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Title: Songs To Seraphine
Author: Heinrich Heine [
More Titles by Heine]
I.
In the dreamy wood I wander,
In the wood at even-tide;
And thy slender, graceful figure
Wanders ever by my side.
Is not this thy white veil floating?
Is not that thy gentle face?
Is it but the moonlight breaking
Through the dark fir-branches' space?
Can these tears so softly flowing
Be my very own I hear?
Or indeed, art thou beside me,
Weeping, darling, close anear?
II.
Over all the quiet sea-shore
Shadowing falls the hour of Hesper;
Through the clouds the moon is breaking,
And I hear the billows whisper.
"Can that man who wanders yonder
Be a lover or a dunce?
For he seems so sad and merry,
Sad and merry both at once."
But the laughing moon looks downward,
And she speaks, for she doth know it:
"Yes, he is both fool and lover,
And, to cap it all, a poet!"
III.
Behold! 'tis a foam-white sea-mew
That flutters there on high.
Far over the black night-waters
The moon hangs up in the sky.
The shark and the roach dart forward
For breath as the breeze floats by.
The sea-mew poises and plunges,
The moon hangs up in the sky.
Oh, lovely transient spirit,
How heavy of heart am I!
Too near to thee is the water,
The moon hangs up in the sky.
IV.
In moonlit splendor rests the sea,
The soft waves ripple along.
My heart beats low and heavily,
I think of the ancient song.
The ancient song that quaintly sings
Towns lost in olden times;
And how from the sea's abyss there rings
The sound of prayers and chimes.
But pious prayers and chimes, I ween,
Are offered all in vain.
For that which once hath buried been
May never come back again.
V.
I knew that thou must love me--
'Twas long ago made clear.
But thy confession filled me
With deep and secret fear.
I clambered up the mountain,
And sang aloud for glee.
Then while the sun was setting,
I wept beside the sea.
My heart is like the sun, dear,
Yon kindled flame above;
And sinks in large-orbed beauty
Within a sea of love.
VI.
How enviously the sea-mew
Looks after us, my dear;
Because upon thy lips then
So close I pressed mine ear.
He fain would know what issued,
Most curious of birds!
If thou mine ear fulfillest
With kisses or with words.
What through my spirit hisses?
I, too, am sore perplexed!
Thy words, dear, and thy kisses
Are strangely intermixed.
VII.
Shy as a fawn she passed me by;
And, fleet as any heifer,
She clambered on from cliff to cliff,
Her hair flew with the zephyr.
Where to the sea's edge slope the rocks,
I reached her, trembling near it.
Then, softly with the softest words,
I melted her proud spirit.
There we two sat as high as heaven,
And heaven's own rapture drinking.
While in the dark waves far below;
The gradual sun was sinking.
Below us in the deep, dark sea,
The fair sun dropped; then dashing,
The waves broke wildly over him,
With turbulence of passion.
Oh do not weep! he is not dead,
'Neath billows swelling higher;
He has but hidden in my heart,
With all his burning fire.
VIII.
Come, let us build upon this rock,
The Church of God's last lover,
The third New Testament's revealed,
The agony is over.
Refuted is the second book
That fooled us through long ages.
The stupid torture of the flesh
Is not for modern sages.
Hear'st thou the Lord in the dark sea,
With thousand voices speaking?
See'st thou o'erhead the thousand lights
Of God's own glory breaking?
The holy God dwells in the light,
As in the dark abysses.
For God is everything that is:
His breath is in our kisses.
IX.
Gray night broods above the ocean,
Little stars gleam sparkling o'er us.
And the waters' many voices
Chant in deep, protracted chorus.
Hark! the old northwind is playing
On the polished waves of ocean,
That, like tubes of some great organ,
Thrill and stir with sounding motion.
Partly pagan, partly sacred,
Rise these melodies upswelling
Passionately to the heavens,
Where the joyous stars are dwelling.
And the stars wax large and larger,
In bright mazes they are driven,
Large as suns at last revolving,
Through the spaces of vast heaven.
And weird harmonies they warble
With the billows' music blending.
Solar nightingales, they circle
Through the spheres strange concord sending.
And with mighty roar and trembling,
Sky and ocean both are ringing;
And a giant's stormy rapture
Feel I in my bosom springing.
X.
Shadow-love and shadow-kisses,
Life of shadows, wondrous strange!
Shall all hours be sweet as this is,
Silly darling, safe from change?
All things that we clasp and cherish,
Pass like dreams we may not keep.
Human hearts forget and perish,
Human eyes must fall asleep.
XI.
She stood beside the ocean,
And sighed as one oppressed,
With such a deep emotion
The sunset thrilled her breast.
Dear maiden, look more gayly,
This trick is old, thou'lt find.
Before us sinks he daily,
To rise again behind.
XII.
My ship sails forth with sable sails,
Far over the savage sea;
Thou know'st how heavy is my woe,
Yet still thou woundest me.
Thy heart is fickle as the wind,
And flits incessantly.
My ship sails forth with sable sails,
Far over the savage sea.
XIII.
I told nor man, nor woman
How ill you dealt with me;
I came abroad and published it
To the fishes in the sea.
Only upon terra firma
I have left you your good name;
But over all the ocean
Every creature knows your shame.
XIV.
The roaring waves press onward
To reach the strand.
Then swell, and, crashing downward,
Break on the sand.
They roll with surging power,
Nor rest, nor fail--
And then ebb slow and slower--
Of what avail?
XV.
The Runenstein juts in the sea,
I sit here with my dreams,
The billows wander foamingly;
Winds pipe, the sea-mew screams.
Oh I have loved full many a lass,
And many a worthy fellow,
Where have they gone? The shrill winds pass,
And wandering foams the billow.
XVI.
The waves gleam in the sunshine,
They seem of gold to be.
When I am dead, my brothers,
Oh drop me in the sea.
For dearly have I loved it.
Like cooling balm descends
Upon my heart its current:
We were the best of friends.
[The end]
Heinrich Heine's poem: Songs To Seraphine
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