Ode to Joy

Anonymous

Wild and fearful in his cavernHid the naked troglodyte,And the homeless nomad wanderedLaying waste the fertile plain.Menacing with spear and arrowIn the woods the hunter strayed ...Woe to all poor wreteches stranded On those cruel and hostile shores!
From the peak of high OlympusCame the mother Ceres down,Seeeking in those savage regionsHer lost daughter Prosperine.But the Goddess found no refuge,Found no kindly welcome there,And no temple bearing witnessTo the worship of the gods.
From the fields and from the vineyardsCame no fruit to deck the feasts,Only flesh of blood-stained victimsSmouldered on the alter-fires,And where'er the grieving goddessTurns her melancholy gaze,Sunk in vilest degradationMan his loathsomeness displays.
Would he purge his soul from vilenessAnd attain to light and worth,He must turn and cling foreverTo his ancient Mother Earth.
Joy everlasting fosterethThe soul of all creation,It is her secret ferment firesThe cup of life with flame.'Tis at her beck the grass hath turnedEach blade toward the lightand solar systems have evolved From chaos and dark night,Filling the realms of boundless spaceBeyond the sage's sight.
At bounteous nature's kindly breast,All things that breath drink Joy,And bird and beasts and creaping thingsAll follow where she leads.Her gifts to man are friends in need,The wreath, the foaming must,To angels -- visions of God's throne,To insects -- sensual lust.