The “Roundelay” from Nietzsche’s ‘Zarathustra’ ; Adrian del Caro trans.:
Oh mankind, pray!
What does deep midnight have to say?
"From sleep, from sleep—
From deepest dream I made my way:—
The world is deep,
And deeper than the grasp of day.
Deep is its pain—,
Joy—deeper still than misery:
Pain says: Refrain!
Yet all joy wants eternity—
—Wants deep, wants deep eternity."Hi Dave:
While I do like Nietzsche as a founder of existential philosophy and the work Thus Spake Zarathustra, I don’t understand why you are introducing it here. After all, he is an atheist and went insane. Unless you wish us to discuss Eternal recurrence and wish to explain your views on this topic. That’s it, right? 
Easy, man…it’s the ‘poetry’ section and I think it expresses a truth most of us agree with - in more folksy terms, there’s a God-shaped hole in us that noone can fill but God.
I’m not disagreeing that Thus Spake zarathustra is also interesting, in it’s poetic form. I’m just having a bit of fun here in the US, on a Friday afternoon. 
Good for you! I’m in favor of fun. 
Amen to that poem! Thanks for sharing Dave. We can always learn from others (including ‘atheists’!). I admire Nietzsche, not only for the no. of consecutive consonants in his name, but also for his integrity and realisation in following the natural consequences of his beliefs. A great man but, for me, there will only ever be one father of existentialism - the amazing Kierkegaard:
“God creates out of nothing. Wonderful you say. Yes, to be sure, but he does what is still more wonderful: he makes saints out of sinners.”
Right on about that run of consonants - I always have to check my spelling.
Agree re: Kierkegaard.
I look on Søren K as a great Christian existentialist. However, there is also good Existential literature - like Franz Kafka, Albert Camus and even Jean-Paul Sartre. As usual, literature works that embed a philosophical framework, are usually more interesting than a philosopher defending that framework. A typical example is the Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand, defending selfishness and atheism - much like Zarathustra via Nietzsche. Until this day, I remember in The Stranger by Camus, that Meursault didn’t cry at his mother’s funeral.
Kierkegaard…such a brilliant man!