Willkommen und Abschied
Reunion - Farewell

Goethe


My heart was pounding – Quick, to horse!
No sooner thought than it was done.
Already twilight lulled the land
As night took hold up in the hills.
The oak, clad in a shroud of mist,
Reared up, a towering giant there
Where darkness peered out from the scrub,
A hundred eyes, black, all aware.

The moon, behind a bank of cloud,
Looked palely downward through the haze,
The winds swung by on silent wings,
Brushed chillingly against my ear;
The night brought forth a thousand fiends,
And yet my mood was full of cheer;
Blood of fire flowed through my veins,
My heart, aglow, my pace sustained.

I saw thee and such gentle joy
Flowed from thy darling eyes to me.
My heart, so closely at thy side,
Each breath I took was meant for thee.
The rosy light of new-born Spring
Was framing thy dear face,
And tenderness, ye gods, for me!
I’d wished, but never thought I’d find such grace!

Alas, the sun at break of day told
My aching heart ‘twas time to leave.
In thy kisses, oh what bliss!
And oh, to see thy poor eyes grieve!
I left; thou, standing, looking down,
Observing me with tearful eyes;
And yet, what fortune to be loved
And ye dear gods, what fortune ‘tis to love.