and an Ode to Joy!
Europe needs an agenda for bildung, and at the European Bildung Day 2024 in Rotterdam we launched the European Bildung Manifesto!
We also sang for the very first time ever Lene Rachel Andersen’s English translation of Friedrich Schiller’s Ode an die Freude. We hope that this singable version will help more Europeans appreciate the song.
Please help us promote bildung in Europe by signing the European Bildung Manifesto.
And don’t forget to sing!
Ode to Joy
Lyrics: Friedrich Schiller
Translation: Lene Rachel Andersen
Music: Ludwig van Beethoven
Joy, o, let us be elated,
Daughter of Elysium,
Sing in joy intoxicated
Celebrate what we’ve become.
Joy so magic’ly has united
What old norms once tore apart;
Spread your wings, and let’s exited
Build a brotherhood of hearts.
Bless’d is she who has succeeded
Making friendships last and grow,
Bless’d is he who likewise heeded
Love and made that fire glow.
Bless’d are you, who saw the lonely,
And reached out to hold a hand;
Those who flourish selfish only
Leave the brotherhood of man.
Joy, the drink of all things living,
Mother Nature’s nurturing;
All men taking, all men giving,
Suckle by her sacred spring.
Raining kisses, cup overflowing,
Friend eternal, force of life:
Lifejoy is in all things growing,
Guarding cherub, make it rife!
Printable version: https://usercontent.one/wp/www.nordicbildung.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Ode_to-Joy_printable.pdf?media=1682942108