Since yester e'en? Oh, ye fair sisters, Her I have seen! 1802. ----- AUTUMN FEELINGS. FLOURISH greener, as ye clamber, Oh ye leaves, to seek my chamber, Up the trellis'd vine on high! May ye swell, twin-berries tender, Juicier far,--and with more splendour Ripen, and more speedily! O'er ye broods the sun at even As he sinks to rest, and heaven Softly breathes into your ear All its fertilising fullness, While the moon's refreshing coolness, Magic-laden, hovers near; And, alas! ye're watered ever By a stream of tears that rill From mine eyes--tears ceasing never, Tears of love that nought can still! 1775.* ----- RESTLESS LOVE. THROUGH rain, through snow, Through tempest go! 'Mongst streaming caves, O'er misty waves, On, on! still on! Peace, rest have flown! Sooner through sadness I'd wish to be slain, Than all the gladness Of life to sustain All the fond yearning That heart feels for heart, Only seems burning To make them both smart. How shall I fly? Forestwards hie? Vain were all strife! Bright crown of life. Turbulent bliss,-- Love, thou art this! 1789. ----- THE SHEPHERD'S LAMENT. ON yonder lofty mountain A thousand times I stand, And on my staff reclining, Look down on the smiling land. My grazing flocks then I follow, My dog protecting them well; I find myself in the valley, But how, I scarcely can tell. The whole of the meadow is cover'd With flowers of beauty rare; I pluck them, but pluck them unknowing To whom the offering to bear. In rain and storm and tempest, I tarry beneath the tree, But closed remaineth yon portal; 'Tis all but a vision to me. High over yonder dwelling, There rises a rainbow gay; But she from home hath departed And wander'd far, far away. Yes, far away bath she wander'd, Perchance e'en over the sea; Move onward, ye sheep, then, move onward! Full sad the shepherd must be. 1803.* ----- COMFORT IN TEARS. How happens it that thou art sad, While happy all appear? Thine eye proclaims too well that thou Hast wept full many a tear. "If I have wept in solitude, None other shares my grief, And tears to me sweet balsam are, And give my heart relief." Thy happy friends invite thee now,-- Oh come, then, to our breast! And let the loss thou hast sustain'd Be there to us confess'd! "Ye shout, torment me, knowing not What 'tis afflicteth me; Ah no! I have sustained no loss, Whate'er may wanting be." If so it is, arise in haste! Thou'rt young and full of life. At years like thine, man's blest with strength. And courage for the strife. "Ah no! in vain 'twould be to strive, The thing I seek is far; It dwells as high, it gleams as fair As yonder glitt'ring star." The stars we never long to clasp, We revel in their light, And with enchantment upward gaze, Each clear and radiant night. "And I with rapture upward gaze,