Poems and Ballads of Heinrich HeineHeine, Heinrich
General
Poems and Ballads of Heinrich Heine
Heine, Heinrich
German poetry -- Translations into English
And I accomplish miracles
That shall thy homage win.
To-day to please thee I shall bless
The city of Berlin.
Behold, the pavements of each street
Now wider, broader, grown!
And to an oyster, fresh and clear,
Transformed is every stone.
A shower of sweet lemonade
Pours down like dew divine.
And through the very gutters flows
The mellowest Rhine wine.
Oh, how the Berlinese rejoice!
They lush o'er such good fare.
The councillors and aldermen
Will drain the gutters bare.
The poets are in ecstasies
At such a feast divine.
The captains and the corporals
Lick up the streaming wine.
The captains and the corporals,
What clever men are they!
They think--such miracles as these
Occur not every day.
LXIX.
I left you in the midmost of July,
To-day, my friends in winter I behold.
Then in the heat ye basked so warm and bright,
But now ye have grown cool, yea, even cold.
Soon I depart again, and come once more,
Then shall I find you neither warm nor cold.
And I shall moan lamenting o'er your graves,
And mine own heart shall then be poor and old.
LXX.
Oh, to be chased from lovely lips! and torn
From lovely arms that clasped as in a dream.
I fain had stayed with thee another morn.
Then came the postboy with his tinkling team.
E'en such is life, my child, a constant moan--
A constant parting, evermore good-byes,
Could not thy heart cling fast unto mine own?
Couldst thou not hold me steadfast with thine eyes?
LXXI.
All night, in the shadowy post-chaise,
We drove through the winter weather.
We slept on each other's bosoms,
We jested and laughed together.
But how were we both astonished,
When morning bade us stir,
Betwixt us two sat Cupid,
The blindfold passenger.
LXXII.
Lord knows where the reckless creature
Chose her transient stopping-place!
Swearing through the rainy weather,
Everywhere I seek her trace.
I have been to every tavern
Running up and running down,
And of every surly waiter
Made inquiries in the town.
Lo, I see her in yon window!
And she beckons--all is well!
Could I guess that you had chosen,
Lady, such a grand hotel?
LXXIII.
Like shadows black the houses
Uprise in long array.
Enveloped in my mantle
I hurry on my way.
The old cathedral-belfry
Chimes midnight grave and slow.
With all her charms and kisses
My love awaits me now.
The moon is my companion,
Kind-beaming from the sky
I reach the house beloved,
And joyously I cry--
"I thank thee, trusty servant,
That thou hast cheered my way.
And now, dear moon, I leave thee.
On others shed thy ray.
"And if a lonely lover
Who sings of grief, thou see,
Oh give him such sweet solace
As thou hast given me."
LXXIV.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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