I'm reading Anna Karenina. A character quoted the below poem. I'm not sure if it is a except or the full poem. When I googled the text from my phone i didn't find anything. I'll search again later from my computer.
It is heavenly when i mastered
My earthly desire;
But whenever i did not succeed
I still took my pleasure.
Heine's Nacheles Zur "Heimkebr," 9
heaven to earth
ReplyDeletesky to ground
ethereal to physical
acceptance of the human tendency
with a faith of the great mystery of more...
I have quite honestly been stuck between these worlds lately. A purgatory of sorts within the every day life of making a living and the world of meditation, poetry and bliss...this poem is so surreal. I will keep reading it in reminder of the "gap"...that we all experience.
I'm glad you enjoyed it. It's a trip to read. "It is... when I mastered... But... I did... I still took."
DeleteThe "is," present tense, is all wrong. This cannot be a translation error. This implies that heavenly is always present. That is comforting and maybe allows taking our pleasure, knowing that our previous mastered desires will and are with us.
I already forget the context of the poem in the novel. One character recited it to another, and that's all I can recall.