Evening song under a starry sky

When the sun sets

and the day tilts to its rest,

Luna beckons gently and kindly,

and night descends.

When the stars gleam splendidly,

and a thousand sunbeams shimmer:

the soul feels so wonderful,

it wrenches loose from the dust.

It gazes so gladly at those stars,

as if it were looking back to its homeland;

it gazes at those far things,

and forgets all worldly trifles.

It wants only to struggle, it wants only to strive,

and to float free of its mortal frame:

the world is too narrow and small;

among the stars would it like to live.

Whether earth's storms rage,

or false fortune rewards evil,

it gazes hopefully upward,

to where the Star-judge sits enthroned.

No fear can torment it any longer,

no power can command it;

with a transfigured face,

it soars upward toward the heavenly light.

A vague premonition creeps up on me

from another world:

not much longer will last

my earthly pilgrimage.

Soon I will have attained my goal,

soon I will have risen up to you.

I will soon reap at God's throne

the beautiful reward of my earthly sorrows.