Atlas by Heinrich Heine
Translation
I, wretched Atlas, must carry the world,
I must carry this wide world of wrenching pain.
I bear the unbearable and my heart
Breaks within this feeble frame.
You proud heart, you got what you wanted!
You longed for happiness, for eternal bliss,
Or maybe it was for misery, proud heart—
Now you know true wretchedness.
Translation © David B. Gosselin
Original
Ich unglücksel'ger Atlas! Eine Welt,
Die ganze Welt der Schmerzen muß ich tragen,
Ich trage Unerträgliches, und brechen
Will mir das Herz im Leibe.
Du stolzes Herz, du hast es ja gewollt!
Du wolltest glücklich sein, unendlich glücklich,
Oder unendlich elend, stolzes Herz,
Und jetzo bist du elend.
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On its face, it seems to record the result of the Titanomachy. "The proud heart" (Atlas himself) joined the battle, which, had it been won, he apparently thought would bring "eternal bliss" to the winners. As it was lost, he paid a heavy price indeed.
But it could have a subtext. Anyone alive could fit the situation portrayed in stanza 1, if it's allowed that every living creature bears the world's "unbearable" weight and burdensomeness. But how would the "proud heart" he castigates fit into such a reading. The author didn't visit Earth by choice. At any rate, my guess is that the author identified with Atlas; may've thought he shared with him the "true wretchedness" of bearing the world's weight.
Going to war can leave you vastly worse off than you were before the battle. That message comes through clearly.