Classic Poem

Das Herz ist mir bedrückt, und sehnlich

My heart is crushed with grief, for sadly
I think of old times, clean of strife,
When all the world went far from badly,
And people lived a normal life.

But now the world seems madly driven;
Scrambling to pull and push ahead!
Dead is the good Lord up in Heaven,
And down below the devil's dead.

All things, with this eternal shoving,
Become a gray and sodden brawl;
And if it were not for a little loving
There'd be no rest for us at all.