchfunkelt.
Wie steigst Du von den Bergen sacht,
Die Lüfte alle schlafen,
Ein Schiffer nur noch, wandermüd,
Singt übers Meer sein Abendlied
Zu Gottes Lob im Hafen.
Die Jahre wie die Wolken gehn
Und lassen mich hier einsam stehn,
Die Welt hat mich vergessen,
Da tratst Du wunderbar zu mir,
Wenn ich beim Waldesrauschen hier
Gedankenvoll gesessen.
O Trost der Welt, Du stille Nacht!
Der Tag hat mich so müd gemacht,
Das weite Meer schon dunkelt,
Lass ausruhn mich von Lust und Not,
Bis dass das ew’ge Morgenrot
Den stillen Wald durchfunkelt.
[Joseph von Eichendorff]
Joseph Karl Benedikt Freiherr von Eichendorff (1788-1857) was a German Romantic writer and poet. He is counted among the most important German writers who are still
admired today. Many of his poems were set to music (by Robert Schumann and others) and often sung. His
novella "Aus dem Leben eines Taugenichts" (1826) is considered the climax and
at the same time the end of Romanticism.
Born at Lubowitz Castle near Ratibor as the son of a Prussian officer, Joseph Eichendorff enjoyed an aristocratic-Catholic upbringing and completed his studies in law in 1812, and took part in the liberation war against Napoleon. In 1815 he published his first prose work, "Anung und Gegenwart". He entered the service of the Prussian government and made a career as a civil servant, which culminated in his appointment as a secret government councilor in 1841. During this period he wrote most of his short stories. In 1837 the first collection of Eichendorff's poems appeared, some of which were culled from the narrative works. After retiring due to illness in 1844, he devoted himself mainly to journalism.
Eichendorff's idyllic descriptions of nature and simple life are characterized by a simple imagery and choice of words. Behind this, however, there is a complex network of metaphorical symbolism for the interpretation of the world, nature and the soul. Due to his strong attachment to a mystic Catholic faith, many of Eichendorff's works are set in a religious context, but without the agony or missionary zeal of some of his contemporaries. It is also noteworthy that - unlike so many other romantics under Fichte's influence - he did not succumb to any German nationalism that downgraded other peoples, but instead Eichendorff sought European coexistence.
As central motifs of his poetry can be named: the night and the forest, longing and eros, home, strangers, loneliness and farewell. These recurring elements are not clearly defined and open up to different, sometimes contradicting poetic interpretations, which gives the poem its tension and removes it from triviality.
Eichendorff has been called "not a poet of home, but of homesickness, not of the fulfilled moment, but of longing, not of arrival, but of departure."
The above poem was set to music by Max Reger as Der Einsiedler (The Hermit) Op. 144a, for baritone soloist, five-part choir and orchestra, written in 1915.
Born at Lubowitz Castle near Ratibor as the son of a Prussian officer, Joseph Eichendorff enjoyed an aristocratic-Catholic upbringing and completed his studies in law in 1812, and took part in the liberation war against Napoleon. In 1815 he published his first prose work, "Anung und Gegenwart". He entered the service of the Prussian government and made a career as a civil servant, which culminated in his appointment as a secret government councilor in 1841. During this period he wrote most of his short stories. In 1837 the first collection of Eichendorff's poems appeared, some of which were culled from the narrative works. After retiring due to illness in 1844, he devoted himself mainly to journalism.
Eichendorff's idyllic descriptions of nature and simple life are characterized by a simple imagery and choice of words. Behind this, however, there is a complex network of metaphorical symbolism for the interpretation of the world, nature and the soul. Due to his strong attachment to a mystic Catholic faith, many of Eichendorff's works are set in a religious context, but without the agony or missionary zeal of some of his contemporaries. It is also noteworthy that - unlike so many other romantics under Fichte's influence - he did not succumb to any German nationalism that downgraded other peoples, but instead Eichendorff sought European coexistence.
As central motifs of his poetry can be named: the night and the forest, longing and eros, home, strangers, loneliness and farewell. These recurring elements are not clearly defined and open up to different, sometimes contradicting poetic interpretations, which gives the poem its tension and removes it from triviality.
Eichendorff has been called "not a poet of home, but of homesickness, not of the fulfilled moment, but of longing, not of arrival, but of departure."
The above poem was set to music by Max Reger as Der Einsiedler (The Hermit) Op. 144a, for baritone soloist, five-part choir and orchestra, written in 1915.
"Der Einsiedler" was first published in 1837 in the anthology Deutscher Musenalmanach (German Musen-Almanach) and is included in Eichendorff's Gedichte (Ausgabe 1841), which is available at the German literature website Zeno.org. Eichendorff's work is in the public domain.
Photo:
Eichendorff: public domain, via Wikimedia Commons