The Course Of Life

You too wanted better things, but love           forces all of us down.  Sorrow bends us more           forcefully, but the arc doesn't return to its           point of origin without a reason.             Upwards or downwards!  In holy Night,           where mute Nature plans the coming days,           doesn't there reign in the most twisted Orcus           something straight and direct?             This I have learned.  Never to my knowledge           did you, all-preserving gods, like mortal           masters, lead me providentially           along a straight path.             The gods say that man should test           everything, and that strongly nourished           he be thankful for everything, and understand           the freedom to set forth wherever he will.