Page:The Works of J. W. von Goethe, Volume 9.djvu/202

172 DEATH LAMENT OF THE NOBLE WIFE OF ASAN AGA.

is yon so white beside the greenwood? Is it snow, or flight of cygnets resting? Were it snow, ere now it had been melted; Were it swans, ere now the flock had left us. Neither snow nor swans are resting yonder, 'Tis the glittering tents of Asan Aga. Faint he lies from wounds in stormy battle; There his mother and his sisters seek him, But his wife hangs back for shame, and comes not.

When the anguish of his hurts was over, To his faithful wife he sent this message— "Longer 'neath my roof thou shalt not tarry, Neither in my court nor in my household."

When the lady heard that cruel sentence, 'Reft of sense she stood, and racked with anguish; In the court she heard the horses stamping, And in fear that it was Asan coming, Fled towards the tower, to leap and perish.

Then in terror ran her little daughters, Calling after her, and weeping sorely,