THE HAPPIEST LAND FROM THE GERMAN HERE sat one day in quiet, TH By an alehouse on the Rhine, The landlord's daughter filled their cups, Around the rustic board; Then sat they all so calm and still, And spake not one rude word. But, when the maid departed, A Swabian raised his hand, And cried, all hot and flushed with wine, "Long live the Swabian land! "The greatest kingdom upon earth With all the stout and hardy men "Ha!" cried a Saxon, laughing, And dashed his beard with wine ; "I had rather live in Lapland, Than that Swabian land of thine! "The goodliest land on all this earth, It is the Saxon land! There have I as many maidens As fingers on this hand!" Hold your tongues! both Swabian and Saxon!" A bold Bohemian cries; "If there's a heaven upon this earth, In Bohemia it lies. "There the tailor blows the flute, And the cobbler blows the horn, And the miner blows the bugle, Over mountain gorge and bourn.” And then the landlord's daughter THE WAVE FROM THE GERMAN OF TIEDGE HITHER, thou turbid wave? "W Whither, with so much haste, As if a thief wert thou?" "I am the Wave of Life, Of the muddy banks of Time." THE DEAD FROM THE GERMAN OF STOCKMANN OW they so softly rest, HON All they the holy ones, Unto whose dwelling-place Now doth my soul draw near! How they so softly rest, All in their silent graves, Deep to corruption Slowly down-sinking! And they no longer weep, Here, where all gladness flies! And, by the cypresses Softly o'ershadowed, Until the Angel Calls them, they slumber! THE BIRD AND THE SHIP FROM THE GERMAN OF MÜLLER HE rivers rush into the sea, "TH By castle and town they go; The winds behind them merrily "The clouds are passing far and high, Goes with us, and far away. "I greet thee, bonny boat! Whither, or whence, With thy fluttering golden band?" "I greet thee, little bird! To the wide sea I haste from the narrow land. "Full and swollen is every sail; I see no longer a hill, I have trusted all to the sounding gale, 'And wilt thou, little bird, go with us? Thou mayest stand on the mainmast tall, For full to sinking is my house With merry companions all." "I need not and seek not company, "High over the sails, high over the mast, Who shall gainsay these joys? When thy merry companions are still, at last, Thou shalt hear the sound of my voice. "Who neither may rest, nor listen may, I dart away, in the bright blue day, "Thus do I sing my weary song, And this same song, my whole life long, |