If I had, ah Laso!
All the emp’ror’s treasures,
Well I know, ah Laso!
What with these I’d purchase;
I would buy, ah Laso!
Garden on the Sava;
Well I know, ah Laso!
What my hands would plant there;
I would plant, ah Laso!
Hyacinths, carnations.
If I had, ah Laso!
All the emp’ror’s treasures,
Well I know, ah Laso!
What with these I’d purchase;
I would buy, ah Laso!
I would purchase Laso,
He should be, ah Laso!
Gardener in my garden.
THE FALCON.
The falcon soars both far and high,
He spreads his pinions in the sky;
Then from his cloudy heights he lowers,
And seats him on the city’s towers:
He sees a laughing girl of grace,
In crystal water bathe her face;
And looks with open, eager eye
Upon her neck of ivory:
White as the snow upon the mountain;
And there he hears a youth recounting
His tale of love.—“Now bend thy head
Upon thy snowy neck,” he said;
“Its whiteness is too bright for me:
And ’neath it sorrowing heart may be.”
HEROES SERVED.
Upon the silent Danube’s shore,
When ev’ning wastes, ’tis sweet to see
(Their golden wine cups flowing o’er);
Our heroes in their revelry.
A youthful beauty pours the wine,
And each will pledge a cup to her;
And each of charms that seem divine,
Would fain become a worshiper.
“Nay! heroes, nay!” the virgin cried,
“My service—not my love—I give:
For one alone—for none beside:
For one alone I love and live.”
YOUTH AND AGE.
Lo! the maid her rosy cheeks is laving.
Listen! while she bathes her snowy forehead:
“Forehead! if I thought an old man’s kisses
Would be stamp’d upon thee, I would hasten
To the forest, and would gather wormwood:
Into boiling water press its bitters:
With it steep my forehead ev’ry morning,
That the old man’s kiss might taste of wormwood.
But, if some fair youth should come to kiss me,
I would hurry to the verdant garden:
I would gather all its sweetest roses,
Would condense their fragrance,—and at morning,
Every morning, would perfume my forehead:
So the youth’s sweet kiss would breathe of fragrance,
And his heart be gladden’d with the odour.
Better dwell with youth upon the mountains,
Than with age in luxury’s richest palace:
Better sleep with youth on naked granite,
Than with eld on silks howe’er voluptuous!”