C.D. Warner, et al., comp. The Library of the World’s Best Literature.
An Anthology in Thirty Volumes. 1917.
Sorrow
By Anonymous
W
If I fly from Sorrow into the dark forest,
After me runs Sorrow with an axe:
“I will fell, I will fell the green oaks;
I will seek, I will find the fair maiden.”
If I fly from Sorrow into the open field,
After me runs Sorrow with a scythe:
“I will mow, I will mow the open field;
I will seek, I will find the fair maiden.”
Whither then shall I flee from Sorrow?
If I rush from Sorrow into the blue sea,
After me comes Sorrow as a huge fish:
“I will drink, I will swallow the blue sea;
I will seek, I will find the fair maiden.”
If I seek refuge from Sorrow in marriage,
Sorrow follows me as my dowry;
If I take to my bed to escape from Sorrow,
Sorrow sits beside my pillow.
And when I shall have fled from Sorrow into the damp earth,
Sorrow will come after me with a spade;
Then will Sorrow stand over me, and cry triumphantly,
“I have driven, I have driven the maiden into the damp earth.”