The Hunter's Even-Song / Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

THE plain with still and wand'ring feet,

And gun full-charged, I tread,

And hov'ring see thine image sweet,

Thine image dear, o'er head.

In gentle silence thou dost fare

Through field and valley dear;

But doth my fleeting image ne'er

To thy mind's eye appear?

The Heathrose / Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

ONCE a boy a Rosebud spied,

Heathrose fair and tender,

All array'd in youthful pride,--

Quickly to the spot he hied,

Ravished by her splendour.

Rosebud, rosebud, rosebud red,

Heathrose fair and tender!

The Freebooter / Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

No door has my house,

No house has my door;

And in and out ever

I carry my store.

No grate has my kitchen,

No kitchen my grate;

Yet roasts it and boils it

Both early and late.

The Farewell / Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

[Probably addressed to his mistress Frederica.]

LET mine eye the farewell say,

That my lips can utter ne'er;

Fain I'd be a man to-day,

Yet 'tis hard, oh, hard to bear!

Mournful in an hour like this

Is love's sweetest pledge, I ween;

Cold upon thy mouth the kiss,

Faint thy fingers' pressure e'en.

The Exchange / Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

THE stones in the streamlet I make my bright pillow,

And open my arms to the swift-rolling billow,

That lovingly hastens to fall on my breast.

Then fickleness soon bids it onwards be flowing;

A second draws nigh, its caresses bestowing,--

And so by a twofold enjoyment I'm blest.

The Erlking / Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Who's riding so late through th' endless wild?

The father 't is with his infant child;

He thinks the boy 's well off in his arm,

He grasps him tightly, he keeps him warm.

My son, say why are you hiding your face ?

Oh father, the Erlking 's coming apace,

The Erlking 's here with his train and crown!

My son, the fog moves up and down. -

The Destruction of Magdeburg / Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

[For a fine account of the fearful sack of Magdeburg, by Tilly,

in the year 1613, see SCHILLER's History of the Thirty Years'

War.]

OH, Magdeberg the town!

Fair maids thy beauty crown,

Thy charms fair maids and matrons crown;

Oh, Magdeburg the town!

The Coy One / Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

ONE Spring-morning bright and fair,

Roam'd a shepherdess and sang;

Young and beauteous, free from care,

Through the fields her clear notes rang:

So, Ia, Ia! le ralla, &c.

Of his lambs some two or three

The Convert / Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

As at sunset I was straying

Silently the wood along,

Damon on his flute was playing,

And the rocks gave back the song,

So la, Ia! &c.

Softly tow'rds him then he drew me;

The Bridegroom / Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

(Not in the English sense of the word, but the German, where it

has the meaning of betrothed.)

I SLEPT,--'twas midnight,--in my bosom woke,

As though 'twere day, my love-o'erflowing heart;

To me it seemed like night, when day first broke;

What is't to me, whate'er it may impart?

She was away; the world's unceasing strife

For her alone I suffer'd through the heat

Of sultry day; oh, what refreshing life

At cooling eve!--my guerdon was complete.

The Bliss of Absence / Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

DRINK, oh youth, joy's purest ray

From thy loved one's eyes all day,

And her image paint at night!

Better rule no lover knows,

Yet true rapture greater grows,

When far sever'd from her sight.

The Beautiful Night / Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Now I leave this cottage lowly,

Where my love hath made her home,

And with silent footstep slowly

Through the darksome forest roam,

Luna breaks through oaks and bushes,

Zephyr hastes her steps to meet,

And the waving birch-tree blushes,

Swiss Song / Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Up in th' mountain

I was a-sitting,

With the bird there

As my guest,

Blithely singing,

Blithely springing,

And building

His nest.

Such, Such is He Who Pleaseth Me / Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

FLY, dearest, fly! He is not nigh!

He who found thee one fair morn in Spring

In the wood where thou thy flight didst wing.

Fly, dearest, fly! He is not nigh!

Never rests the foot of evil spy.

Sicilian Song / Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

YE black and roguish eyes,

If ye command.

Each house in ruins lies,

No town can stand.

And shall my bosom's chain,--

This plaster wall,

To think one moment, deign,--

Shall I not fall?

Self-Deceit / Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

My neighbour's curtain, well I see,

Is moving to and fin.

No doubt she's list'ning eagerly,

If I'm at home or no.

And if the jealous grudge I bore

And openly confess'd,

Is nourish'd by me as before,

Rollicking Hans / Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

HALLO there! A glass!

Ha! the draught's truly sweet!

If for drink go my shoes,

I shall still have my feet.

A maiden and wine,

With sweet music and song,--

I would they were mine,

All life's journey along!

Restless Love / Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

THROUGH rain, through snow,

Through tempest go!

'Mongst streaming caves,

O'er misty waves,

On, on! still on!

Peace, rest have flown!

Sooner through sadness

I'd wish to be slain,

Reciprocal Invitation to the Dance / Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

THE INDIFFERENT.

COME to the dance with me, come with me, fair one!

Dances a feast-day like this may well crown.

If thou my sweetheart art not, thou canst be so,

But if thou wilt not, we still will dance on.

Come to the dance with me, come with me, fair one!

Dances a feast-day like this may well crown.

THE TENDER.

Loved one, without thee, what then would all feast be?

Sweet one, without thee, what then were the dance?

If thou my sweetheart wert not, I would dance not.

Proximity of the Beloved One / Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

I THINK of thee, whene'er the sun his beams

O'er ocean flings;

I think of thee, whene'er the moonlight gleams

In silv'ry springs.

I see thee, when upon the distant ridge

The dust awakes;

At midnight's hour, when on the fragile bridge

The wanderer quakes.