Is there no one, no one in all the turmoil,—
in the void no one, no one in heaven —!
[He comes forward again further down, throws his hat upon the ground, and tears at his hair. By degrees a stillness comes over him.]
So unspeakably poor, then, a soul can go
back to nothingness, into the grey of the mist.
Thou beautiful earth, be not angry with me
that I trampled thy grasses to no avail.
Thou beautiful sun, thou hast squandered away
thy glory of light in an empty hut.
There was no one within it to hearten and warm;—
the owner, they tell me, was never at home.
Beautiful sun and beautiful earth,
you were foolish to bear and give light to my mother.
The spirit is niggard and nature lavish;
and dearly one pays for one’s birth with one’s life.—
I will clamber up high, to the dizziest peak;
I will look once more on the rising sun,
gaze till I’m tired o’er the promised land;
then try to get snowdrifts piled up over me.
They can write above them: “Here No One lies buried;”
and afterwards,— then —! Let things go as they can.