What language will such a spirit speak, when he speaks unto his soul? The language of the dithyramb. I am the inventor of the dithyramb. Hearken unto the manner in which Zarathustra speaks to his soul Before Sunrise (iii. 48). Before my time such emerald joys and divine tenderness had found no tongue. Even the profoundest melancholy of such a Dionysus takes shape as a dithyramb. As an example of this I take "The Night-Song,"--the immortal plaint of one who, thanks to his superabundance of light and power, thanks to the sun within him, is condemned never to love.
Nietzsche · Thus Spake Zarathustra (from 'Why I Write Such Excellent Books')
The dithyramb and the Night-Song
Nietzsche says that Zarathustra speaks to his soul in the dithyramb, of which he is the inventor, citing 'Before Sunrise', and presents 'The Night-Song' as the immortal plaint of one condemned by his superabundance of light and power never to love.
On Zarathustra
- The bestowing virtueThe Night-Song is read as the suffering of the giver whose overflowing light isolates him.
- SolitudeThe sun's solitude in its own light.