Soap bubbles

By
After so many years of study and thought
An old man distils down his old-age work,
In all these curling tendrils of reflection
He spins out much sweet wisdom playfully.

Full of fire an eager student storms on,
Takes so much found in libraries and archives 
And burning with ambition transforms it
Into a youthful work of brilliant insights.

A young boy sits and blows into a straw,
He fills colourful soap bubbles with air, each one
Magnificent and praising like a psalm,
He puts the whole of his soul into blowing.

All three, old man, boy and student creating
Magic dreams from the illusions of the world,
None of them being more valid than another,
In all of them eternal light, smiling, 
Recognises itself and burns joyfully.

Seifenblasen
Hermann Hesse, 14 January 1937

Comments

scholarbytheriver said…
Another poem from ‘The Glass Bead Game’, in which it is attributed to the central character, Joseph Knecht, when he was a student.
August 7, 2020 at 10:09 AM
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