Du Bist Wie Eine Blume (You Are Like a Flower)
Du bist wie eine Blume
So hold und schön und rein;
Ich schau’ dich an, und Wehmut
Schleicht mir ins Herz hinein.
Mir ist, als ob ich die Hände
Aufs Haupt die legen solit’,
Betend, daß Gott dich erhalte
So rein und schön und hold.
You are like a flower
so lovely and beautiful and pure
I look upon you, and sorrow
Steals into my heart
For me, ought my hands
to lay softly upon your head
praying, that God keep you
so pure and beautiful and lovely.
This beautfiul poem was my introduction to the German language. It has always struck me as philosophical as well: the man or woman who finds “the one” only to discover that the object of his (or her) affection belongs to another (or is in some way out-of-reach). When and where we meet others, is it a coincidence? How different our lives might have been, had we met those we encounter sooner rather than later, or later rather than sooner.
[...] Like last week’s Heine poem, this poem also served as an introduction to the German language for me. Less philosophical than Heine’s poem, but beautiful nonetheless. [...]
One of my clients, an old man of german descent, spontaneously started spouting this verse after a craniosacral session. I learned it from listening to him as he now repeats it incessantly (he has a form of dementia). It is gratifying to read the words and see that the phonetics that we use correspond well the actual written poem.
I, too, learned this beautiful poem when first studying German. I thnk of my lovely daughter [now a granddaughter] when I read it. Sometimes I recite it to her and tell her I love her.
A high school German teacher taught us this. I have always found this poem irritating and patronizing, as it speaks to “purity” and presumably all of the horrible clichés that join it to form western society’s conception of femininity. “Thank God for all of these cute, ignorant, virgin girls, who can be kept under control and remain beautiful to regard with my condescending eye.”
I read your blog in a regular manner, and your way of writing is just awesome.
Please keep going, smile
your sierra