DEATH OF ELIZA AT THE BATTLE OF MINDEN E. Darwin

212

INTRODUCTORY.

H

HERMANN AND THUSNELDA.

A! there comes he, with sweat, with blood of Ro

mans,

And with dust of the fight all stained! O, never
Saw I Hermann so lovely!

Never such fire in his eyes!

Come! I tremble for joy; hand me the Eagle,

And the red, dripping sword! come, breathe, and rest

thee;

Rest thee here in my bosom;
Rest from the terrible fight!

Rest thee, while from thy brow I wipe the big drops, And the blood from thy cheek!

glowing!

that cheek, how

Hermann Hermann! Thusuelda
Never so loved thee before!

No, not then, when thou first, in old oak-shadows, With that manly brown arm didst wildly grasp me!

Spell-bound I read in thy look

That immortality, then,

Which thou now hast won.

Tell to the forests,

Great Augustus, with trembling, amidst his gods now, Drinks his nectar; for Hermann,

Hermann immortal is found!

"Wherefore curl'st thou my hair? Lies not our father Cold and silent in death? O, had Augustus

Let me lift up thy hair; 't is sinking, Hermann ; Proudly thy locks should curl above the crown now! Sigmar is with the immortals !

Follow, and mourn him no more!

Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock. Tr. C. T. Brooks,

THE GERMAN THE DEAREST.

all the lands on earth that be,
The German land 's the land for me;
Bedewed with Heaven's blessing;

And though nor gold nor jewels rare,
Good store of men and maidens fair,
And corn and wine, possessing.

Of all the tongues on earth that be,
The German tongue's the tongue for me;
Sweet sounds it may not borrow:

But when our hearts would hold discourse,
We ne'er shall find it lacketh force

To tell of joy or sorrow.

Of all the maids on earth that be,
The German maid's the maid for me;
A beauteous violet seeming;
With sweetest fragrance to the sense,
With not a thorn to give offence,

Through many a summer beaming.

Of all the wives on earth that be,
The German wife's the wife for me;
In form and mind a treasure.
At home her ministry is seen;
She will not roam abroad, I ween,
To find elsewhere her pleasure.

Of customs that on earth there be,
The German customs give to me,

Good customs, - I revere them.

Through them men, hale in heart and limb,
Alternate sense with wit and whim,

And keep the wine-cup near them.

Then fill it up with German wine,
That cometh from our German Rhine,

To every heart's elation;

Long live our German fatherland !

Long live of love and truth the band

In our Confederation!

Aloys Wilhelm Schreiber. Tr. H. W. Dulcken.