The Sunken City

Wilhelm Müller (1794–1827)

From the German by James Clarence Mangan

HARK! the faint bells of the sunken city

Peal once more their wonted evening chime!

From the deep abysses floats a ditty,

Wild and wondrous, of the olden time.

Temples, towers, and domes of many stories

There lie buried in an ocean grave,—

Undescried, save when their golden glories

Gleam, at sunset, through the lighted wave.

And the mariner who had seen them glisten,

In whose ears those magic bells do sound,

Night by night bides there to watch and listen,

Though death lurks behind each dark rock round.

So the bells of memory’s wonder-city

Peal for me their old melodious chime!

So my heart pours forth a changeful ditty,

Sad and pleasant, from the bygone time.

Domes and towers and castles, fancy-builded,

There lie lost to daylight’s garish beams,—

There lie hidden till unveiled and gilded,

Glory-gilded, by my nightly dreams!

And then hear I music sweet upknelling

From many a well-known phantom band,

And, through tears, can see my natural dwelling

Far off in the spirit’s luminous land!