Spongy and dim, each lonely lampShone o’er the streets so dull and damp;The moonbeam could not pierce the cloudThat swathed the city like a shroud.There stood three Shapes on the bridge alone,Three figures by the coping-stone;Gaunt, and tall, and undefined,Spectres built of mist and wind;Changing ever in form and height,But black and palpable to sight.‘This…
Roamer with me over valley and wildwood,Searching for loveliness, groping for Truth.Stay with me, dwell with me, spirit of Poesy;Dark were the world if thy bloom should depart;Glory would cease in the sunlight and starlight,Freshness and courage would fade from the heart.Stay with me, comfort me, now more than ever,When years stealing over me lead…
O! shall it be said that no vengeance inspiresThe land of the Oder, the Elbe, and the Rhine!O! shall it be said that the Germans lay still,While their puny oppressors were working their will?Forbid it, O Heaven, that the country of song,The land of the steadfast, the noble, the fair,Should tamely submit to the lash…
And to her secluded nook,By the margin of a brook,And by waters bright and blue,Over meadows wet with dew,Many a time pursued her:And far away in forests lone,Listening to the rugged toneOf the windy weather,She and I, at midnight’s time,Have sat and sung together.Poor she is in things of earth,Poor in worldly treasure,But she hath…
When rulers plot, for sefish ends,To keep the nations down;When statesmen form unholy leagueTo drive the world to war;When knaves in palaces intrigueFor ribbons or a starWe raise our heads, survey their deeds,And cheerily reply,Grub, little moles, grub under ground,There’s sunshine in the sky.When canting hypocrites combineTo curb a free man’s thought,And hold all doctrine…
