Maybe both the winter and spring will pass by, And the next summer too, and the whole of the year;— But thou wilt come one day, that know I full well; And I will await thee, as I promised of old.[97] [_Calls the goats, spins, and sings again._ God strengthen thee, whereso thou goest in the world! God gladden thee, if at his footstool thou stand! Here will I await thee till thou comest again; And if thou wait up yonder, then there we’ll meet, my friend! SCENE ELEVENTH. _In Egypt. Daybreak. MEMNON’S STATUE amid the sands._ _PEER GYNT enters on foot, and looks around him for a while._ PEER GYNT. Here I might fittingly start on my wanderings.— So now, for a change, I’ve become an Egyptian; But Egyptian on the basis of the Gyntish I. To Assyria next I will bend my steps. To begin right back at the world’s creation Would lead to nought but bewilderment. I will go round about[98] all the Bible history; Its secular traces I’ll always be coming on; And to look, as the saying goes, into its seams, Lies entirely outside both my plan and my powers. [_Sits upon a stone._ Now I will rest me, and patiently wait Till the statue has sung its habitual dawn-song. When breakfast is over, I’ll climb up the pyramid; If I’ve time, I’ll look through its interior afterwards. Then I’ll go round the head of the Red Sea by land; Perhaps I may hit on King Potiphar’s grave.— Next I’ll turn Asiatic. In Babylon I’ll seek for The far-renowned harlots and hanging gardens,— That’s to say, the chief traces of civilisation. Then at one bound to the ramparts of Troy. From Troy there’s a fareway by sea direct Across to the glorious ancient Athens;— There on the spot will I, stone by stone, Survey the Pass that Leonidas guarded. I will get up the works of the better philosophers, Find the prison where Socrates suffered, a martyr——; Oh no, by-the-bye—there’s a war there at present——! Well, my studies in Hellas must e’en be postponed. [_Looks at his watch._ It’s really too bad, such an age as it takes For the sun to rise. I am pressed for time. Well then, from Troy—it was there I left off—— [_Rises and listens._ What is that strange sort of murmur that’s rushing——? [_Sunrise._ MEMNON’S STATUE. [_Sings._]