Page:Bohemian legends and other poems.djvu/172

 For the farmer fodder,
 * That his cows grow sleek.

For the fowls some barley,
 * Peas then let them seek.

For the fruit trees compost,
 * Made of pounded bones.

For the one who fasteth,
 * Lights from other zones.

I, an honest maiden,
 * With my heart still free,

Fain would see the lover
 * That will come for me.

Far behind the forest,
 * Near the little bridge,

Stands a willow ancient,
 * Snow on tree and ridge.

Willow stooping downward,
 * Leaning on the ice,

Drooping where the blue sea
 * Now has turned to ice.

Here they say that maidens,
 * In the moonlight clear,

May behold their lover,
 * If they have no fear.

I, who fear no evil,
 * Will break through the ice.

With an axe I’ll cut it,
 * Gaze down in the ice.

Deep, deep down they tell me,
 * In the frozen sea,

I shall see my future,
 * If I do not flee.