Class 5 to Class 12
Ich schaue in die Welt
In der die Sonne leuchtet
In der die Sterne funkeln
In der die Steine lagern
Die Pflanzen lebend wachsen
Die Tiere fühlend leben
In der der Mensch* beseelt
Dem Geiste Wohnung gibt
Ich schaue in die Seele
Die mir im Innern lebet
Der Gottesgeist, er webt
Im Sonn- und Seelenlicht
Im Weltenraum da draussen
In Seelentiefen drinnen
Zu Dir, oh Gottesgeist
Will ich bittend mich wenden
Dass Kraft und Segen mir
Zum Lernen und zur Arbeit
In meinem Innern wachse
Rudolf Steiner
I look into the world
Wherein there shines the sun
Wherein there gleam the stars
Wherein there lie the stones
The plants, they live and grow
The beasts, they feel and live
And man* to spirit gives
A dwelling in his soul
I look into the soul
That living dwells in me
God’s spirit lives and weaves
In light of sun and soul
In heights of world without
In depths of soul within
To thee, O Spirit of God
I seeking turn myself
That strength and grace and skill
For learning and for work
In me may live and grow
Translation Roland Everett
There are other translations too, but Everett’s is generally held to be the most accurate and poetically satisfying version.
The Second Morning Verse has three parts and is a guided meditation on how we experience the world.
On the one hand, we perceive its natural phenomena, traditionally categorized as the mineral kingdom, the plant and the animal realm, and the human sphere.
This outer world is common to us all, but inside each one of us opens up the personal world of the soul.
Turning our gaze inward, we find not only that which makes us distinct from all others, but also that which unites us even in the intensely personal and individual life of our soul: the Spirit of God.
This Creator Spirit is the living link of everything that has its being in the universe, from the farthest stars to the grains of sand. He is the bond that links us all: the divine source that alone is able to give life, make it meaningful and comfort its sorrows.
Note: Rudolf Steiner used the gender-neutral German word Mensch, ‘human being’. Speakers of English (and its translators) know that many a word denotes different things. The meaning of spring, ring, left, boot, pitch, palm and swallow, for example, can only be gleaned from their context.
The English word man is such a multi-tasking term, signifying in some cases human beings of all genders, in others someone male.
It is essential that young people learn such important nuances of their language, and so it is counterproductive to replace the word man in this context with its synonym human beings.
Neither is it a good idea to edit God out of the Morning Verse, as outlined here:
