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The German Classics of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, Volume 05
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Was't mine he captured?
Or his I raptured?
Half-way both met, in bliss and wonder!
He came to meet me
In rain and thunder;
Spring-blessings greet me
Spring-blossoms under.
What though he leave me?
No partings grieve me—
No path can lead our hearts asunder.
* * * * *
THE INVITATION[53 - Translator: A.I. du P. Coleman.] (1821)
Thou, thou art rest
And peace of soul—
Thou woundst the breast
And makst it whole.
To thee I vow
'Mid joy or pain
My heart, where thou
Mayst aye remain.
Then enter free,
And bar the door
To all but thee
Forevermore.
All other woes
Thy charms shall lull;
Of sweet repose
This heart be full.
My worshipping eyes
Thy presence bright
Shall still suffice,
Their only light.
* * * * *
MURMUR NOT[54 - Translator: A.I. du P. Coleman.]
Murmur not and say thou art in fetters holden,
Murmur not that thou earth's heavy yoke must bear.
Say not that a prison is this world so golden—
'Tis thy murmurs only set its harsh walls there.
Question not how shall this riddle find its reading;
It will solve itself full soon without thine aid.
Say not love hath turned his back, and left thee bleeding—
Whom hath love deserted, hast thou heard it said?
If death tries to fright thee, fear not beyond measure;
He will flee from those who boldly face his frown.
Hunt not thou the fleeting deer of worldly pleasure—
Lion it will turn, and hunt the hunter down.
Chain thyself no longer, heart, to any treasure;
Then thou shalt not say thou art into fetters thrown.
* * * * *
A PARABLE[55 - Translator: A.I. du P. Coleman.] (1822)
In Syria walked a man one day
And led a camel on the way.
A sudden wildness seized the beast,
And as they strove its rage increased.
So fearsome grew its savagery
That for his life the man must flee.
And as he ran, he spied a cave
That one last chance of safety gave.
He heard the snorting beast behind
Come nearer—with distracted mind
Leaped where the cooling fountain sprang,
Yet not to fall, but catch and hang;
By lucky hap a bramble wild
Grew where the o'erhanging rocks were piled.
He saved himself by this alone,
And did his hapless state bemoan.
He looked above, and there was yet
Too close the furious camel's threat
That still of fearful rage was full.
He dropped his eyes toward the pool,
And saw within the shadows dim
A dragon's jaws agape for him—
A still more fierce and dangerous foe
If he should slip and fall below.
So, hanging midway of the two,
He spied a cause of terror new:
Where to the rock's deep crevice clung
The slender root on which he swung,
A little pair of mice he spied,
A black and white one side by side—
First one and then the other saw
The slender stem alternate gnaw.
They gnawed and bit with ceaseless toil,
And from the roots they tossed the soil.
Or his I raptured?
Half-way both met, in bliss and wonder!
He came to meet me
In rain and thunder;
Spring-blessings greet me
Spring-blossoms under.
What though he leave me?
No partings grieve me—
No path can lead our hearts asunder.
* * * * *
THE INVITATION[53 - Translator: A.I. du P. Coleman.] (1821)
Thou, thou art rest
And peace of soul—
Thou woundst the breast
And makst it whole.
To thee I vow
'Mid joy or pain
My heart, where thou
Mayst aye remain.
Then enter free,
And bar the door
To all but thee
Forevermore.
All other woes
Thy charms shall lull;
Of sweet repose
This heart be full.
My worshipping eyes
Thy presence bright
Shall still suffice,
Their only light.
* * * * *
MURMUR NOT[54 - Translator: A.I. du P. Coleman.]
Murmur not and say thou art in fetters holden,
Murmur not that thou earth's heavy yoke must bear.
Say not that a prison is this world so golden—
'Tis thy murmurs only set its harsh walls there.
Question not how shall this riddle find its reading;
It will solve itself full soon without thine aid.
Say not love hath turned his back, and left thee bleeding—
Whom hath love deserted, hast thou heard it said?
If death tries to fright thee, fear not beyond measure;
He will flee from those who boldly face his frown.
Hunt not thou the fleeting deer of worldly pleasure—
Lion it will turn, and hunt the hunter down.
Chain thyself no longer, heart, to any treasure;
Then thou shalt not say thou art into fetters thrown.
* * * * *
A PARABLE[55 - Translator: A.I. du P. Coleman.] (1822)
In Syria walked a man one day
And led a camel on the way.
A sudden wildness seized the beast,
And as they strove its rage increased.
So fearsome grew its savagery
That for his life the man must flee.
And as he ran, he spied a cave
That one last chance of safety gave.
He heard the snorting beast behind
Come nearer—with distracted mind
Leaped where the cooling fountain sprang,
Yet not to fall, but catch and hang;
By lucky hap a bramble wild
Grew where the o'erhanging rocks were piled.
He saved himself by this alone,
And did his hapless state bemoan.
He looked above, and there was yet
Too close the furious camel's threat
That still of fearful rage was full.
He dropped his eyes toward the pool,
And saw within the shadows dim
A dragon's jaws agape for him—
A still more fierce and dangerous foe
If he should slip and fall below.
So, hanging midway of the two,
He spied a cause of terror new:
Where to the rock's deep crevice clung
The slender root on which he swung,
A little pair of mice he spied,
A black and white one side by side—
First one and then the other saw
The slender stem alternate gnaw.
They gnawed and bit with ceaseless toil,
And from the roots they tossed the soil.
