The Commencement of a New Century & Other Poems by Friedrich Schiller

Translation

Featured in New Lyre Summer 2023

The Commencement of a New Century 

Dear friend! Alas, to where has peace now flown? 
And when might Freedom find its resting place? 
The century has vanished with the storm, 
A new one now rears its murderous face. 

The bonds of ancient lands will hold no more, 
Fleeting are once-hallowed custom and sign. 
The seas are no impediment to war, 
Neither the Nile-god nor the ancient Rhine. 

Two awesome nations have declared world war 
For the possession of a continent; 
Jettisoned are universal freedoms, 
Smothered by the lightning and the trident. 

Tribute in gold is from all requited, 
And just like Brennus in more savage tales, 
The Frank places his weighty saber on 
The sacred, universal justice scales. 

A creeping Octopus, tentacles awhirl,  
The Briton unleashes his swarm of ships 
Across a wide expanse of roaring seas, 
Entangling the world in its wily grips. 

He rages onwards unimpeded ‘mid 
An expansive and starless Southern pole; 
Each isle and all exotic lands surveyed, 
A trace of paradise yet none behold. 

In vain will we locate some sacred map 
Which reveals a long-lost land free of woes 
Where the gardens are green eternally 
And the fountain of youth endlessly flows. 

Before your gaze appears an endless world 
Where sails have never rustled in the wind, 
And yet, upon the countless raging fleets, 
No room is there for even ten fine men! 

Refuge is only found within our hearts 
When the noble is chased away by throngs; 
Freedom lives only in our sacred dreams, 
And Beauty blossoms only in our songs. 

Translation © David B. Gosselin 

Continue reading Schiller's “Words of Delusion,” “The Veiled Image at Sais,” “The Beautiful and the Sublime” and “Light and Warmth.”