Character Sketches From Hermann Hesse

1. Narcissus There's a lot of room left in your head yet, my brother There probably always will be. Yours the realm of sliderule order And the self-denial of the man who believes in Facts. Your feet are planted firmly on the Earth Even while your head inclines to the stars. You could well serve as God's measurements taker. Your home is the cloister, The sound of sandal upon stone Will usher you in and usher you out As you pass through the halls and cells Of your ruthlessly well managed life. The quiet warmth of candlelight Has always shone in your eyes. How much I admire your strength and discipline, Yet how much the more do I pity you, O Master of the Mind! 2. Goldmund O what a lucky ladies' man you've been, My darling, handsome little Goldmouth! Kissed them all and not a one cried When you left them. There was too much of your mother in you for that. The libertine's life was the road you followed, Running ahead of wilting youth. You saw the plague and its silent horrors And killed two men yourself, Got a taste of the gallows, Yet lived to tell it all. You lived much and suffered much, Which burnished your soul to its final brightness. And when you fell and broke your ribs To breathe your last in icy waters, Alone beneath that dark, unpitying Winter's sky, Mother called you back.