Goethe

To the Moon

Final Version

To the Moon - meaning Summary

Moon Comforts, Memory Haunts

Goethe’s poem addresses the moon as a soothing presence that eases the speaker’s loneliness while awakening memories of lost love. Night and river images mirror emotional flow: consolation, pain, and the persistence of remembrance. The speaker alternates between solitude and the wish for intimate friendship, valuing secret companionship that understands the heart’s hidden wanderings. Overall the poem balances gentle comfort with the ache of what has been irretrievably lost.

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Bushes, valleys, silently, You fill with misty light, Easing my soul utterly Again, at last, at night: Soothingly you cast your gaze Over a dark country, As gentle and friendly eyes Guard my destiny. Glad, and troubled, times Echo in my heart, I walk between pain and delight, In solitude, apart. Flow on, beloved flood: flow on! I’ll never know joy again, Laughter and kisses, both are gone, And loyalty flows away. There was a time I had as yet Life’s most precious thing! Ah, a man can never forget That which torments him! River, through the valley, murmur, Without rest or peace, For my singing, gently whisper, Murmuring melodies, When you rage on winter nights And then overflow, Or when around the Spring’s delights Of bursting buds, you go. Happy are we if, without hate, Hidden from the world, We hold a friend to our heart And with him explore What, unknown to all their art, Ignored, by all mankind, Through the labyrinth of the heart Wanders in the night.