"I saw yon' infant in her arms carest, And as I gazed on her my pulse beat high; Gently she clasp'd him to her snowy breast, While I, in rapture lost, stood musing by; Then her white hands around his neck she flung, And prest him to her lips, and tenderly Kiss'd his fair cheek as o'er the babe she hung. "Straight she was gone; and then that lovely child Ran joyfully to meet my warm embrace: Then fancy with fond thoughts my soul beguiled; It was herself! O dream of love and grace! I clasp'd him, where her gentle hands had prest, I kissed each spot which bore her lips' sweet trace, And joy the while went bounding through my breast." The minnesong reached its climax of perfection in Walter von der Vogelweide, who is unsurpassed, even by Goethe, as a lyric poet. The following dancing song is typical of his work: "Lady, I said, this garland wear! For thou wilt wear it gracefully; And on thy brow 't will sit so fair; And thou wilt dance so light and free; Had I a thousand gems, on thee, Fair one! their brilliant light should shine: Would'st thou such gift accept from me, O doubt me not, it should be thine. "Lady, so beautiful thou art, That I on thee the wreath bestow, 'Tis the best gift I can impart; But whiter, rosier flow'rs I know, Upon the distant plain they're springing, Where beauteously their heads they rear, And birds their sweetest songs are singing: Come! let us go and pluck them there. "She took the beauteous wreath I chose, And like a child at praises glowing, Her cheeks blush'd crimson as the rose When by the snow-white lily growing; But all from those bright eyes eclipse Receiv'd; and then, my toil to pay, Kind, precious words fell from her lips; What more than this I shall not say." Minnesong represented at first, and during its growth, purity in love, and profound respect for noble womanhood. Goethe's word: "Wilt thou in life know what is seemly, inquire it of noble women," is fully realized. We like to dwell on this phase of our theme, for soon we shall have to descend to the very depths of corruption and impurity. If we had not the chronological records of history, it would be hard to believe that a nation could be swept by a century of religious wars from the ideals set forth in minnesong to the degeneracy that characterized the "Era of Desolation." But in the early days of minnesong, modesty, chastity, and measure or moderation (_diu maze_) are concomitants of the ideal of womanhood. Love is then the extinction of self. Walter von der Vogelweide says: "True minne never entered false hearts!"