Roaring and rushing wheel of time,
You are the measurer of Eternity;
Shining spheres in the wide universe,

You who surround the world globe,
Eternal creation, halt!
Enough development, let me be!


Cease, generative powers,
The primal thoughts which you are ever creating!

Slow your breathing, still your urge
Silently, only for a second long!
Swelling pulses, fetter your beating,

End, o eternal day of willing!
That in blessed, sweet forgetfulness,
I may measure all my bliss!


When one eye another drinks in bliss,
And one soul into another sinks,

One nature in another finds itself again,
And when each hope's fulfillment is finished,
When the lips are mute in astounded silence,

And no wish more does the heart invent,
Then man recognizes the sign of Eternity,
And solves your riddle, holy Nature!