Bliss Carman, et al., eds. The World’s Best Poetry. 1904.
VII. Death: Immortality: HeavenSong of the Silent Land
Johann Gaudenz von Salis-Seewis (1762–1834)Translated by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
“Das stille Land”
“Das stille Land”
I
Ah, who shall lead us thither?
Clouds in the evening sky more darkly gather,
And shattered wrecks lie thicker on the strand.
Who leads us with a gentle hand
Thither, oh, thither,
Into the Silent Land?
To you, ye boundless regions
Of all perfection! Tender morning-visions
Of beauteous souls! The future’s pledge and band!
Who in life’s battle firm doth stand
Shall bear hope’s tender blossoms
Into the Silent Land!
For all the broken-hearted
The mildest herald by our fate allotted
Beckons, and with inverted torch doth stand
To lead us with a gentle hand
Into the land of the great departed,
Into the Silent Land!