MUTABILITY. We are as clouds that veil the midnight moon; Night closes round, and they are lost for ever: Or like forgotten lyres, whose dissonant strings We rest- A dream has power to poison sleep; It is the same! - For, be it joy or sorrow, Unbestand. Wir sind Gewölk, das Nachts den Mond um fließt: Vergeffne Harfen mit verstimmten Saiten, Ihr Herz, erschüttert, schwach, von keiner zweiten Wir ruhn-Ein Traum den Schlaf zu Gift kann machen; AU eins! denn sei'n es Freuden oder Sorgen, Der Pfad zu ihrer Flucht ist stets zur Hand: THE WORLD'S WANDERERS. Tell me, thou star, whose wings of light Tell me, moon, thou pale and grey Weary wind, who wanderest On the tree or billow? Die Wandrer der Welt. Stern, deß' Fittich in Strahlenpracht Mond, du Pilger bleich und grau Müder Wind, der sonder Rast Du wanderst als Welt-verstoß'ner Gast, Fern auf Wog' oder Baumesast Ein heimlich Nestchen hast du? WHEN THE LAMP IS SHATTERED. When the lamp is shattered The light in the dust lies dead When the cloud is scattered, The rainbow's glory is shed. When the lute is broken, - Sweet tones are remembered not; As music and splendour Like the wind through a ruined cell, Or the mournful surges That ring the dead seaman's knell. When hearts have once mingled Love first leaves the well-built nest, The weak one is singled To endure what it once possest. O Love! who bewailest The frailty of all things here, Why choose you the frailest For your cradle, your home, and your bier? |