Heraclitean

Alles Glück auf Erden,

Freunde, gibt der Kampf!

Ja, um Freund zu warden,

Braucht es Pulverdampf!

Eins in Drein sind Freunde:

Brüder vor der Not,

Gleiche vor dem Feinde,

Freie – vor dem Tod!

– “Heraclitean,” poem #41 from the prologue to Nietzsche’s Joyful Science, c. 1882

Only fighting yields

Happiness on earth,

And on battlefields

Friendship has its birth.

One in three are friends:

Brothers in distress,

Equals, facing foes,

Free – when facing death!

– “Heraclitean,” English translation of Nietzsche’s poem by Walter Kaufmann

I am no expert on poetry, nor the philosophy of Nietzsche, except of the armchair Monday-morning quarterback sort. But I like this poem when I think about it on a more abstract level, not the obvious and literal comrade-in-arms in the trenches facing bayonets. It applies to any man facing any challenge, and that, along with what I understand of the German’s thought, appeals immensely to me.