Verses by Martin Opitz, translated by Julia Kalman
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I Crave to Consume Myself
Oh, to devour this mortal shell, this earthly part of me,
In passion’s blaze, with fervor fierce, I yearn to be set free,
Like Hercules, unyielding, bold, with dauntless bravery,
To immolate this body’s form, ablaze with ecstasy.
To soar celestial heights, my spirit races, wild and free,
In search of realms divine, where truths untold decree,
This flesh, this blood, exchanged for ecstasy unseen,
A sacred union, flesh and spirit, in a rapture keen.
Ignite me, oh, with your fiery gaze, your passion’s fire,
That I may shed this earthly shroud, to realms aspire,
From fleshly bounds and shadows dire, I long to break,
To soar, unbound, beyond the realms of earth and sky,
Where beauty’s flame burns bright, and passions never die,
To revel in the ecstasy from which all pleasures wake.
(Martin Opitz 1597–1639)
The Fading Beauty of Our World
The beauty of our world, oh how swiftly it does fade,
Like fleeting winds that never rest, nor in one place are stayed,
Like blossoms fair, whose splendor blooms but for a breath,
Then bowing low, return to earth, in silent, mournful death.
And waves that crest, then swiftly fade, upon the ocean’s shore,
They come and go, like fleeting dreams, to roam forevermore.
What judgment then, shall I proclaim, upon this transient show?
The world, a fleeting dance of light, in endless ebb and flow.
(Martin Opitz 1597–1639)
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Julia Kalman 