| Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–1882). Complete Poetical Works. 1893. | | | | Translations | From the German.
Blessed are the Dead |
| | | | (Selig sind, die in dem Herrn Sterben)
By Simon Dach |
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OH, how blest are ye whose toils are ended! | |
| Who, through death, have unto God ascended! | |
| Ye have arisen | |
| From the cares which keep us still in prison. | |
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| We are still as in a dungeon living, | 5 |
| Still oppressed with sorrow and misgiving; | |
| Our undertakings | |
| Are but toils, and troubles, and heartbreakings. | |
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| Ye, meanwhile, are in your chambers sleeping, | |
| Quiet, and set free from all our weeping; | 10 |
| No cross nor trial | |
| Hinders your enjoyments with denial. | |
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| Christ has wiped away your tears for ever; | |
| Ye have that for which we still endeavor. | |
| To you are chanted | 15 |
| Songs which yet no mortal ear have haunted. | |
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| Ah! who would not, then, depart with gladness, | |
| To inherit heaven for earthly sadness? | |
| Who here would languish | |
| Longer in bewailing and in anguish? | 20 |
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| Come, O Christ, and loose the chains that bind us! | |
| Lead us forth, and cast this world behind us! | |
| With thee, the Anointed, | |
| Finds the soul its joy and rest appointed. | | | |
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