gwern comments on Slava! - Less Wrong

30 [deleted] 03 October 2010 02:47AM

You are viewing a comment permalink. View the original post to see all comments and the full post content.

Comments (103)

You are viewing a single comment's thread.

Comment author: gwern 05 October 2010 03:37:07PM *  4 points [-]

I am surprised no one mentioned "Ode to Joy", especially since Schiller's poem is very light on genuine religious sentiment (as opposed to stock imagery) and is very secular in portions:

45 Joyful, as His suns are flying,
46 Across the Firmament's splendid design,
47 Run, brothers, run your race,
48 Joyful, as a hero going to conquest.
49 As truth's fiery reflection
50 It smiles at the scientist.
51 To virtue's steep hill
52 It leads the sufferer on.
53 Atop faith's lofty summit
54 One sees its flags in the wind,
55 Through the cracks of burst-open coffins,
56 One sees it stand in the angels' chorus.