Wer Schmetterlinge Lachen Hört
Novalis
Who Hears Butterflies Laugh
Who hears butterflies laugh,
knows how clouds taste,
will in the moonlight
unperturbed by fear,
discover the night.
He becomes a plant, if he wants,
to an animal, a fool, a sage,
and can in an hour
travel through the entire universe.
He knows that he knows nothing,
like everyone else knows nothing too,
only he knows what the others
and he still have to learn.
Who feels foreign shores within himself,
and has the courage to stretch himself,
will gradually, undisturbed,
discover himself free from fear.
Down to the peaks
of himself he looks up,
he calmly takes on
the battle with his underworld.
Who hears butterflies laugh,
knows how clouds taste,
will in the moonlight,
unperturbed by fear,
discover the night.
He who lives in peace with himself,
will die just the same,
and even then be more alive,
than all his heirs.
(Text by Carlo Karges, 1973)
