LORE-LEI.

I know not whence it cometh
That my heart is oppressed with pain,
A tale of the past enchaineth

My soul with its magical strain.

"Tis cool and the daylight waneth,
The Rhine so peacefully flows;
And, kissed by the sunbeam of even,
The brow of the mountain glows.

The fairest of maidens sitteth
In wondrous radiance there,
Her jewels of gold gleam brightly,
She combeth her golden hair.

With a golden comb she combs it,
And sings so plaintively;

O potent and strange are the accents
Of that wild melody.

The boatman in yon frail vessel

Stands spell-bound by its might;
He sees not the cliffs before him,
He gazes alone on the height.

Methinks the waves will swallow
Both boat and boatman anon;
And this with her sweet singing
The Lore-Lei hath done.

-Translation of A. BASKERVILLE.

THE FISHER'S COTTAGE.

We sat by the fisher's cottage,
And looked at the stormy tide;
The evening mist came rising,
And floating far and wide.

One by one in the lighthouse
The lamps shone out on high;

And far on the dim horizon
A ship went sailing by.

We spoke of storm and shipwreck-
Of sailors, and how they live;
Of journeys 'twixt sky and water,
And the sorrows and joys they give.

We spoke of distant countries,
In regions strange and fair,
And of the wondrous beings
And curious customs there;

Of perfumed lamps on the Ganges,
Which are launched in the twilight hour;
And the dark and silent Brahmins,
Who worship the lotos flower.

Of the wretched dwarfs of Lapland—-
Broad-headed, wide-mouthed, and small-
Who crouch round their oil-fires, cooking,
And chatter and scream and bawl.

And the maidens earnestly listened,
Till at last we spoke no more;

The ship like a shadow had vanished,
And darkness fell deep on the shore.
-Translation of CHARLES G. LELAND.

PEACE.

High in the heavens there stood the sun
Cradled in snowy clouds,

The sea was still,

And musing I lay at the helm of the ship,
Dreamily musing-and half in waking
And half in slumber, I gazed upon Christ,
The Saviour of man.

In streaming and snowy garment

He wander'd giant-great,

Over land and sea;

His head reach'd high to the heavens,
His hands he stretch'd out in blessing

Over land and sea;

And as a heart in his bosom

Bore he the sun,

The sun all ruddy and flaming,

And the ruddy and flaming sunny-heart
Shed its beams of mercy

And its beauteous, bliss-giving light,
Lighting and warming

Over land and sea.

Sounds of bells were solemnly drawing
Here and there, like swans were drawing,
By rosy bands the gliding ship,

And drew it sportively toward the green shore,
Where men were dwelling, in high and turreted
O'erhanging town.

O blessing of peace! how still the town!
Hushed was the hollow sound

Of busy and sweltering trade,

And through the clean and echoing streets
Were passing men in white attire,

Palm-branches bearing,

And when two chanced to meet,

They view'd each other with inward intelligence,

And trembling, in love and sweet denial,

Kiss'd on the forehead each other,

And gazed up on high

At the Saviour's sunny-heart

Which, glad and atoningly

Beam'd down its ruddy blood,

And three times blest, thus spake they;

"Praised be Jesus Christ!"

-Translation of E. A. BOWRING.

SUNSET.

The glowing ruddy sun descends
Down to the far up-shuddering
Silvery-gray world-ocean;

Airy images, rosily breath'd upon,

After him roll, and over against him,

Out of the autumnal glimmering veil of clouds,

With face all mournful and pale as death,

Bursteth forth the moon,

And behind her, like sparks of light,

Misty-broad-glimmer the stars.

Once in the heavens there glitter'd,
Join'd in fond union,

Luna the goddess and Sol the god,
And around them the stars all cluster'd,
Their little, innocent children.

But evil tongues then whisper'd disunion,
And they parted in anger,

That glorious, radiant pair.

Now in the daytime, in splendor all lonely,
Wanders the Sun-god in realms on high-
On account of his majesty
Greatly sung-to and worshipp'd

By haughty, bliss-harden'd mortals.
But in the night-time,

In heaven wanders Luna,
Unhappy mother,

With all her orphan'd starry children,
And she gleams in silent sorrow,
And loving maidens and gentle poets
Devote to her tears and songs.

The gentle Luna! womanly minded,
Still doth she love her beautiful spouse.
Towards the evening, trembling and pale,
Peeps she forth from the light clouds around,
And looks at the parting one mournfully,
And fain would cry in her anguish : Come !
Come! the children all long for thee
But the disdainful Sun-god.

66

At the sight of his spouse 'gins glowing
With still deeper purple,

In anger and grief,

And inflexibly hastens he

Down to his flood-chill'd widow'd bed.

Evil and backbiting tongues

Thus brought grief and destruction

E'en 'mongst the godheads immortal.

And the poor godheads, yonder in heaven,

Wander in misery,

Comfortless over their endless tracks,

And death cannot reach them,

VOL. XIII.-8

And with them they trail
Their bright desolation.

But I, the mere man,

The lowly-planted, the blest-with-death-one,

I sorrow on longer.

-Translation of E. A. BowRing.

QUESTIONS.

By the sea, by the desert night-covered sea

Standeth a youth,

His breast full of sadness, his head full of doubtings, And with gloomy lips he asks of the billows:

O answer me life's hidden riddle,

The riddle primeval and painful,

Over which many a head has been poring,

Heads in hieroglyphical night-caps,

Heads in turbans and swarthy bonnets,

Heads in perukes, and a thousand other

Poor and prespiring heads of us mortals—

Tell me, what signifies man?

From whence doth he come? and where doth he go?
Who dwelleth among the golden stars yonder?

The billows are murmuring their murmur eternal,
The wind is blowing, the clouds are flying,

The stars are twinkling, all listless and cold,

And a fool is awaiting his answer.

-Translation of E. A. BOWRING.

MY CHILD, WHEN WE WERE CHILDREN.

My child, when we were children,
Two children little and gay,

We crept into the hen-roost,
And hid behind the hay.

We crowed as doth the cock,

When people passed that road,
Cried, "Cock-a-doodle-doo!"

They thought the cock had crowed.

The chests that lay in the court

We papered and made so clean,
And dwelt together therein,

We thought them fit for a queen.