Hymns to the Night
Novalis
Read by Pete Williams, Pittsburgh, PA
"Hymns to the Night" is the last published work of Georg Philipp Friedrich Freiherr von Hardenberg (1772-1801), the German philosopher and early Romantic poet whose pen name was simply “Novalis”. The work alternates poetry and prose, exploring a personal mythology of darkness and light, but it is also a free-associative chronicle of a young man rationalizing the untimely death of his fiancé. This version (1897) was translated by influential fantasy author and novelist George MacDonald, who cited it as a great – and early – inspiration. (Summary by Pete Williams)
"Hymns to the Night" is also available to Librivox listeners in the original German. (0 hr 25 min)
Chapters
| Hymns to the Night | 25:17 | Read by Pete Williams, Pittsburgh, PA |
Reviews
An excellent read of interesting poetry
Timothy Ferguson
An odd collection of poetry, which sees Night as a an embodiment of Death, but Death as the ascension of the enlightened soul to immortality. Therefore, light and day and all of their distractions are less impressive, to the author, than night. I don’t think I’ve ever read a more interesting description of an author craving death, and I’ve read my share of emo poetry. Highly recommended for those who like poetry, but to be taken a piece at a time, rather than the entire collection at once, as the motifs become repetitive.
Hymns to the Night by Novalis
BenjaminS.T.
Five stars.