C.D. Warner, et al., comp. The Library of the World’s Best Literature.
An Anthology in Thirty Volumes. 1917.
The Dream-Image
By Ludwig Heinrich Christoph Hölty (17481776)
W
There in the garden dreaming,
That bound my hair with rosemary,
Which round my couch was teeming?
Where art thou, image guarding me,
And in my spirit peering,
While my warm cheek all tenderly
Thou prest with touch endearing?
By linden-shaded river,
Or in the town, idea beloved,
And find thee nowhere, never.
I wander ’neath the sun’s sharp heat,
If raining or if snowing,
And look into each face I meet
Along my pathway going.
With sighs and tears to wander,
And Sundays at the church doors view
The maidens here and yonder.
Toward every window do I look,
Where but a veil doth hover,
And in no house or street or nook
Can I my love discover.
With thy angelic bearing,
Clad in the shepherd garments light
Which marked thy first appearing;
And with thee bring the swan-white hand
Which stole my heart completely,
The purple-scarlet bosom-band,
The nosegay scented sweetly;
From whence looked out an angel;
The forehead, in such kindly guise,
Amenity’s evangel;
The mouth, love’s paradise abode;
The dimples laughing clearest,
Where Heaven’s bright portal open stood,—
Bring all with thee, my dearest!