Zueignung drawn by me

"Ja, du weißt es, teure Seele,
Daß ich fern von dir mich quäle,
Liebe macht die Herzen krank,
Habe Dank.

Einst hielt ich, der Freiheit Zecher,
Hoch den Amethysten-Becher,
Und du segnetest den Trank,
Habe Dank.

Und beschworst darin die Bösen,
Bis ich, was ich nie gewesen,
heilig, heilig an's Herz dir sank,
Habe Dank."
-Zueignung Opus 10 composed by Richard Strauss from the poem by Hermann von Gilm (1812-1864), composed and completed on August 13, 1885.

English Translation by Richard Stokes:
"Yes, dear soul, you know
That I’m in torment far from you,
Love makes hearts sick –
Be thanked.

Once, reveling in freedom,
I held The amethyst cup aloft
And you blessed that draught –
Be thanked.

And you banished the evil spirits,
Till I, as never before,
Holy, sank holy upon your heart –
Be thanked."

This piece of HarJul fanart, which is part of my dearest friend's Kaitlyn's aka KatyGorl's Claim a PPG Pairing Month, is dedicated to AwesomeAmber-669 who is celebrating her birthday today. So, Amber, I wish you a most amazing, blessed, and happy birthday. Stay as awesome as an artist and as a person. Wie wir auf deutsch sagen, ich wünsche dir einen hervorragenden, gesegneten und herzlichen Geburtstag. Bleib wie toll du bist als Künstler und als Mensch. I would also like to dedicate this to all of the HarJul shippers out there if there are any. Also, viel Spaß beim Zuschauen.

I managed to get myself introduced to this rather obscure pairing by complete and utter chance all thanks to Miss EmmyJay's cute and funny piece of work Doodle- Assigned Dance Class Partners. It was through that piece of work that I started to get myself invested with this really adorable yet really obscure normie to normie pairing, seeing that I am not too much of a Harrossom fan and I do think that someone like Julie Bean would pretty much gel well with Harry Pitt. I picture their relationship growing from schoolyard crush to friendship to a steady relationship to engagement to being happily married with a few children. So, MJ, I really have you to thank for inspiring me to be a hardcore shipper of Harry Pitt and Julie Bean or HarJul.

There is an interesting appeal to having someone as grungy, grubby, messy yet oddly adorable like Harry Pitt pair up with someone as cute, sweet-looking, and jolly like Julie Bean. The pairing plays itself off where the opposites truly attract, which I am totally invested in. Moreover, if you could not tell, the now 26-year-old Harry Pitt and the now 25-year-old Julie Bean-Pitt are a married couple in my Team Xtreme headcanon, I might have to bring in the fan-babies in the near future or if I have time. For my non-German speaking friends, Harry's shirt to Julie is translated as "Julie is my treasure full of joy and beauty", while Julie's shirt dedicated to Harry is translated as "Harry is my brave knight". Something tells me that I am not going to stop gushing about how lovely, sweet, and awesome Harry Pitt and Julie Bean-Pitt are as a couple.

I figured that the Richard Strauss Lied "Zueignung" would be a nice fit for this couple because of the sweeping melody and the absolute emotional pull and push of the song. I should know because my actor friend and I also sang this song in an adaptation of Goethe's Werther. As to be expected, I have some favorite interpreters of this Lied and those are Jessye Norman, Helen Traubel, Fritz Wunderlich, and Rudolf Schock. I hope you enjoy listening to these four selections, as you gaze into the sweetness that is Harry Pitt x Julie Bean-Pitt aka HarJul. Viel Spaß auch beim Zuhören.

Jessye Norman

Helen Traubel

Fritz Wunderlich

Rudolf Schock

So, I hope you all enjoyed this piece of HarJul fanart as well as the four interpretations of Richard Strauss's Zueignung. I am pretty sure this pairing will grow on you and even if it does not, it's all right we all have our different tastes. Bis zum nächsten Mal, meine liebe Freunde.

Harry Pitt and Julie Bean from The Powerpuff Girls belong to Craig McCracken and Cartoon Network.