Ode to Joy
Joy, thou beauteous godly lightning
Daughter of Elysium,
Fire drunken we are ent'ring
Heavenly, thy holy home!
Thy enchantments bind together,
What did custom stern divide,
Every man becomes a brother,
Where thy gentle wings abide.
Who the noble prize achieveth,
Good friend of a friend to be;
Who a lovely wife attaineth,
Join us in his jubilee!
Yes--he too who but {one} being
On this earth can call {his} own!
He who ne'er was able, weeping
Stealeth from this league alone!
Joy is drunk by every being
From kind nature's flowing breasts,
Every evil, every good thing
For her rosy footprint quests.
Gave she {us} both {vines} and kisses,
In the face of death a friend,
To the worm were given blisses
And the Cherubs God attend.
As the suns are flying, happy
Through the heaven's glorious plane,
Travel, brothers, down your lane,
Joyful as in hero's vict'ry.
Be embrac'd, ye millions yonder!
Take this kiss throughout the world!
Brothers--o'er the stars unfurl'd
Must reside a loving Father.
He who in the great ring dwelleth,
Homage pays to sympathy!
To the stars above leads she,
Where on high the {Unknown} reigneth.
Commentary
Translated by William F. Wertz
Like most others, I came across the Ode to Joy, or “An die Freude” while listening to Beethoven’s 9th Symphony. It is such an absolutely wonderful piece of music which makes you see fireworks and want to burst into song with the choir. It’s spectacular, spectacular! I looked up the English translation only to find out what it meant.
The first verse, in German from Beethoven’s 9th Symphony is:
Freude, schvner Gvtterfunken
Tochter aus Elysium,
Wir betreten feuertrunken,
Himmlische, dein Heiligtum!
Deine Zauber binden wieder
Was die Mode streng geteilt;
Alle Menschen werden Br|der,
Wo dein sanfter Fl|gel weilt.
Beethoven revised the two lines starting “Was die Mode..”, which in Schiller’s poem were:
Was der Mode Schwert geteilt;
Bettler werden F|rstenbr|der,
Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ode_to_Joy) says:
The ode “To Joy” (Ode “An die Freude” in German) is an ode written in 1785 by the German poet and historian Friedrich Schiller, and known especially for its musical setting by Beethoven in the fourth and final movement of his Ninth Symphony, for four solo voices, chorus, and orchestra. In this symphonic version it is often referred to popularly as the “Ode to Joy”.
The Ode to Joy was adopted as Europe’s anthem by the Council of Europe in 1972, with an official arrangement for orchestra written by Herbert von Karajan. [1]
In 2003, the European Union chose Beethoven’s music for the poem as the EU anthem, without German lyrics, because of the many different languages used within the European Union. Therefore, the EU anthem is in effect the Beethoven theme (or melody) rather than Schiller’s poem, although its connection with the ideal of human brotherhood in the text is understood. This ideal is stated in much more universal terms in Beethoven’s adaptation (“All human beings become brothers”) than in Schiller’s original, which states that “beggars become the brothers of princes.”
Beethoven’s theme is also the setting for the Christian hymn, Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee (or Hymn to Joy), a poem written in 1908 by Henry van Dyke (1852-1933).
— Vijay
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From the Wondering Minstrels mailing list, 1999–2008.
Forsytheron · 8 December 2005
Does not this poem appear in Beethoven’s Ninth Sym? May I have a copy of the Words?
Adam Potkay · 5 September 2006
Dear person who posted the Schiller translation, Would you please tell me where you found your translation by William F. Wertz? It’s a great translation, and ‘m wondering for scholarly purposes when and where it was first printed. Thanks– Adam Potkay (English, College of William & Mary)