Friend, in the Desolate Time

~~Erik Johan Stagnelius
[Translated from the Swedish by Bill Coyle]

Friend, in the desolate time, when your soul is enshrouded in darkness
    When, in a deep abyss, memory and feeling die out,
Intellect timidly gropes among shadowy forms and illusions
    Heart can no longer sigh, eye is unable to weep;
When, from your night-clouded soul the wings of fire have fallen
    And you, to nothing, afraid, feel yourself sinking once more,
Say, who rescues you then?—Who is the comforting angel
    Brings to your innermost soul order and beauty again,
Building once more your fragmented world, restoring the fallen
    Altar, and when it is raised, lighting the sacred flame?-—
None but the powerful being who first from the limitless darkness
    Kissed to life seraphs and woke numberless suns to their dance.
None but the holy Word who called the worlds into existence
    And in whose power the worlds move on their paths to this day.
Therefore, rejoice, oh friend, and sing in the darkness of sorrow:
    Night is the mother of day, Chaos the neighbor of God.