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Ok, it's a bit late, but better late than never!

200 years ago (May 9th, 1805) Friedrich Schiller, one of the greatest German writers died.

Has anyone here heard of him? Read him? Like his works? Have a favourite text to share? Or even discuss any of his writings?

Some of his plays are among my favourite German plays, like "Don Carlos" from which the line in the title is taken.

Most famous, of course, is he for this text:

HYMN TO JOY.

Joy, thou goddess, fair, immortal,
Offspring of Elysium,
Mad with rapture, to the portal
Of thy holy fame we come!
Fashion's laws, indeed, may sever,
But thy magic joins again;
All mankind are brethren ever
'Neath thy mild and gentle reign.

CHORUS.
Welcome, all ye myriad creatures!
Brethren, take the kiss of love!
Yes, the starry realms above
Hide a Father's smiling features!

He, that noble prize possessing--
He that boasts a friend that's true,
He whom woman's love is blessing,
Let him join the chorus too!
Aye, and he who but one spirit
On this earth can call his own!
He who no such bliss can merit,
Let him mourn his fate alone!

CHORUS.
All who Nature's tribes are swelling
Homage pay to sympathy;
For she guides us up on high,
Where the unknown has his dwelling.

From the breasts of kindly Nature
All of joy imbibe the dew;
Good and bad alike, each creature
Would her roseate path pursue.
'Tis through her the wine-cup maddens,
Love and friends to man she gives!
Bliss the meanest reptile gladdens,--
Near God's throne the cherub lives!

CHORUS.
Bow before him, all creation!
Mortals, own the God of love!
Seek him high the stars above,--
Yonder is his habitation!

Joy, in Nature's wide dominion,
Mightiest cause of all is found;
And 'tis joy that moves the pinion,
When the wheel of time goes round;
From the bud she lures the flower--
Suns from out their orbs of light;
Distant spheres obey her power,
Far beyond all mortal sight.

CHORUS.
As through heaven's expanse so glorious
In their orbits suns roll on,
Brethren, thus your proud race run,
Glad as warriors all-victorious!

Joy from truth's own glass of fire
Sweetly on the searcher smiles;
Lest on virtue's steeps he tire,
Joy the tedious path beguiles.
High on faith's bright hill before us,
See her banner proudly wave!
Joy, too, swells the angels' chorus,--
Bursts the bondage of the grave!

CHORUS.
Mortals, meekly wait for heaven
Suffer on in patient love!
In the starry realms above,
Bright rewards by God are given.

To the Gods we ne'er can render
Praise for every good they grant;
Let us, with devotion tender,
Minister to grief and want.
Quenched be hate and wrath forever,
Pardoned be our mortal foe--
May our tears upbraid him never,
No repentance bring him low!

CHORUS.
Sense of wrongs forget to treasure--
Brethren, live in perfect love!
In the starry realms above,
God will mete as we may measure.

Joy within the goblet flushes,
For the golden nectar, wine,
Every fierce emotion hushes,--
Fills the breast with fire divine.
Brethren, thus in rapture meeting,
Send ye round the brimming cup,--
Yonder kindly spirit greeting,
While the foam to heaven mounts up!

CHORUS.
He whom seraphs worship ever;
Whom the stars praise as they roll,
Yes to him now drain the bowl
Mortal eye can see him never!

Courage, ne'er by sorrow broken!
Aid where tears of virtue flow;
Faith to keep each promise spoken!
Truth alike to friend and foe!
'Neath kings' frowns a manly spirit!--
Brethren, noble is the prize--
Honor due to every merit!
Death to all the brood of lies!

CHORUS.
Draw the sacred circle closer!
By this bright wine plight your troth
To be faithful to your oath!
Swear it by the Star-Disposer!

Safety from the tyrant's power! [9]
Mercy e'en to traitors base!
Hope in death's last solemn hour!
Pardon when before His face!
Lo, the dead shall rise to heaven!
Brethren hail the blest decree;
Every sin shall be forgiven,
Hell forever cease to be!

CHORUS.
When the golden bowl is broken,
Gentle sleep within the tomb!
Brethren, may a gracious doom
By the Judge of man be spoken!


Works in English (links on this page leading to texts in the Gutenberg project: http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/we ... 759%2d1805

The most beautiful thing about "Grant us liberty of thought" is the German word for it, Gedankenfreiheit, which became a buzzword in the 19th century. Eventually, the fans of Gedankenfreiheit emigrated to the USA, celebrated Schillerfeste now and then and forgot about everything after the World Wars 1 & 2.

Btw. I've never read the "Hymn to Joy" in its entirety before, strangely enough, now the first time I did it it's written in English...

Well, I know him mainly through operas based on his plays.

I'm curious about something: I find the text of Rossini's Guillaume Tell, based on a Schiller play, a bit stilted and artificial. Case in point: Mathilde, upon the death of her tyrannical father, chooses to deliver a short sermon ("Nothing could save him from the fatal blow; neither his dungeons, nor his torture chambers, blah blah blah..."). What is this moment like in the Schiller original?

Oddly enough, I can't think of a single German opera based on Schiller; what comes to mind is Maria Stuarda, I Masnadieri, Don Carlos, and Guillaume Tell.

Jude, I suppose the texts are too "big" for us to turn them into opera - it is a bit disrespectful, I always think.

Operas should be made from plays and stories that don't excel in the language department.
If something is perfect the way it is, rendering it in a different form will hardly improve on it.
For Verdi and Rossini, they were just cool dramas, I suppose, not the powerful works of literature they are for "us" (well, for some German readers I'm sure they are )

You can find the text by following the link I gave in the first post - I'd find the text for you, but I'm on a slow connection (and it's four in the morning) - so I don't have the time.

(I haven't read Wilhelm Tell, so I don't know what it's like, but Verdi's Don Carlos - hmmmh, imagine a purist and PJ's LOTR! )

Mummpizz, the phrase is rather memorable in German, isn't it?
Although come to think of it, liberty of thought isn't such a big deal - liberty of uttering that thought would be!
But we have to remember that it was a big deal at the time!

LOL, yes, the Ode to Joy is one of those texts one knows the first lines of, but nothing more. I must admit, when I read it the first time I was a bit disappointed, because it seemed nothing more than a song to sing while advancing in drunkenness - all that praise of wine in it? Of course, it must be admitted that after a couple of glasses of wine one is much more inclined than usual to be brothers with all the world!

As far as I remember the only play by Schiller that I ever read was William Tell. We had to read it at school and it turned out to be one of my favourite German plays - which is strange as I really dislike plays in general. I think I still have the book here somewhere and it didn't get lost in one of my many moves. So if you like Schiller, Hobby, I can recommend William Tell. Gibt es als sehr günstige Reclam-Ausgabe, natürlich.