Facing mortality through the seasons: Reading Hesse in early summer

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Facing mortality through the seasons: Reading Hesse in early summer

Published: 27 Jun. 2025, 00:06

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

Yang Sung-hee

The author is a columnist at the JoongAng Ilbo.

Soon, We Shall Be Dust: Hesse’s Reflections on Life and Death Through the Seasons

“Soon the wind will blow,
Soon death will come to reap.
Soon the gray ghost will smile —
And our hearts will freeze,
The garden lose its splendor,
Life its glow.
Let us sing and be glad —
For soon we shall be dust.”
— Hermann Hesse, “Autumn”

On the threshold of midsummer, I take out “Soon, We Shall All Be Dust.” No doubt it is the title that compels me. It recalls a familiar line from Proverbs: “For dust you are, and to dust you shall return.” The book is a collection of essays by translator Hong Seong-gwang, who interprets Hesse’s literature and life through the lens of the four seasons. Naturally, I find myself looking up Hesse’s poems, arranged by season.

The cover of “Soon, We Shall All Be Dust,” written by Hong Seong-gwang. [SAYU & GONGGAM]

“Every child knows what springtime says:
Live, grow, blossom, hope, love,
Be glad and sprout anew.
Offer yourself up and do not fear life!
Every aged person knows what springtime speaks:
Old man, let yourself be buried,
Make way for the courageous youth.
Offer yourself up and do not fear death!”
—“The Language of Spring”

This is from the poem “The Language of Spring.” Hesse captures the way spring speaks in different tones to the young and the old: encouraging the former to embrace life and urging the latter to accept its end without fear.

The poem for summer is titled “Withered Leaf.” Hesse writes that all flowers strive to become fruit, all mornings head toward evening. Nothing on earth is eternal. Only change and the passing of time persist. Even the most glorious summer senses the coming of autumn and decay. To the leaf, he says: Be patient, endure quietly, when the wind tries to carry you away. Even in the brightness of spring and summer, Hesse prepares for death.

Finally, there is “November.”

“All things now veil themselves and fade.
Foggy days carry unease and worry.
After stormy nights, the morning brings the sound of ice.
The world is full of sorrow and death.
You, too, must learn to surrender and to die.
To know death is sacred wisdom.
Prepare for it, and when you are taken,
You shall enter a higher life.”

Even as the world mourns and withers, Hesse reminds us that understanding and accepting death is a kind of divine wisdom. In surrender, he suggests, there is no defeat — only a quiet passage into something greater.

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.