Twelve Songs Set to Poems of Shelley and Rossetti

I fear thy kisses, gentle maiden;
  Thou needest not fear mine;
My spirit is too deeply laden
  Ever to burden thine.
                           
I fear thy mien, thy tones, thy motion;
  Thou needest not fear mine;
Innocent is the heart's devotion
  With which I worship thine.

Ich fürchte deinen Kuss, lieb' Mädchen
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 The keen stars were twinkling
 And the fair moon was rising among them,
           Dear Jane:
      The [guitar]1 was tinkling,
 But the notes were not [sweet]2 till you [sung]3 them
           Again.
      As the moon's soft splendor
 O'er the faint cold starlight of heaven
           Is thrown,
      So your voice most tender
 To the strings without soul had then given
           Its own.

      The stars will awaken,
 Though the moon sleep a full hour later,
           Tonight;
      No leaf will be shaken
 Whilst the dews of your melody scatter
           Delight.
      Though the sound overpowers,
 Sing again, with your dear voice revealing
           A tone
      Of some world far from ours
 Where music and moonlight and feeling
           Are one.

Die Sterne erwachten
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The [fountains mingle]1 with the River 
  And the Rivers with the Ocean,
The winds of Heaven mix for ever
  With a sweet emotion;
Nothing in the world is single;
  All things by a law divine
In one [another's being]2 mingle.
  Why not I with thine? -

See the mountains kiss high Heaven
  And the waves clasp one another;
No sister-flower would be forgiven
  If it disdained its brother;
And the [sunlight clasps]3 the earth
  And the moonbeams kiss the sea:
What [are all these kissings]4 worth
  If thou kiss not me?

Die Quellen mengen sich dem Strome
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Music, when soft voices die,	
Vibrates in the memory;
Odours, when sweet violets sicken,
Live within the sense they quicken.

Rose leaves, when the rose is dead,
Are heaped for the belovèd's bed;
And so [thy]1 thoughts, when thou art gone,
Love itself shall slumber on.

Ist verrauscht Musik und Wort
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The flower that smiles to-day
To-morrow dies;
All that we wish to stay
Tempts and then flies.
What is this world's delight?
Lightning that mocks the night,
Brief even as bright.

Virtue, how frail it is!
Friendship how rare!
Love, how it sells poor bliss
For proud despair!
[But we, though soon they fall,
Survive their joy, and all
Which ours we call.]1

[Whilst]2 skies are blue and bright, 
Whilst flowers are gay,
Whilst eyes that change ere night
Make glad the day;
Whilst yet the calm hours creep,
Dream [thou]3 -- and from thy sleep
Then wake to weep.

Was heute blüht
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The odour from the flower is gone
Which like thy kisses breathed on me;
The colour from the flower is flown
Which glowed of thee and only thee!

A shrivelled, lifeless, vacant form.
It lies on my abandoned breast,
And mocks [the]2 heart which yet is warm,
With cold and silent rest.

I weep, -- my tears revive it not!
I sigh, -- it breathes no more on me;
Its mute and uncomplaining lot
Is such as mine should be.

Nun ist der süsse Duft entfloh'n
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When passion's trance is overpast,
If tenderness and truth could last,
Or live, whilst all wild feelings keep
Some mortal slumber, dark and deep,
I should not weep, I should not weep! 

It were enough to feel, to see,
Thy soft eyes gazing tenderly,
And dream the rest--and burn and be
The secret food of fires unseen,
Couldst thou but be as thou hast been,  

After the slumber of the year
The woodland violets reappear;
All things revive in field or grove,
And sky and sea, but two, which move
And form all others, life and love. 

Wenn Leidenschaft vertobet
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Rarely, rarely, comest thou,
Spirit of Delight!
Wherefore hast thou left me now
Many a day and night?
Many a weary night and day  
'Tis since thou art fled away.

How shall ever one like me
Win thee back again?
With the joyous and the free
Thou wilt scoff at pain.   
Spirit false! thou hast forgot
All but those who need thee not.

As a lizard with the shade
Of a trembling leaf,
Thou with sorrow art dismayed; 
Even the sighs of grief
Reproach thee, that thou art not near,
And reproach thou wilt not hear.

Let me set my mournful ditty
To a merry measure; 
Thou wilt never come for pity,
Thou wilt come for pleasure;
Pity then will cut away
Those cruel wings, and thou wilt stay.

I love all that thou lovest,  
Spirit of Delight!
The fresh Earth in new leaves dressed,
And the starry night;
Autumn evening, and the morn
When the golden mists are born. 

I love snow, and all the forms
Of the radiant frost;
I love waves, and winds, and storms,
Everything almost
Which is Nature's, and may be
Untainted by man's misery.

I love tranquil solitude,
And such society
As is quiet, wise, and good
Between thee and me 
What difference? but thou dost possess
The things I seek, not love them less.

I love Love--though he has wings,
And like light can flee,
But above all other things,
Spirit, I love thee --
Thou art love and life! Oh, come,
Make once more my heart thy home.

Selten, selten kommst du nah
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Waving whispering trees,
What do you say to the breeze
And what says the breeze to you?
'Mid passing souls ill at ease,
Moving murmuring trees,
Would ye ever wave an Adieu?

Tossing turbulent seas,
Winds that wrestle with these,
Echo heard in the shell, --
'Mid fleeting life ill at ease,
Restless ravening seas, --
Would the echo sigh Farewell?

Surging sumptuous skies,
For ever a new surprise,
Clouds eternally new, --
Is every flake that flies,
Widening wandering skies,
For a sign-Farewell, Adieu?

Sinking suffering heart
That know'st how weary thou art, --
Soul so fain for a flight, --
Aye, spread your wings to depart,
Sad soul and sorrowing heart, --
Adieu, Farewell, Good-night.

Rauschend, flüsternder Baum
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Hoch wie am Zweige
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         I have been here before,
              But when or how I cannot tell:
          I know the grass beyond the door,
              The sweet keen smell,
    The sighing sound, the lights around the shore.

          You have been mine before, --
              How long ago I may not know:
          But just when at that swallow's soar
              Your neck turned so,
    Some veil did fall, -- I knew it all of yore.

          Has this been thus before?
              And shall not thus time's eddying flight
          Still with our lives our love restore
              In death's despite,
    And day and night yield one delight once more? 

War ich nicht hier zuvor
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I looked and saw your eyes 
In the shadow of your hair, 
As a traveller sees the stream 
In the shadow of the wood; 
And I said, "My faint heart sighs, 
Ah me! to linger there, 
To drink deep and to dream 
In that sweet solitude."
I looked and saw your heart 
In the shadow of your eyes, 
As a seeker sees the gold 
In the shadow of the stream; 
And I said, "Ah me! what art 
Should win the immortal prize, 
Whose want must make life cold 
And Heaven a hollow dream?"
I looked and saw your love 
In the shadow of your heart, 
As a diver sees the pearl 
In the shadow of the sea; 
And I murmured, not above 
My breath, but all apart,-- 
"Ah! you can love, true girl, 
And is your love for me?" 

Im Schatten deines Haar's
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