Hans Christian Andersen, and the realization that I really am a total nerd.
Yours truly is a nerd. I'll freely admit it. I'm also a Dungeons and Dragons player, unicorn believer and faerie tale lover, which is why I was soooo excited to see this offering from FutureLearn.com. The class is free if you are interested. If you're not, I must apologize, as this link to the class will be followed by some poetry of Master Andersen himself.
“Life is a shadow that flits away
In a night of darkness and woe.”
But then would follow brighter thoughts:
“Life has the rose’s sweet perfume
With sunshine, light, and joy.”
And if one stanza sounded painfully—
“Each mortal thinks of himself alone,
Is a truth, alas, too clearly known;”
Then, on the other hand, came the answer—
“Love, like a mighty flowing stream,
Fills every heart with its radiant gleam.”
She heard, indeed, such words as these—
“In the pretty turmoil here below,
All is a vain and paltry show.”
Then came also words of comfort—
“Great and good are the actions done
By many whose worth is never known.”
And if sometimes the mocking strain reached her—
“Why not join in the jesting cry
That contemns all gifts from the throne on high?”
In the blind girl’s heart a stronger voice repeated—
“To trust in thyself and God is best,
In His holy will forever to rest.”
But the evil spirit could not see this and remain contented.
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Hans Christian Andersen’s Fairy Tales
Hans Christian Andersen Centre
From The Philosopher’s Stone
Hans Christian Andersen
Now she heard the following words sadly sung,—“Life is a shadow that flits away
In a night of darkness and woe.”
But then would follow brighter thoughts:
“Life has the rose’s sweet perfume
With sunshine, light, and joy.”
And if one stanza sounded painfully—
“Each mortal thinks of himself alone,
Is a truth, alas, too clearly known;”
Then, on the other hand, came the answer—
“Love, like a mighty flowing stream,
Fills every heart with its radiant gleam.”
She heard, indeed, such words as these—
“In the pretty turmoil here below,
All is a vain and paltry show.”
Then came also words of comfort—
“Great and good are the actions done
By many whose worth is never known.”
And if sometimes the mocking strain reached her—
“Why not join in the jesting cry
That contemns all gifts from the throne on high?”
In the blind girl’s heart a stronger voice repeated—
“To trust in thyself and God is best,
In His holy will forever to rest.”
But the evil spirit could not see this and remain contented.
"That ancient tree, don’t let it fall"
Hans Christian Andersen
That ancient tree, don’t let it fall
Until old age is knelling;
So many things it can recall,
What tales it could be telling.
We once did see its blossom-haul
Each branch with fruit was swelling.
That ancient tree, don’t let it fall,
You must not think of felling!
Now to be journeying I yearn
But yet the truth in part is
One does but travel to return,
For home is where one’s heart is.
When this old tree stands blossom-tall,
I’m nearly home it’s telling;
That ancient tree, don’t let it fall,
You must not think of felling!
Until old age is knelling;
So many things it can recall,
What tales it could be telling.
We once did see its blossom-haul
Each branch with fruit was swelling.
That ancient tree, don’t let it fall,
You must not think of felling!
Now to be journeying I yearn
But yet the truth in part is
One does but travel to return,
For home is where one’s heart is.
When this old tree stands blossom-tall,
I’m nearly home it’s telling;
That ancient tree, don’t let it fall,
You must not think of felling!
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