The old man still wanders with ne'er-changing pace,
He covers with joy his sad heart.
So I think of my daughter, as years pass away,
And my grandchildren far from my sight;
I bless them by night, and I bless them by day"--
The children they hear with delight.
He blesses the children: a knocking they hear,
The father it is! They spring forward in fear,
The old man they cannot conceal--
"Thou
beggar, wouldst lure, then, my children so dear?
Straight seize him, ye vassals of steel!
To the
dungeon most deep, with the fool-hardy knave!"
The mother from far hears the fight;
She hastens with flatt'ring
entreaty to crave--
The children they hear with delight.
The vassals they suffer the Bard to stand there,
And mother and children
implore him to spare,
The proud
prince would
stifle his ire,
'Till
driven to fury at
hearing their prayer,
His smouldering anger takes fire:
"Thou
pitiful race! Oh, thou
beggarly crew!
Eclipsing my star, once so bright!
Ye'll bring me
destruction, ye
sorely shall rue!"
The children they hear with affright.
The old man still stands there with
dignified mien,
The vassals of steel quake before him, I ween,
The Count's fury increases in power;
"My
weddedexistence a curse long has been,
And these are the fruits from that flower!
'Tis ever denied, and the
saying is true,
That to wed with the base-born is right;
The
beggar has borne me a
beggarly crew,--"
The children they hear with affright.
"If the husband, the father, thus treats you with scorn,
If the holiest bonds by him rashly are torn,
Then come to your father--to me!
The
beggar may gladden life's
pathway forlorn,
Though aged and weak he may be.
This castle is mine! thou hast made it thy prey,
Thy people 'twas put me to flight;
The tokens I bear will
confirm what I say"--
The children they hear with delight.
"The king who erst govern'd returneth again,
And restores to the Faithful the goods that were ta'en,
I'll unseal all my treasures the while;
The laws shall be gentle, and
peaceful the reign"--
The old man thus cries with a smile--
"Take courage, my son! all hath turned out for good,
And each hath a star that is bright,
Those the
princess hath borne thee are
princely in blood,"--
The children thy hear with delight.
1816.
-----
THE VIOLET.
UPON the mead a
violet stood,
Retiring, and of
modest mood,
In truth, a
violet fair.
Then came a
youthful shepherdess,
And roam'd with
sprightly joyousness,
And
blithely woo'd
With carols sweet the air
"Ah!" thought the
violet, "had I been
For but the smallest moment e'en
Nature's most
beauteous flower,
'Till gather'd by my love, and press'd,
When weary, 'gainst her gentle breast,
For e'en, for e'en
One quarter of an hour!"
Alas! alas! the maid drew nigh,
The
violet failed to meet her eye,
She crush'd the
violet sweet.
It sank and died, yet murmur'd not:
"And if I die, oh, happy lot,
For her I die,
And at her very feet!"
1775.*
-----
THE FAITHLESS BOY.
THERE was a wooer
blithe and gay,
A son of France was he,--
Who in his arms for many a day,
As though his bride were she,
A poor young
maiden had caress'd,
And
fondly kiss'd, and
fondly press'd,
And then at length deserted.
When this was told the nut-brown maid,
Her senses
straightway fled;
She laugh'd and wept, and vow'd and pray'd,
And
presently was dead.
The hour her soul its
farewell took,
The boy was sad, with
terror shook,
Then
sprang upon his charger.
He drove his spurs into his side,
And scour'd the country round;
But wheresoever he might ride,
No rest for him was found.
For seven long days and nights he rode,
It storm'd, the waters overflow'd,
It bluster'd, lighten'd, thunder'd.
On rode he through the tempest's din,
Till he a building spied;
In search of shelter crept he in,
When he his steed had tied.
And as he groped his
doubtful way,
The ground began to rock and sway,--
He fell a hundred fathoms.
When he recover'd from the blow,
He saw three lights pass by;
He sought in their
pursuit to go,
The lights appear'd to fly.
They led his footsteps all astray,
Up, down, through many a narrow way
Through ruin'd desert cellars.
When lo! he stood within a hall,
With hollow eyes. and grinning all;
They bade him taste the fare.
A hundred guests sat there.
He saw his
sweetheart 'midst the throng,
Wrapp'd up in grave-clothes white and long;
She turn'd, and----*
1774.
(* This
ballad is introduced in Act II. of Claudine of Villa
Bella, where it is suddenly broken off, as it is here.)
-----
THE ERL-KING.
WHO rides there so late through the night dark and drear?
The father it is, with his
infant so dear;
He holdeth the boy
tightly clasp'd in his arm,
He holdeth him
safely, he keepeth him warm.
"My son,
wherefore seek'st thou thy face thus to hide?"
"Look, father, the Erl-King is close by our side!
Dost see not the Erl-King, with crown and with train?"
"My son, 'tis the mist rising over the plain."
"Oh, come, thou dear
infant! oh come thou with me!
Full many a game I will play there with thee;
On my strand, lovely flowers their blossoms unfold,
My mother shall grace thee with garments of gold."
"My father, my father, and dost thou not hear
The words that the Erl-King now breathes in mine ear?"
"Be calm, dearest child, 'tis thy fancy deceives;
'Tis the sad wind that sighs through the withering leaves."
"Wilt go, then, dear
infant, wilt go with me there?
My daughters shall tend thee with sisterly care
My daughters by night their glad
festival keep,
They'll dance thee, and rock thee, and sing thee to sleep."
"My father, my father, and dost thou not see,
How the Erl-King his daughters has brought here for me?"
"My
darling, my
darling, I see it aright,
'Tis the aged grey willows deceiving thy sight."
"I love thee, I'm charm'd by thy beauty, dear boy!
And if thou'rt
unwilling, then force I'll employ."
"My father, my father, he seizes me fast,
Full
sorely the Erl-King has hurt me at last."
The father now gallops, with
terror half wild,
He grasps in his arms the poor shuddering child;
He reaches his
courtyard with toil and with dread,--
The child in his arms finds he
motionless, dead.
1782.*
-----
JOHANNA SEBUS.
[To the memory of an excellent and beautiful girl of 17,
belonging to the village of Brienen, who
perished on the 13th of
January, 1809,
whilst giving help on the occasion of the breaking
up of the ice on the Rhine, and the bursting of the dam of
Cleverham.]
THE DAM BREAKS DOWN, THE ICE-PLAIN GROWLS,
THE FLOODS ARISE, THE WATER HOWLS.
"I'll bear thee, mother, across the swell,
'Tis not yet high, I can wade right well."
"Remember us too! in what danger are we!
Thy fellow-lodger, and children three!
The trembling woman!--Thou'rt going away!"
She bears the mother across the spray.
"Quick! haste to the mound, and
awhile there wait,
I'll soon return, and all will be straight.
The mound's close by, and safe from the wet;
But take my goat too, my
darling pet!"
THE DAM DISSOLVES, THE ICE-PLAIN GROWLS,
THE FLOODS DASH ON, THE WATER HOWLS.
She places the mother safe on the shore;
Fair Susan then turns tow'rd the flood once more.
"Oh whither? Oh whither? The
breadth fast grows,
Both here and there the water o'erflows.
Wilt
venture, thou rash one, the billows to brave?"
"THEY SHALL, AND THEY MUST BE PRESERVED FROM THE WAVE!"
THE DAM DISAPPEARS, THE WATER GROWLS,
LIKE OCEAN BILLOWS IT HEAVES AND HOWLS.
Fair Susan returns by the way she had tried,
The waves roar around, but she turns not aside;
She reaches the mound, and the neighbour straight,
But for her and the children, alas, too late!
THE DAM DISAPPEAR'D,--LIKE A SEA IT GROWLS,
ROUND THE HILLOCK IN CIRCLING EDDIES IT HOWLS.
The foaming abyss gapes wide, and whirls round,
The women and children are borne to the ground;
The horn of the goat by one is seized fast,
But, ah, they all must
perish at last!
Fair Susan still stands-there, untouch'd by the wave;
The youngest, the noblest, oh, who now will save?
Fair Susan still stands there, as bright as a star,
But, alas! all hope, all
assistance is far.