Quotes from work
Ode to Joy

Friedrich Schiller Original title [Ode] an die Freude (German, 1786)

"Ode to Joy" is an ode written in the summer of 1785 by German poet, playwright, and historian Friedrich Schiller and published the following year in Thalia. A slightly revised version appeared in 1808, changing two lines of the first and omitting the last stanza.

“Courage, ne'er by sorrow broken!
Aid where tears of virtue flow;
Faith to keep each promise spoken!
Truth alike to friend and foe!”

Friedrich Schiller Ode to Joy

Stanza 8
An die Freude (Ode to Joy; or Hymn to Joy) (1785)

“Welcome, all ye myriad creatures!
Brethren, take the kiss of love!”

Friedrich Schiller Ode to Joy

Chorus 1
An die Freude (Ode to Joy; or Hymn to Joy) (1785)

“Be embraced, ye millions!
This kiss is for the whole world!
Brothers, above the arch of stars
A loving Father surely dwells.”

Friedrich Schiller Ode to Joy

Stanza 5
An die Freude (Ode to Joy; or Hymn to Joy) (1785)

“Joy from truth's own glass of fire
Sweetly on the searcher smiles;
Lest on virtue's steeps he tire,
Joy the tedious path beguiles.
High on faith's bright hill before us,
See her banner proudly wave!
Joy, too, swells the angels' chorus,—
Bursts the bondage of the grave!”

Friedrich Schiller Ode to Joy

Stanza 5
An die Freude (Ode to Joy; or Hymn to Joy) (1785)

“Joy, in Nature's wide dominion,
Mightiest cause of all is found;
And 'tis joy that moves the pinion,
When the wheel of time goes round”

Friedrich Schiller Ode to Joy

Stanza 4
An die Freude (Ode to Joy; or Hymn to Joy) (1785)

“He, that noble prize possessing—
He that boasts a friend that's true,
He whom woman's love is blessing,
Let him join the chorus too!”

Friedrich Schiller Ode to Joy

Stanza 3
An die Freude (Ode to Joy; or Hymn to Joy) (1785)

“To the Gods we ne'er can render
Praise for every good they grant;
Let us, with devotion tender,
Minister to grief and want.
Quenched be hate and wrath forever,
Pardoned be our mortal foe—
May our tears upbraid him never,
No repentance bring him low!”

Friedrich Schiller Ode to Joy

Stanza 6
An die Freude (Ode to Joy; or Hymn to Joy) (1785)

“Joy, thou spark from Heav'n immortal,
Daughter of Elysium!
Drunk with fire, toward Heaven advancing
Goddess, to thy shrine we come.
Thy sweet magic brings together
What stern Custom spreads afar;
All men become brothers
Where thy happy wing-beats are.”

Friedrich Schiller Ode to Joy

Stanza 1
An die Freude (Ode to Joy; or Hymn to Joy) (1785)

“Bow before him, all creation!
Mortals, own the God of love!
Seek him high the stars above,—
Yonder is his habitation!”

Friedrich Schiller Ode to Joy

Chorus 3
An die Freude (Ode to Joy; or Hymn to Joy) (1785)

“Lo, the dead shall rise to heaven!
Brethren hail the blest decree;
Every sin shall be forgiven,
Hell forever cease to be!”

Friedrich Schiller Ode to Joy

Stanza 9
An die Freude (Ode to Joy; or Hymn to Joy) (1785)

“Sense of wrongs forget to treasure—
Brethren, live in perfect love!”

Friedrich Schiller Ode to Joy

Chorus 6
An die Freude (Ode to Joy; or Hymn to Joy) (1785)
Context: Sense of wrongs forget to treasure—
Brethren, live in perfect love!
In the starry realms above,
God will mete as we may measure.