Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, TRANSLATION OF AN ODE OF KLOPSTOCK'S, by REGINALD HEBER


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

TRANSLATION OF AN ODE OF KLOPSTOCK'S, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Ah selma! If our love the fates should sever
Last Line: "sink on that breast, and wax as pale as thee."
Subject(s): Death; Love; Tragedy; Dead, The


HE.

AH Selma! if our love the fates should sever,
And bear thy spirit from the world below,
Then shall mine eyes be wet with tears for ever,
Each gloomy morn, each night of darker woe;
Each hour, that pass'd so soon in thy embracing,
Each minute keenly felt shall force a tear;
The long, long months! the years so slowly pacing!
Which all were swift alike, and all were dear.

SHE.

My Selmar! ah, if from thy Selma parted,
Thy soul should first the paths of darkness tread,
Sad were my course, and short, and broken-hearted,
To weep those lonely days, that dismal bed!
Each hour that erst in converse sweet returning,
Shone with thy smile, or sparkled with thy tear;
Each lingering day should lengthen out my mourning,
The days that pass'd so swiftly and so dear!

HE.

And did I promise, Selma, years of sorrow?
And canst thou linger only days behind?
Few minutes, few, be mine from fate to borrow,
Near thy pale cheek and breathless form reclined,
Press thy dead hand, and, wildly bending o'er thee,
Print one last kiss upon thy glazed eye.

SHE.

Nay, Selmar, nay -- I will not fall before thee;
That pang be mine; thou shalt not see me die;
Some few sad moments on thy death-bed lying,
By thy pale corpse my trembling frame shall be;
Gaze on thy alter'd form, then, inly sighing,
Sink on that breast, and wax as pale as thee."





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