When death shall take thee from her side,To join the angelic choir above, In heaven's bright mansions to abide,--No diff'rence at the change thoult prove.
1767-8.
THE FAREWELL.
[Probably addressed to his mistress Frederica.]
LET mine eye the farewell say,That my lips can utter ne'er;Fain I'd be a man to-day,Yet 'tis hard, oh, hard to bear!
Mournful in an hour like thisIs love's sweetest pledge, I ween;Cold upon thy mouth the kiss,Faint thy fingers' pressure e'en.
Oh what rapture to my heartUsed each stolen kiss to bring!
As the violets joy impart,Gather'd in the early spring.
Now no garlands I entwine,Now no roses pluck.for thee, Though 'tis springtime, Fanny mine,Dreary autumn 'tis to me!
1771.
THE BEAUTIFUL NIGHT.
Now I leave this cottage lowly,Where my love hath made her home, And with silent footstep slowlyThrough the darksome forest roam, Luna breaks through oaks and bushes,Zephyr hastes her steps to meet, And the waving birch-tree blushes,Scattering round her incense sweet.
Grateful are the cooling breezesOf this beauteous summer night, Here is felt the charm that pleases,And that gives the soul delight.
Boundless is my joy; yet, Heaven,Willingly I'd leave to thee Thousand such nights, were one givenBy my maiden loved to me!
1767-8.
HAPPINESS AND VISION.
TOGETHER at the altar we In vision oft were seen by thee,Thyself as bride, as bridegroom I.
Oft from thy mouth full many a kiss In an unguarded hour of blissI then would steal, while none were by.
The purest rapture we then knew, The joy those happy hours gave too,When tasted, fled, as time fleets on.
What now avails my joy to me?
Like dreams the warmest kisses flee,Like kisses, soon all joys are gone.
1767-8.
LIVING REMEMBRANCE.
HALF vex'd, half pleased, thy love will feel, Shouldst thou her knot or ribbon steal;To thee they're much--I won't conceal;
Such self-deceit may pardon'd be;
A veil, a kerchief, garter, rings, In truth are no mean trifling things,But still they're not enough for me.
She who is dearest to my heart, Gave me, with well dissembled smart, Of her own life, a living part,No charm in aught beside I trace;How do I scorn thy paltry ware!
A lock she gave me of the hairThat wantons o'er her beauteous face.
If, loved one, we must sever'd be, Wouldst thou not wholly fly from me, I still possess this legacy,To look at, and to kiss in play.--My fate is to the hair's allied, We used to woo her with like pride,And now we both are far away.
Her charms with equal joy we press'd, Her swelling cheeks anon caress'd, Lured onward by a yearning blest,Upon her heaving bosom fell.
Oh rival, free from envy's sway, Thou precious gift, thou beauteous prey.
Remain my joy and bliss to tell!
1767-9.
THE BLISS OF ABSENCE.
DRINK, oh youth, joy's purest ray From thy loved one's eyes all day,And her image paint at night!
Better rule no lover knows, Yet true rapture greater grows,When far sever'd from her sight.
Powers eternal, distance, time, Like the might of stars sublime,Gently rock the blood to rest, O'er my senses softness steals, Yet my bosom lighter feels,And I daily am more blest.
Though I can forget her ne'er, Yet my mind is free from care,I can calmly live and move;Unperceived infatuation Longing turns to adoration,Turns to reverence my love.
Ne'er can cloud, however light, Float in ether's regions bright,When drawn upwards by the sun, As my heart in rapturous calm.
Free from envy and alarm,Ever love I her alone!
1767-9.
TO LUNA.
SISTER of the first-born light,Type of sorrowing gentleness!
Quivering mists in silv'ry dress Float around thy features bright;When thy gentle foot is heard,From the day-closed caverns thenWake the mournful ghosts of men, I, too, wake, and each night-bird.
O'er a field of boundless spanLooks thy gaze both far and wide.
Raise me upwards to thy side!
Grant this to a raving man!
And to heights of rapture raised,Let the knight so crafty peepAt his maiden while asleep, Through her lattice-window glazed.
Soon the bliss of this sweet view,Pangs by distance caused allays;And I gather all thy rays, And my look I sharpen too.
Round her unveil'd limbs I seeBrighter still become the glow,And she draws me down below, As Endymion once drew thee.
1767-9.
THE WEDDING NIGHT.
WITHIN the chamber, far awayFrom the glad feast, sits Love in dread Lest guests disturb, in wanton play,The silence of the bridal bed.
His torch's pale flame serves to gildThe scene with mystic sacred glow;The room with incense-clouds is fil'd,That ye may perfect rapture know.
How beats thy heart, when thou dost hearThe chime that warns thy guests to fly!
How glow'st thou for those lips so dear,That soon are mute, and nought deny!
With her into the holy placeThou hast'nest then, to perfect all;The fire the warder's hands embrace,Grows, like a night-light, dim and small.
How heaves her bosom, and how burnsHer face at every fervent kiss!
Her coldness now to trembling turns,Thy daring now a duty is.
Love helps thee to undress her fast,But thou art twice as fast as he;And then he shuts both eye at last,With sly and roguish modesty.
1767.
MISCHIEVOUS JOY.
AS a butterfly renew'd,When in life I breath'd my last,To the spots my flight I wing,Scenes of heav'nly rapture past,Over meadows, to the spring, Round the hill, and through the wood.
Soon a tender pair I spy,And I look down from my seatOn the beauteous maiden's head--When embodied there I meetAll I lost as soon as dead, Happy as before am I.
Him she clasps with silent smile,And his mouth the hour improves,Sent by kindly Deities;First from breast to mouth it roves,Then from mouth to hands it flies, And I round him sport the while.
And she sees me hov'ring near;
Trembling at her lovers rapture,Up she springs--I fly away,"Dearest! let's the insect captureCome! I long to make my prey Yonder pretty little dear!"1767-9.
APPARENT DEATH.
WEEP, maiden, weep here o'er the tomb of Love;He died of nothing--by mere chance was slain.
But is he really dead?--oh, that I cannot prove:
A nothing, a mere chance, oft gives him life again.
1767-9.
