Comfort in Tears

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Why art thou sad, when all around
So gay and bright appears?
For plainly in thine eyes are seen
The traces of thy tears.

"And if I wept in solitude
The grief is mine alone,
And with the tears that sweetly streamed,
More light my heart has grown."

Come, let us clasp thee in our arms,
Thy joyous comrades say;
And there, whatever thou hast lost,
Weep thy regrets away.

"Ye brawl and bluster, dreaming not
The secret of my pain;
My grief is not that I have lost,
But that I long in vain."

Spring boldly up; for thou art young,
With speed thy task begin;
Thine is the age of daring deeds,
And strength to strive and win.

"Ah no! 'tis what I cannot win,
From me 'tis all too far;
It dwells as high, it gleams as bright,
As shineth yonder star."

We do not long to reach the stars,
But glory in their light,
And gaze to heaven in ecstasy
Each fair and cloudless night.

"I, too, look up in ecstasy,
By day my watch I keep,
Then let we weep the nights away
While I have heart to weep."