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. /
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In the calm water of the love-nights, /
where you were begotten, where you have begotten, /
a strange feeling comes over you, /
when you see the silent candle burning. /
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Now you are no longer caught in the obsession with darkness, /
and a desire for higher love-making sweeps you upward. /
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Distance does not 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 (1749 - 1832)
Source: The Holy Longing - Translated by Robert Bly
Contributed by: Laurie