Poems, supressed poems | Page 8

from the forest's gloom.
The fish repose within the watery deeps,
The snail draws in his head;?The dog beneath the table calmly sleeps,
My wife is slumbering in her bed.
A hearty welcome to ye, brethren mine!
Friends of my life's young spring!?Perchance around a flask of Rhenish wine
Ye're gathered now, in joyous ring.
The brimming goblet's bright and purple beams
Mirror the world with joy,?And pleasure from the golden grape-juice gleams--
Pleasure untainted by alloy.
Concealed behind departed years, your eyes
Find roses now alone;?And, as the summer tempest quickly flies,
Your heavy sorrows, too, are flown.
From childish sports, to e'en the doctor's hood,
The book of life ye thumb,?And reckon o'er, in light and joyous mood,
Your toils in the gymnasium;
Ye count the oaths that Terence--may he ne'er,
Though buried, calmly slumber!--?Caused you, despite Minelli's notes, to swear,--
Count your wry faces without number.
How, when the dread examinations came,
The boy with terror shook!?How, when the rector had pronounced his name,
The sweat streamed down upon his book!
All this is now involved in mist forever,
The boy is now a man,?And Frederick, wiser grown, discloses never
What little Fritz once loved to plan.
At length--a doctor one's declared to be,--
A regimental one!?And then,--and not too soon,--discover we
That plans soap-bubbles are alone. [68]
Blow on! blow on! and let the bubbles rise,
If but this heart remain!?And if a German laurel as the prize
Of song, 'tis given me to gain!
THE WIRTEMBERGER.
The name of Wirtemberg they hold?To come from Wirth am berg [69], I'm told.?A Wirtemberger who ne'er drinks?No Wirtemberger is, methinks!
THE MOLE.
HUSBAND.?The boy's my very image! See!?Even the scars my small-pox left me!
WIFE.?I can believe it easily?They once of all my senses reft me.
HYMN TO THE ETERNAL.
'Twixt the heavens and earth, high in the airy ocean,?In the tempest's cradle I'm borne with a rocking motion;
Clouds are towering,
Storms beneath me are lowering,
Giddily all the wonders I see,?And, O Eternal, I think of Thee!
All Thy terrible pomp, lend to the Finite now,?Mighty Nature! Oh, of Infinity, thou
Giant daughter!
Mirror God, as in water!
Tempest, oh, let thine organ-peal?God to the reasoning worm reveal!
Hark! it peals--how the rocks quiver beneath its growls Zeboath's glorious name, wildly the hurricane howls!
Graving the while
With the lightning's style
"Creatures, do ye acknowledge me?"--?Spare us, Lord! We acknowledge Thee!
DIALOGUE.
A.?Hark, neighbor, for one moment stay!?Herr Doctor Scalpel, so they say,
Has got off safe and sound;?At Paris I your uncle found?Fast to a horse's crupper bound,--?Yet Scalpel made a king his prey.
B.?Oh, dear me, no! A real misnomer!?The fact is, he has his diploma;
The other one has not.
A.?Eh? What? Has a diploma?
In Suabia may such things be got?
EPITAPH
ON A CERTAIN PHYSIOGNOMIST.
On every nose he rightly read?What intellects were in the head?And yet--that he was not the one?By whom God meant it to be done,?This on his own he never read.
TRUST IN IMMORTALITY.
The dead has risen here, to live through endless ages;
This I with firmness trust and know.?I was first led to guess it by the sages,
The knaves convince me that 'tis really so.
APPENDIX OF POEMS ETC. IN SCHILLER'S DRAMATIC WORKS.
APPENDIX.
The following variations appear in the first two verses of Hector's Farewell, as given in The Robbers, act ii. scene 2.
ANDROMACHE.?Wilt thou, Hector, leave me?--leave me weeping,?Where Achilles' murderous blade is heaping?Bloody offerings on Patroclus' grave??Who, alas, will teach thine infant truly?Spears to hurl, the gods to honor duly,?When thou'rt buried 'neath dark Xanthus' wave?
HECTOR.?Dearest wife, go,--fetch my death-spear glancing,?Let me join the battle-dance entrancing,?For my shoulders bear the weight of Troy!?Heaven will be our Astyanax' protector!?Falling as his country's savior, Hector?Soon will greet thee in the realms of joy.
The following additional verse is found in Amalia's Song, as sung in The Robbers, act iii. scene 1. It is introduced between the first and second verses, as they appear in poems.
His embrace--what maddening rapture bound us!?Bosom throbbed 'gainst bosom with wild might;?Mouth and ear were chained--night reigned around us--?And the spirit winged toward heaven its flight.
From The Robbers, act iv. scene 5.
CHORUS OF ROBBERS.?What so good for banishing sorrow?As women, theft, and bloody affray??We must dance in the air to-morrow,?Therefore let's be right merry to-day!
A free and jovial life we've led,?Ever since we began it.?Beneath the tree we make our bed,?We ply our task when the storm's o'erhead?And deem the moon our planet.?The fellow we swear by is Mercury,?A capital hand at our trade is he.
To-day we become the guests of a priest,?A rich farmer