[1357] Going to Sleep

Guest poem sent in by Vaibhav Puranik <vaibhavforu@>

Now that the day wearies me,
My yearning desire,
will receive more kindly,
like a tired child, the starry night

Hence, leave off your deeds
mind, forget all thoughts;
All of my forces
yearn only to sink into sleep.

And my soul, unguarded,
would soar on widespread wings,
to live in a night's magical sphere
More profoundly, more variously.

	-- Hermann Hesse

Siddhartha is what made Mr. Hesse famous, but this poem is what endears him
to me!! I believe the original was in "Deutsch" and this is a translated
version, so there might be slightly different versions floating around.

Hesse's depiction of the drained condition (in the 1st two stanzas) is very
vivid. I usually work late, & going home at late hours; my only desire is to
get into my bed & continue the glorious things I do in my dreams...

Biography links:
1. http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/hhesse.htm
2. http://www.levity.com/corduroy/hesse.htm
3. http://www.nobel.se/literature/laureates/1946/hesse-autobio.html

Best Regards,

Vaibhav Puranik

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From: Erik Barnes <rikkus@>

In its original German, this poem is titled "Beim Schlafengehen".  It's 
a great poem in its own right, but set to orchestral song by the late 
Romantic composer Richard Strauss (the third of his "Four Last Songs"), 
it becomes a masterpiece.  If you should ever want to hear a perfect 
example of how music can augment and illuminate the meaning of a poem, 
listen to this song!  I first heard it many years ago in the film, "The 
Year of Living Dangerously."  I waited through interminable credits to 
find out what it was, then I went right out and bought it.  You should 
too.  You won't regret it, I promise you.  I particularly recommend the 
version with Klaus Tennstedt and Lucia Popp.  By the way, this is not a 
great translation: for one thing, it's "HANDS, leave off your deeds," 
not "hence."  The poem is really about death, not sleep, which makes 
it's inclusion in Strauss' last work of a long lifetime all the more 
poignant and personal.