I can’t help but keep on thinking about the “who am I?” poem that keeps capturing my attention whenever I even hear the phrase “who am I?”. After beign reminded by the previous song in the previous post … I’m drawn deeper into how this question brings me to what’s essential once again – not just for physically hazy days like now but also when I begin to get hazy in wondering “Who am I?” in days where it’s so easy to forget.
“WHO AM I?”
by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Who am I? They often tell me
I would step from my cell’s confinement
calmly, cheerfully, firmly,
like a squire from his country-house.Who am I? They also tell me
I would talk to my warders
freely and friendly and clearly,
as though it were mine to command.Who am I? They also tell me
I would bear the days of misfortune
equably, smilingly, proudly,
like one accustomed to win.Am I then really all that which other men tell of?
Or am I only what I myself know of myself,
restless and longing and sick, like a bird in a cage,
struggling for breath, as though hands were compressing my throat,
yearning for colors, for flowers, for the voices of birds,
thirsting for words of kindness, for neighborliness,
trembling with anger at despotisms and petty humiliation,
tossing in expectation of great events,
powerlessly trembling for friends at an infinite distance,
weary and empty at praying, at thinking, at making,
faint, and ready to say farewell to it all?Who am I? This or the other?
Am I one person today, and tomorrow another?
Am I both at once? A hypocrite before others,
and before myself a contemptibly woebegone weakling?
Or is something within me still like a beaten army,
fleeing in disorder from victory already achieved?Who am I? They mock me, these lonely questions of mine.
Whoever I am, thou knowest, O God, I am thine.
This is such a sad yet beautiful poem. I love it!
Wow, i can’t think of a better ending to the poem. Excellent writing. Hits dead centre to the very core of our being. Is this from ‘The Soul of Kierkegaard?’ Do you know where can i go to get a copy?