World Water Day
“The soul of mankind is like water:
From Heaven coming, to Heaven rising,
Again descending— As it must—Earthward, ever circling.
It streams from high on the steep rock wall, a clear, pure stream;
Then lovingly dusts in swelling cloud-waves against smooth rock;
And striking lightly, it surges, veil-wrapped,
In whispers, to the depths below.
Then cascading against cliff towers,
It foams high, raging, unrelenting, to the Abyss.
In sprawling stream-beds it creeps in meadowed valleys,
And in the glassy lake shows the stars mirrored all in its visage.
Wind is the great wave, lovingly cooling,
Stirring the depths up to foaming whitecaps.
O soul of mankind, how like unto water!
O fate of mankind, how like unto wind!”
Song of the Spirits on the Water by Johann Wolfgang Goethe (1749 – 1832), born on this day, translated by Adam Sedia
Chorlton Unitarians 