id="id00138">[Illustration: THE LORELEI FOUNTAIN In NEW YORK BY HERTER]

HEINRICH HEINE

* * * * *

DEDICATION[1] (1822)

  I have had dreams of wild love wildly nursed,
    Of myrtles, mignonette, and silken tresses,
    Of lips, whose blames belie the kiss that blesses,
  Of dirge-like songs to dirge-like airs rehearsed.

  My dreams have paled and faded long ago,
    Faded the very form they most adored,
    Nothing is left me but what once I poured
  Into pathetic verse with feverish glow.

  Thou, orphaned song, art left. Do thou, too, fade!
    Go, seek that visioned form long lost in night,
    And say from me—if you upon it light—
  With airy breath I greet that airy shade!

* * * * *

SONGS (1822)

1 [2]

  Oh, fair cradle of my sorrow,
    Oh, fair tomb of peace for me,
  Oh, fair town, my last good-morrow,
    Last farewell I say to thee!

  Fare thee well, thou threshold holy,
    Where my lady's footsteps stir,
  And that spot, still worshipped lowly,
    Where mine eyes first looked on her!

  Had I but beheld thee never,
    Thee, my bosom's beauteous queen,
  Wretched now, and wretched ever,
    Oh, I should not thus have been!

  Touch thy heart?—I would not dare that:
    Ne'er did I thy love implore;
  Might I only breathe the air that
    Thou didst breathe, I asked no more.

  Yet I could not brook thy spurning,
    Nor thy cruel words of scorn;
  Madness in my brain is burning,
    And my heart is sick and torn.

  So I go, downcast and dreary,
    With my pilgrim staff to stray,
  Till I lay my head aweary
    In some cool grave far away.

2 [3]

  Cliff and castle quiver grayly
    From the mirror of the Rhine
  Where my little boat swims gaily;
    Round her prow the ripples shine.

  Heart at ease I watch them thronging—
    Waves of gold with crisping crest,
  Till awakes a half-lulled longing
    Cherished deep within my breast.

  Temptingly the ripples greet me
    Luring toward the gulf beneath,
  Yet I know that should they meet me
    They would drag me to my death.

  Lovely visage, treacherous bosom,
    Guile beneath and smile above,
  Stream, thy dimpling wavelet's blossom
    Laughs as falsely as my love.

3[4]

  I despaired at first—believing
    I should never bear it. Now
  I have borne it—I have borne it.
    Only never ask me How.

* * * * *

A LYRICAL INTERMEZZO (1822-23)

1[5]

  'Twas in the glorious month of May,
    When all the buds were blowing,
  I felt—ah me, how sweet it was!—
    Love in my heart a-growing.

  'Twas in the glorious month of May,
    When all the birds were quiring,
  In burning words I told her all
    My yearning, my aspiring.

2[6]

  Where'er my bitter tear-drops fall,
    The fairest flowers arise;
  And into choirs of nightingales
    Are turned my bosom's sighs.

  And wilt thou love me, thine shall be
    The fairest flowers that spring,
  And at thy window evermore
    The nightingales shall sing.

3[7]

  The rose and the lily, the moon and the dove,
    Once loved I them all with a perfect love.
  I love them no longer, I love alone
    The Lovely, the Graceful, the Pure, the One
  Who twines in one wreath all their beauty and love,
    And rose is, and lily, and moon and dove.

4[8]

  Dear, when I look into thine eyes,
  My deepest sorrow straightway flies;
  But when I kiss thy mouth, ah, then
  No thought remains of bygone pain!

  And when I lean upon thy breast,
  No dream of heaven could be more blest;
  But, when thou say'st thou lovest me,
  I fall to weeping bitterly.

5[9]

  Thy face, that fair, sweet face I know,
  I dreamed of it awhile ago;
  It is an angel's face, so mild—
  And yet, so sadly pale, poor child!

  Only the lips are rosy bright,
  But soon cold Death will kiss them white,
  And quench the light of Paradise
  That shines from out those earnest eyes.

6[10]

  Lean close thy cheek against my cheek,
  That our tears together may blend, love,
  And press thy heart upon my heart,
  That from both one flame may ascend, love!

[Illustration: SPRING'S AWAKENING From the Painting by Ludwig von
Hofmann.]

  And while in that flame so doubly bright
  Our tears are falling and burning,
  And while in my arms I clasp thee tight
  I will die with love and yearning.

7[11]

  I'll breathe my soul and its secret
    In the lily's chalice white;
  The lily shall thrill and reëcho
    A song of my heart's delight.

  The song shall quiver and tremble,
    Even as did the kiss
  That her rosy lips once gave me
    In a moment of wondrous bliss.

8[12]

  The stars have stood unmoving
    Upon the heavenly plains
  For ages, gazing each on each,
    With all a lover's pains.

  They speak a noble language,
    Copious and rich and strong;
  Yet none of your greatest schoolmen
    Can understand that tongue.

  But I have learnt it, and never
    Can forget it for my part—
  For I used as my only grammar
    The face of the joy of my heart.

9[13]

  On the wings of song far sweeping,
    Heart's dearest, with me thou'lt go
  Away where the Ganges is creeping;
    Its loveliest garden I know—

  A garden where roses are burning
    In the moonlight all silent there;
  Where the lotus-flowers are yearning
    For their sister belovèd and fair.

  The violets titter, caressing,
    Peeping up as the planets appear,
  And the roses, their warm love confessing,
    Whisper words, soft-perfumed, to each ear.

  And, gracefully lurking or leaping,
    The gentle gazelles come round:
  While afar, deep rushing and sweeping,
    The waves of the Ganges sound.

  We'll lie there in slumber sinking
    Neath the palm-trees by the stream,
  Rapture and rest deep drinking,
    Dreaming