The Reunion by Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

CAN it be! of stars the star,

Do I press thee to my heart? In the night of distance far,

What deep gulf, what bitter smart! Yes, 'tis thou, indeed, at last,

Of my joys the partner dear! Mindful, though, of sorrows past,

I the present needs must fear.

When the still-unfashion'd earth

Lay on God's eternal breast, He ordain'd its hour of birth,

With creative joy possess'd. Then a heavy sigh arose,

When He spake the sentence: -- "Be! " And the All, with mighty throes,

Burst into reality.

And when thus was born the light,

Darkness near it fear'd to stay, And the elements with might

Fled on every side away; Each on some far-distant trace,

Each with visions wild employ, Numb, in boundless realm of space,

Harmony and feeling-void.

Dumb was all, all still and dead,

For the first time, God alone! Then He form'd the morning-red,

Which soon made its kindness known: It unravelled from the waste,

Bright and glowing harmony, And once more with love was grac'd

What contended formerly.