Page:Themes and variations (IA themesvariations00wils).pdf/42
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
30
Themes and Variations
Or gentle Marguerite, her hair unbound,
Sits spinning in the homely chimmey-nook,
Singing so low and sweet of one she loves
When, ah!—the thread is broken and the dream!
And all the fairy music turns to tears.
Sits spinning in the homely chimmey-nook,
Singing so low and sweet of one she loves
When, ah!—the thread is broken and the dream!
And all the fairy music turns to tears.
Or by the stream we move in happier days,
The mill turns on, turns on, by night and day.
The Linden waves and beckons to the stars,
And sunny dreams play round the sleeper’s head.
The mill turns on, turns on, by night and day.
The Linden waves and beckons to the stars,
And sunny dreams play round the sleeper’s head.
But most of all,—heart-broken; yet divine—
We love the winter journey in the snow.
A winter journey, truly, was the way
To him, who gave this magic ring to men.
Too soon, too soon he reached the hostelry,
Where room was made for him among the graves.
Weary and poor, a solitary guest
He came, but slept in immortality.
We love the winter journey in the snow.
A winter journey, truly, was the way
To him, who gave this magic ring to men.
Too soon, too soon he reached the hostelry,
Where room was made for him among the graves.
Weary and poor, a solitary guest
He came, but slept in immortality.
And now his songs have floated through the world
And found new life, new friends in many lands,
Even here in this green island of the south,
Alien in race, far from his Styrian hills,
We mourn with him in fadeless melody.
And found new life, new friends in many lands,
Even here in this green island of the south,
Alien in race, far from his Styrian hills,
We mourn with him in fadeless melody.
Such music moves upon the verge of day.
The sorrow that will never be consoled,
The dream that may not be interpreted,
The tongue we understand but cannot speak,
The promptings of an unremembered past
Live in his song, and light our thoughts to-day.
The sorrow that will never be consoled,
The dream that may not be interpreted,
The tongue we understand but cannot speak,
The promptings of an unremembered past
Live in his song, and light our thoughts to-day.