Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Switzerland and Austria: Vol. XVI. 1876–79.

Austria: Buda (Ofen), Hungary

Farewell

By Servian Popular Poetry

Translated by J. Bowring

AGAINST white Buda’s walls a vine

Doth its white branches fondly twine:

O no! it was no vine-tree there;

It was a fond, a faithful pair,

Bound each to each in earliest vow,—

And, O, they must be severed now!

And these their farewell words: “We part,—

Break from my bosom,—break, my heart!

Go to a garden,—go and see

Some rose-branch blushing on the tree;

And from that branch a rose-flower tear,

Then place it on thy bosom bare;

And as its leaflets fade and pine,

So fades my sinking heart in thine.”

And thus the other spoke: “My love!

A few short paces backward move,

And to the verdant forest go;

There ’s a fresh water-fount below;

And in the fount a marble stone,

Which a gold cup reposes on;

And in the cup a ball of snow,—

Love! take that ball of snow to rest

Upon thine heart within thy breast,

And as it melts unnoticed there,

So melts my heart in thine, my dear!”