Page:The Works of J. W. von Goethe, Volume 9.djvu/146

124 Ay, distance only swells love's might, When fondly love a pair; Though prisoned in the dungeon's night, In life I linger there; And when my heart is breaking nigh, "Forget-me-not!" is all I cry, And straightway life returneth.

 SIR CURT'S WEDDING JOURNEY.

a bridegroom's joyous bearing, Mounts Sir Curt his noble beast, To his mistress' home repairing, There to hold his wedding feast; When a threatening foe advances From a desert, rocky spot; For the fray they couch their lances, Not delaying, speaking not.

Long the doubtful fight continues, Victory then for Curt declares; Conqueror, though with wearied sinews, Forward on his road he fares. When he sees, though strange it may be, Something 'midst the foliage move; 'Tis a mother with her baby, Stealing softly through the grove!

And upon the spot she beckons— "Wherefore, love, this speed so wild? Of the wealth thy storehouse reckons, Hast thou nought to give thy child?" Flames of rapture now dart through him, And he longs for nothing more, While the mother seemeth to him Lovely as the maid of yore. 