“There seem to be magic days once in a while, with some rare quality of light that hold a body spellbound…”

—Maxfield Parrish

Click to learn more about Maxfield Parrish, who lived from 1870 to 1966.
This phenomenal American illustrator had an immediately recognizable, unique, gorgeous style!

Have you ever been transfixed with longing when looking at the beauty in the landscape around you? Or captivated with nostalgia when a certain sonata plays? Or struck with yearning for…something…when viewing a beautiful painting of the sea? The German language terms this feeling sehnsucht. And although hard to translate, most people can empathize with the experience.

Wikipedia describes it this way: “Sehnsucht (German pronun­cia­tion: [ˈzeːnˌzʊxt]) is a German noun translated as ‘longing,’ ‘pining,’ ‘yearning,’ or ‘craving,’ or in a wider sense a type of ‘intensely missing.’ However, Sehnsucht is difficult to translate adequately and describes a deep emotional state.”

I personally experienced sehnsucht recently on a late-afternoon drive through the rolling hills of northern Kentucky. Golden light poured over hills and valleys, illuminating the nigh-infinite variety of hue in nature. The bright green of early Spring, at this time of day, resonates with blues, purples, golds, and reds.

Maxfield Parrish and Sehnsucht

This drive through the hills was still fresh on my mind when I saw Maxfield Parrish’s quote. I believe Parrish frequently conveys the sense of sehnsucht in his paintings. The wonderful artist and illustrator knew a thing or two about “quality of light!” His paintings shine like stained glass with luminosity and vibrance. “Parrish Blue” became extremely well known during his working years, and remains iconic through modern times. He created this vibrancy using thin, layered glazes of oil paint. The effect of his technique really resembles watercolor rather than the approach used by most oil painters.

Parrish utilized many elements to infuse his works with this quality of delighted yearning. His home in New Hampshire was surrounded by beautiful landscapes from which he drew inspiration. He implemented enchanting lighting and atmospheric conditions to further produce a mystical effect. His use of colors and solitary figures also further this emotional occurrence.

Articulating and Experiencing Sehnsucht

British philosopher, novelist, and Christian apologist C.S. Lewis wrote regularly about the phenomenon of sehnsucht. He described it as: “That unnameable something, desire for which pierces us like a rapier at the smell of bonfire, the sound of wild ducks flying overhead, the title of The Well at the World’s End, the opening lines of Kubla Khan, the morning cobwebs in late summer, or the noise of falling waves.” Elsewhere he continues to articulate sehnsuct: “And before I knew what I desired, the desire itself was gone, the whole glimpse withdrawn, the world turned commonplace again, or only stirred by a longing for the longing that had just ceased. It had taken only a moment of time; and in a certain sense everything else that had ever happened to me was insignificant in comparison.”

This complex emotion of delight tinged with longing wells up inside me fairly often. My drive through Kentucky’s hills provides just one example. Sehnsucht also often descends at Naval Live Oaks, one of my favorite painting spots. The twisted live oaks, tangled undergrowth, and distant blue bay all combine to stir my soul.  One last example is Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 14 in C♯ minor “Quasi una fantasia,” (the “Moonlight Sonata”). Every time this song plays my imagination soars. In whatever location or circumstance I currently find myself, I am struck with that familiar yearning.

To me, the experience is a spiritual one, and as such, involves ultimate truth, reality, and purpose. I believe that God created every human for eternity, an eternity of fulfilled longing and inexpressible bliss, if we but avail ourselves of the means for attaining the opportunity.

Question: Can you identify with this experience of longing, of desire for a hard-to-describe something? How would you articulate that feeling? Let us all know in the comment section below!