#patmos

Near is

And difficult to grasp, the God.

But where danger threatens

That which saves from it also grows.

In gloomy places dwell

The eagles, and fearless over

The chasm walk the sons of the Alps

On bridges lightly built.

Therefore, since round about

Are heaped the summits of Time

And the most loved live near, growing faint

On mountains most separate,

Give us innocent water,

O pinions give us, with minds most faithful

To cross over and to return.

Hölderlin, ‘Patmos’ (1803) (Trans. Hamburger)