Hallelujah! How lovely the whisper Of Bethel's palm-trees! How fragrant the myrtle-trees of Hebron! How sings the Jordan and reels with joy! My immortal spirit likewise is reeling, And I reel in company, and, joyously reeling, Leads me upstairs and into the daylight That excellent Town-Cellar Master of Bremen. Thou excellent Town-Cellar Master of Bremen! Dost see on the housetops the little angels Sitting aloft, all tipsy and singing? The burning sun up yonder Is but a fiery and drunken nose-- The Universe Spirit's red nose; And round the Universe Spirit's red nose Reels the whole drunken world. * * * * * A NEW SPRING (1831) 1[39] Soft and gently through my soul Sweetest bells are ringing, Speed you forth, my little song, Of springtime blithely singing! Speed you onward to a house Where sweet flowers are fleeting! If, perchance, a rose you see, Say, I send her greeting! 2[40] Thy deep blue eyes enchant me, So lovingly they glow; My gazing soul grows dreamy, My words come strange and slow. Thy deep blue eyes enchant me Wherever I may go: An ocean of azure fancies O'erwhelms me with its flow. 3[41] Was once an ancient monarch, Heavy his heart, his locks were gray, This poor and aged monarch Took a wife so young and gay. Was once a page-boy handsome, With lightsome heart and curly hair, The silken train he carried Of the queen so young and fair. Dost know the old, old story? It sounds so sweet, so sad to tell-- Both were obliged to perish, They loved each other too well. * * * * * ABROAD[42] (1834) Oh I had once a beauteous Fatherland! High used to seem The oak--so high!--the violets nodded kind-- It was a dream. In German I was kissed, in German told (You scarce would deem How sweetly rang the words): "I love thee well!--" It was a dream. * * * * * THE SPHINX[43] (1839) It is the fairy forest old, With lime-tree blossoms scented! The moonshine with its mystic light My soul and sense enchanted. On, on I roamed, and, as I went, Sweet music o'er me rose there; It is the nightingale--she sings Of love and lovers' woes there. She sings of love and lovers' woes, Hearts blest, and hearts forsaken: So sad is her mirth, so glad her sob, Dreams long forgot awaken. Still on I roamed, and, as I went, I saw before me lowering On a great wide lawn a stately pile, With gables peaked and towering. Closed were its windows, everywhere A hush, a gloom, past telling; It seemed as though silent Death within These empty halls were dwelling. A Sphinx lay there before the door, Half-brutish and half-human, A lioness in trunk and claws, In head and breasts a woman.