Poetry - in German, this time

[tree_and_leaf]

On this day in 1945, Dietrich Bonhoeffer was hanged in Flossenburg near Berlin; he was on the Nazi's list of political prisoners who were under no circumstances to be allowed to survive the war. Bonhoeffer was a Lutheran minister and one of the founders of the 'Confessing Church', who objected to the integration of the church into the state. He was,of course, an extremely sharp theologian, and apparently a good radio broadcaster (he was finally banned from the air after describing Hitler as not a 'Führer', but a 'Verführer' (seducer)). He was employed for a time by the Abwehr, (Military Intelligence, a nest of conspirators, which explains how someone who'd been banned from public speaking could be employed as a spook), and was involved in a number of plots, including discussions about ways and means of killing Hitler; he also helped Jews to escape to Switzerland, and was arrested in 1943 because this came to light. He spent most of the rest of his life in a Gestapo prison in Berlin, but was sent to a concentration camp, tried for treason in a drumhead trial, and hanged for his connections to the July 20th plot against Hitler.

He wrote this poem shortly before New Year 1945, as a present for his parents and his fiancee. I think it's rather good, though unfortunately I haven't found a good English translation and juno_magic has kindly provided a translation in the comments.

He is commemorated today in the C of E calendar as theologian and martyr.




Von guten Mächten treu und still umgeben,
behütet und getröstet wunderbar,
so will ich diese Tage mit euch leben
und mit euch gehen in ein neues Jahr.

Noch will das alte unsre Herzen quälen,
noch drückt uns böser Tage schwere Last.
Ach Herr, gib unsern aufgeschreckten Seelen
das Heil, für das Du uns geschaffen hast.

Und reichst Du uns den schweren Kelch, den bittern,
des Leids, gefüllt bis an den höchsten Rand,
so nehmen wir ihn dankbar ohne Zittern
aus Deiner guten und geliebten Hand.

Doch willst Du uns noch einmal Freude schenken
an dieser Welt und ihrer Sonne Glanz,
dann woll′n wir des Vergangenen gedenken
und dann gehört Dir unser Leben ganz.

Lass warm und hell die Kerzen heute flammen
die Du in unsre Dunkelheit gebracht,
führ, wenn es sein kann, wieder uns zusammen!
Wir wissen es, Dein Licht scheint in der Nacht.

Wenn sich die Stille nun tief um uns breitet,
so lass uns hören jenen vollen Klang
der Welt, die unsichtbar sich um uns weitet,
all Deiner Kinder hohen Lobgesang.

Von guten Mächten wunderbar geborgen
erwarten wir getrost, was kommen mag.
Gott ist bei uns am Abend und am Morgen
und ganz gewiss an jedem neuen Tag.

Comments

[tree_and_leaf]

(Oh, and I'd tend to 'and then our lives will be forever thine' - it's closer to the German and I think what Bonhoeffer is getting at is the relationship between God and the believer, rather than simply a statement about God's power to direct events)