Nänie, a funeral song is a composition by Johannes Brahms, which sets to music the poem Nänie by Friedrich Schiller. Brahms composed the piece in 1881, in memory of his deceased friend Anselm Feuerbach. Nänie is a lamentation on the inevitability of death: Even the beautiful must perish! That which overcomes gods and men Moves not the armored heart of the Stygian Zeus. Only once did love come to soften the Lord of the Shadows, And just at the threshold he sternly took back his gift. Neither can Aphrodite heal the wounds of the beautiful youth That the boar had savagely torn in his delicate body. Nor can the deathless mother rescue the divine hero When, at the Scaean gate now falling, he fulfills his fate. But she ascends from the sea with all the daughters of Nereus, And she raises a plaint here for her glorious son. Behold! The gods weep, all the goddesses weep, That the beautiful perishes, that the most perfect passes away. But a lament on the lips of loved ones is glorious,
Posted on: Sun, 26 Oct 2014 13:29:15 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015