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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


THE MAIDEN'S LAMENT by JOHANN CHRISTOPH FRIEDRICH VON SCHILLER

First Line: THE OAK-WOOD MURMURS
Last Line: "IS LOVE'S OWN WEEPING AND SIGHING."

THE oak-wood murmurs,
The sky clouds o'er,
The maiden paces
The grassy shore;
The billows are breaking with might, with might,
And she sighs aloud in the gloomy night;
Her eyes all heavy with sadness:

"The heart is broken,
The world is void,
With empty pleasures
My soul is cloyed;
Thou Holy One, summon thy child above;
I have lived my life, I have loved my love,
And revelled in earthly gladness."

"The tears that thou weepest
All vainly are shed,
No power hath thy plaining
To waken the dead;
But tell me, what comforts and gladdens the heart
When the joys of sweet Love must for ever depart;
I, the Holy One, bend to thy crying."

"Let the tears I am weeping
All vainly be shed,
Let my plaining be powerless
To waken the dead:
The sweetest delight for the sorrowful heart
When the joys of bright Love must for ever depart,
Is Love's own weeping and sighing."





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