Hail to thee, mountain beloved, with
thy glittering purple-dyed summit!
Hail to thee also, fair sun, looking so lovingly
on!
Thee, too, I hail, thou smiling plain, and ye murmuring
lindens,
Ay, and the chorus so glad, cradled on yonder high
boughs;
Thee, too, peaceably azure, in infinite measure extending
Round the dusky-hued mount, over the forest so green,-
Round about me, who now from my chambers confinement
escaping,
And from vain frivolous talk, gladly seek refuge
with thee.
Through me to quicken me runs the balsamic stream
of thy breezes,
While the energetical light freshens the gaze as
it thirsts.
Bright oer the blooming meadow the changeable
colors are gleaming,
But the strife, full of charms, in its own grace
melts away
Freely the plain receives me,-with carpet
far away reaching,
Over its friendly green wanders the pathway along.
Round me is humming the busy bee, and with pinion
uncertain
Hovers the butterfly gay over the trefoils
red flower.
Fiercely the darts of the sun fall on me,-the
zephyr is silent,
Only the song of the lark echoes athwart the clear
air.
Now from the neighboring copse comes a roar, and
the tops of the alders
Bend low down,-in the wind dances the
silvery grass;
Night ambrosial circles me round; in the coolness
so fragrant
Greets me a beauteous roof, formed by the beeches
sweet shade.
In the depths of the wood the landscape suddenly
leaves me
And a serpentine path guides up my footsteps on
high.
Only by stealth can the light through the leafy trellis
of branches
Sparingly pierce, and the blue smilingly peeps through
the boughs,
But in a moment the veil is rent, and the opening
forest
Suddenly gives back the days glittering brightness
to me!
Boundlessly seems the distance before my gaze to
be stretching,
And in a purple-tinged hill terminates sweetly the
world.
Deep at the foot of the mountain, that under
me falls away steeply,
Wanders the greenish-hued stream, looking
like glass as it flows.
Endlessly under me see I the ether, and endlessly
oer
Giddily look I above, shudderingly look
I below,
But between the infinite height and the infinite
hollow
Safely the wanderer moves over a well-guarded
path.
Smilingly past me are flying the banks all teeming
with riches,
And the valley so bright boasts of its
industry glad.
See how yonder hedgerows that sever the farmers
possessions
Have by Demeter been worked into the tapestried
plain!
Kindly decree of the law, of the Deity mortal-sustaining,
Since from the brazen world love vanished
forever away.
But in freer windings the measured pastures
are traversed
(Now swallowed up in the wood, now climbing
up to the hills)
By a glimmering streak, the highway that knits
lands together;
Over the smooth-flowing stream, quietly
glide on the rafts.
Ofttimes resound the bells of the flocks in
the fields that seem living,
And the shepherds lone song wakens
the echo again.
Joyous villages crown the stream, in the copse
others vanish,
While from the back of the mount, others
plunge wildly below.
Man still lives with the land in neighborly
friendship united,
And round his sheltering roof calmly repose
still his fields;
Trustingly climbs the vine high over the low-reaching
window,
While round the cottage the tree circles
its far-stretching boughs.
Happy race of the plain! Not yet awakened
to freedom,
Thou and thy pastures with joy share in
the limited law;
Bounded thy wishes all are by the harvests
peaceable circuit,
And thy lifetime is spent een as
the task of the day!
But what suddenly hides the beauteous view?
A strange spirit
Over the still-stranger plain spreads
itself quickly afar-
Coyly separates now, what scarce had lovingly
mingled,
And tis the like that alone joins
itself on to the like.
Orders I see depicted; the haughty tribes of
the poplars
Marshalled in regular pomp, stately and
beauteous appear.
All gives token of rule and choice, and all
has its meaning,-
Tis this uniform plan points out
the Ruler to me.
Brightly the glittering domes in far-away distance
proclaim him.
Out of the kernel of rocks rises the citys
high wall.
Into the desert without, the fauns of the forest
are driven,
But by devotion is lent life more sublime
to the stone.
Man is brought into nearer union with man, and
around him
Closer, more actively wakes, swifter moves
in him the world.
See! the emulous forces in fiery conflict are
kindled,
Much, they effect when they strive, more
they effect when they join.
Thousands of hands by one spirit are moved,
yet in thousands of bosoms
Beats one heart all alone, by but one
feeling inspired-
Beats for their native land, and glows for their
ancestors precepts;
Here on the well-beloved spot, rest now
time-honored bones.
Down from the heavens descends the blessed troop
of immortals,
In the bright circle divine making their
festal abode;
Granting glorious gifts, they appear: and
first of all, Ceres
Offers the gift of the plough, Hermes
the anchor brings next,
Bacchus the grape, and Minerva the verdant olive-trees
branches,
Even his charger of war brings there Poseidon
as well.
Mother Cybele yokes to the pole of her chariot
the lions,
And through the wide-open door comes as
a citizen in.
Sacred stones! Tis from ye that
proceed humanitys founders,
Morals and arts ye sent forth, een
to the oceans far isles.
Twas at these friendly gates that the
law was spoken by sages;
In their Penates defence, heroes
rushed out to the fray.
On the high walls appeared the mothers, embracing
their infants,
Looking after the march, till the distance
twas lost.
Then in prayer they threw themselves down at
the deities altars,
Praying for triumph and fame, praying
for your safe return.
Honor and triumph were yours, but naught returned
save your glory,
And by a heart-touching stone, told are
your valorous deeds.
Traveller! when thou comst to
Sparta, proclaim to the people
That thou hast seen us lie here, as by
the law we were bid.
Slumber calmly, ye loved ones! for sprinkled
oer by your life-blood,
Flourish the olive-trees there, joyously
sprouts the good seed.
In its possessions exulting, industry gladly
is kindled.
And from the sedge of the stream smilingly
signs the blue god.
Crushingly falls the axe on the tree, the Dryad
sighs sadly;
Down from the crest of the mount plunges
the thundering load.
Winged by the lever, the stone from the rocky
crevice is loosened;
Into the mountains abyss boldly
the miner descends.
Mulcibers anvil resounds with the measured
stroke of the hammer;
Under the fists nervous blow, spurt
out the sparks of the steel.
Brilliantly twines the golden flax round the
swift-whirling spindles,
Through the strings of the yarn whizzes
the shuttle away.
Far in the roads the pilot calls, and the vessels
are waiting,
That to the foreigners land carry
the produce of home;
Others gladly approach with the treasures of
far-distant regions,
High on the masts lofty head flutters
the garland of mirth.
See how yon markets, those centres of life and
of gladness, are swarming!
Strange confusion of tongues sounds in
the wondering ear.
On to the pile the wealth of the earth is heaped
by the merchant,
All that the suns scorching rays
bring forth on Africas soil,
All that Arabia prepares, that the uttermost
Thule produces,
High with heart-gladdening stores fills
Amalthea her horn.
Fortune wedded to talent gives birth there to
children immortal,
Suckled in libertys arms, flourish
the arts there of joy.
With the image of life the eyes by the sculptor
are ravished,
And by the chisel inspired, speaks een
the sensitive stone.
Skies artificial repose on slender Ionian columns,
And a Pantheon includes all that Olympus
contains.
Light as the rainbows spring through
the air, as the dart from
the
bowstring,
Leaps the yoke of the bridge over the
boisterous stream.
But in his silent chamber the thoughtful
sage is projecting
Magical circles, and steals een on the spirit
that forms,
Proves the force of matter, the hatreds and loves
of the magnet,
Follows the tune through the air, follows through
ether the ray,
Seeks the familiar law in chances miracles
dreaded,
Looks for the neer-changing pole in the phenomenas
flight.
Bodies and voices are lent by writing to thought
ever silent,
Over the centuries stream bears it the eloquent
page.
Then to the wondering gaze dissolves the cloud of
the fancy,
And the vain phantoms of night yield to the dawning
of day.
Man now breaks through his fetters, the happy one!
Oh, let him never
Break from the bridle of shame, when from fears
fetters he breaks
Freedom! is reasons cry,-ay, freedom!
The wild raging passions
Eagerly cast off the bonds Nature divine had imposed.
Ah! in the tempest the anchors break loose,
that warningly held him
On to the shore, and the stream tears
him along in its flood,-
Into infinity whirls him,-the coasts
soon vanish before him,
High on the mountainous waves rocks all-dismasted
the bark;
Under the clouds are hid the steadfast stars
of the chariot,
Naught now remains,-in the
breast even the god goes astray.
Truth disappears from language, from life all
faith and all honor
Vanish, and even the oath is but a lie
on the lips.
Into the hearts most trusty bond, and
into loves secrets,
Presses the sycophant base, tearing the
friend from the friend.
Treason on innocence leers, with looks that
seek to devour,
And the fell slanderers tooth kills
with its poisonous bite.
In the dishonored bosom, thought is now venal,
and love, too,
Scatters abroad to the winds, feelings
once god-like and free.
All thy holy symbols, O truth, deceit has adopted,
And has een dared to pollute Natures
own voices so fair,
That the craving heart in the tumult of gladness
discovers;
True sensations are now mute and can scarcely
be heard.
Justice boasts at the tribune, and harmony vaunts
in the cottage,
While the ghost of the law stands at the
throne of the king.
Years together, ay, centuries long, may the
mummy continue,
And the deception endure, apeing the fulness
of life.
Until Nature awakes, and with hands all-brazen
and heavy
Gainst the hollow-formed pile time
and necessity strikes.
Like a tigress, who, bursting the massive grating
iron,
Of her Numidian wood suddenly, fearfully
thinks,-
So with the fury of crime and anguish, humanity
rises
Hoping nature, long-lost in the towns
ashes, to find.
Oh then open, ye walls, and set the captive
at freedom
To the long desolate plains let him in
safety return!
But where am I? The path is now hid, declivities
rugged
Bar, with their wide-yawning gulfs, progress
before and behind.
Now far behind me is left the gardens
and hedges sure escort,
Every trace of mans hand also remains
far behind.
Only the matter I see piled up, whence life
has its issue,
And the raw mass of basalt waits for a
fashioning hand.
Down through its channel of rock the torrent
roaringly rushes,
Angrily forcing a path under the roots
of the trees.
All is here wild and fearfully desolate.
Naught but the eagle
Hangs in the lone realms of air, knitting
the world to the clouds.
Not one zephyr on soaring pinion conveys to
my hearing
Echoes, however remote, marking mans
pleasures and pains.
Am I in truth, then, alone? Within thine
arms, on thy bosom,
Nature, I lie once again!-Ah,
and twas only a dream
That assailed me with horrors so fearful; with
lifes dreaded phantom,
And with the down-rushing vale, vanished
the gloomy one too.
Purer my life I receive again from thine altar
unsullied,-
Purer receive the bright glow felt by
my youths hopeful days.
Ever the will is changing its aim and its rule,
while forever,
In a still varying form, actions revolve
round themselves.
But in enduring youth, in beauty ever renewing.
Kindly Nature, with grace thou dost revere
the old law!
Ever the same, for the man in thy faithful hands
thou preservest
That which the child in its sport, that
which the youth lent to thee;
At the same breast thou dost suckle the ceaselessly-varying
ages;
Under the same azure vault, over the same
verdant earth,
Races, near and remote, in harmony wander together,
See, even Homers own sun looks
on us, too, with a smile!
© e-libr.com
feedback