Tuesday, April 19, 2016
You Can't Go Home Again
Friedrich Schiller (1759-1805), "Odysseus" (tr. Edgar A. Bowring):
Newer› ‹Older
Seeking to find his home, Odysseus crosses each water;
Through Charybdis so dread; ay, and through Scylla's wild yells,
Through the alarms of the raging sea, the alarms of the land too,—
E'en to the kingdom of Hell leads him his wandering course.
And at length, as he sleeps, to Ithaca's coast Fate conducts him;
There he awakes, and, with grief, knows not his fatherland now.
Alle Gewässer durchkreuzt, die Heimat zu finden, Odysseus;
Durch der Scylla Gebell, durch der Charybde Gefahr,
Durch die Schrecken des feindlichen Meers, durch die Schrecken des Landes,
Selbst in des Aides' Reich führt ihn die irrende Fahrt.
Endlich trägt das Geschick ihn schlafend an Ithakas Küste;
Er erwacht, und erkennt jammernd das Vaterland nicht!
