THE HEMLOCK-TREE.
FROM THE GERMAN.
O hemlock-tree! O hemlock-tree! how faithful are thy branches!
Green not alone in summer time,
But in the winter’s frost and rime!
O hemlock-tree! O hemlock-tree! how faithful are thy branches!
O maiden fair! O maiden fair! how faithless is thy bosom!
To love me in prosperity,
And leave me in adversity
O maiden fair! O maiden fair! how faithless is thy bosom!
The nightingale! the nightingale thou tak’st for thine example!
So long as summer laughs she sings,
But in the autumn spreads her wings;
The nightingale! the nightingale thou tak’st for thine example!
The meadow-brook, the meadow-brook is mirror of thy falsehood!
It flows so long as falls the rain;
In drought its springs soon dry again;
The meadow-brook, the meadow-brook is mirror of thy falsehood!
Anonymous. Translation of H. W. Longfellow.