Be embraced, all you millions

Not only is this my 1,000th blip (in this incarnation!), but this morning (1st November) the UK also remains in the European Union ...

... so, some 'Ode To Joy' poetry seems the appropriate content to blip ;-)

The words below are translated (by Michael Kay) from Friedrich Schiller's poem, which was originally published in 1785; and then put to music by Beethoven in 1823. The music was then - much later, in 1985 - adopted as the European Union anthem:


Ode To Joy

Joy! A spark of fire from heaven,
Daughter from Elysium,
Drunk with fire we dare to enter,
Holy One, inside your shrine.
Your magic power binds together,
What we by custom wrench apart,
All men will emerge as brothers,
Where you rest your gentle wings.

If you've mastered that great challenge:
Giving friendship to a friend,
If you've earned a steadfast woman,
Celebrate your joy with us!
Join if in the whole wide world there's
Just one soul to call your own!
He who's failed must steal away,
shedding tears as he departs.

All creation drinks with pleasure,
Drinks at Mother Nature's breast;
All the just, and all the evil,
Follow down her rosy path.
Kisses she bestowed, and grape wine,
Friendship true, proved e'en in death;
Every worm knows nature's pleasure,
Every cherub meets his God.

Gladly, like the planets flying
True to heaven's mighty plan,
Brothers, run your course now,
Happy as a knight in victory.

Be embraced, all you millions,
Share this kiss with all the world!
Way above the stars, brothers,
There must live a loving father.
Do you kneel down low, you millions?
Do you see your maker, world?
Search for Him above the stars,
Above the stars he must be living.

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Friedrich Schiller (1759 – 1805)
(as translated by Michael Kay)

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