Was once a page-boy handsome,
With lightsome heart and curly hair,
The silken train he carried
Of the queen so young and fair.
Dost know the old, old story?
It sounds so sweet, so sad to tell—
Both were obliged to perish,
They loved each other too well.
* * * * *
ABROAD[42] (1834)
Oh I had once a beauteous Fatherland!
High used to seem
The oak—so high!—the violets nodded kind—
It was a dream.
In German I was kissed, in German told
(You scarce would deem
How sweetly rang the words): "I love thee well!—"
It was a dream.
* * * * *
THE SPHINX[43] (1839)
It is the fairy forest old,
With lime-tree blossoms scented!
The moonshine with its mystic light
My soul and sense enchanted.
On, on I roamed, and, as I went,
Sweet music o'er me rose there;
It is the nightingale—she sings
Of love and lovers' woes there.