falling asleep…

and now the day has had its way with me

so all desire and yearning redeploy

and friendly I receive the starry night

like welcome to a weary boy

hands, no more these occupations;

brow, leave off your wrinkled thinking—

all my senses inward folded

safely into slumber sinking

allow my soul without constraint

to hover freely in its flight

to deeply live—and in one thousand ways—

within the magic circle of the night

Hermann Hesse

from Richard Strauss,

Four Last Songs

            trans. © James Oliver Wright
            QM2 06.14