However the case may stand in this matter Strauss’s early songs will remain as worthy of a place in the great German hierarchy. Opus 10 contains a number of masterpieces. _Zueignung_ is, in sheer beauty, almost equal to Schumann at his best. ‘The Night’ is a simple song of great loveliness and ‘Patience’ is a superbly eloquent piece of emotional writing based on an accompaniment of simple repeated chords. It is in work like this that a great composer tests himself out. This power to achieve great beauty within narrow limitations is, as we have so often pointed out in the course of this book, the proof that genuine creative power is there. These songs which we have just mentioned are among the very best in the Strauss list. Others of the first rank are: ‘I Love Thee,’ opus 37, a powerful example of emotional lyricism; _Ich trage meine Minne_, opus 32, a simple piece of marvellous beauty and grace; and ‘With Thy Blue Eyes,’ opus 56, a song of unusually tender and appealing quality. Among the earlier songs we should mention the charming _Morgen_; _Wozu, Mädchen, soll es frommen_, opus 19; _Nachtgang_, opus 29; and _Traum durch die Dämmerung_, the last one of the most admired. ‘Rest My Soul’ and the ‘Nuptial Song’--the former very simple and the latter highly organized--are stimulating examples of Strauss’s art. Of the later songs (which seem to show a falling off in artistic sincerity) we may mention ‘The Three Holy Kings,’ opus 56, which is a sort of miniature opera, with an abundance of incidental music in the form of a stately march. ‘The Lonely One’ of opus 51 contains a bass part very effectively used and ‘The Valley’ is musical description of a high order.