Not in the crowd of masqueraders gay,Where coxcombs’ wit with wondrous splendor flares,And, easier than the Indian’s net the prey,The virtue of young beauties snares;– Not at the toilet-table of the fair,Where vanity, as if before an idol, bows,And often breathes a warmer prayerThan when to heaven it pays its vows; And not behind the […]

You tell me that you feel surpriseBecause Quirl’s paper’s grown in size;And yet they’re crying through the streetThat there’s a rise in bread and meat.

Here lies a man cut off by fateToo soon for all good men;For sextons he died late–too lateFor those who wield the pen.

What mean the joyous sounds from yonder vine-clad height?What the exulting Evoe? [1]Why glows the cheek? Whom is’t that I, with pinions light,Swinging the lofty Thyrsus see? Is it the genius whom the gladsome throng obeys?Do I his numerous train descry?In plenty’s teeming horn the gifts of heaven he sways,And reels from very ecstacy!– See […]

I am a man!–Let every oneWho is a man, too, springWith joy beneath God’s shining sun,And leap on high, and sing! To God’s own image fair on earthIts stamp I’ve power to show;Down to the front, where heaven has birthWith boldness I dare go. ‘Tis well that I both dare and can!When I a maiden […]

Thy wife is destined to deceive thee!She’ll seek another’s arms and leave thee,And horns upon thy head will shortly sprout!How dreadful that when bathing thou shouldst see me(No ether-bath can wash the stigma out),And then, in perfect innocence, shouldst flee me!

The name of Wirtemberg they holdTo come from Wirth am berg [1], I’m told.A Wirtemberger who ne’er drinksNo Wirtemberger is, methinks! FOOTNOTE:[1] The Landlord on the Mountain.

Farewell! the beauteous sun is sinking fast,The moon lifts up her head;Farewell! mute night o’er earth’s wide round at lastHer darksome raven-wing has spread. Across the wintry plain no echoes float,Save, from the rock’s deep womb,The murmuring streamlet, and the screech-owl’s note,Arising from the forest’s gloom. The fish repose within the watery deeps,The snail draws […]

An aged satyr soughtAround my Muse to pass,Attempting to pay court,And eyed her fondly through his glass. By Phoebus’ golden torch,By Luna’s pallid light,Around her temple’s porchCrept the unhappy sharp-eared wight; And warbled many a lay,Her beauty’s praise to sing,And fiercely scraped awayOn his discordant fiddle-string. With tears, too, swelled his eyes,As large as nuts, […]

The Bad Monarchs [1] Earthly gods–my lyre shall win your praise,Though but wont its gentle sounds to raiseWhen the joyous feast the people throng;Softly at your pompous-sounding names,Shyly round your greatness purple flames,Trembles now my song. Answer! shall I strike the golden string,When, borne on by exultation’s wing,O’er the battle-field your chariots trail?When ye, from […]

Monument of Moor the Robber. [1] ‘Tis ended!Welcome! ’tis endedOh thou sinner majestic,All thy terrible part is now played! Noble abased one!Thou, of thy race beginner and ender!Wondrous son of her fearfulest humor,Mother Nature’s blunder sublime! Through cloud-covered night a radiant gleam!Hark how behind him the portals are closing!Night’s gloomy jaws veil him darkly in […]

Plague’s contagious murderous breathGod’s strong might with terror reveals,As through the dreary valley of deathWith its brotherhood fell it steals! Fearfully throbs the anguish-struck heart,Horribly quivers each nerve in the frame;Frenzy’s wild laughs the torment proclaim,Howling convulsions disclose the fierce smart. Fierce delirium writhes upon the bed–Poisonous mists hang o’er the cities dead;Men all haggard, […]

The dead has risen here, to live through endless ages;This I with firmness trust and know.I was first led to guess it by the sages,The knaves convince me that ’tis really so.

On every nose he rightly readWhat intellects were in the headAnd yet–that he was not the oneBy whom God meant it to be done,This on his own he never read.

A.Hark, neighbor, for one moment stay!Herr Doctor Scalpel, so they say,Has got off safe and sound;At Paris I your uncle foundFast to a horse’s crupper bound,–Yet Scalpel made a king his prey. B.Oh, dear me, no! A real misnomer!The fact is, he has his diploma;The other one has not. A.Eh? What? Has a diploma?In Suabia […]

‘Twixt the heavens and earth, high in the airy ocean,In the tempest’s cradle I’m borne with a rocking motion;Clouds are towering,Storms beneath me are lowering,Giddily all the wonders I see,And, O Eternal, I think of Thee! All Thy terrible pomp, lend to the Finite now,Mighty Nature! Oh, of Infinity, thouGiant daughter!Mirror God, as in water!Tempest, […]

HUSBAND.The boy’s my very image! See!Even the scars my small-pox left me! WIFE.I can believe it easilyThey once of all my senses reft me.

Priam’s castle-walls had sunk,Troy in dust and ashes lay,And each Greek, with triumph drunk,Richly laden with his prey,Sat upon his ship’s high prow,On the Hellespontic strand,Starting on his journey now,Bound for Greece, his own fair land.Raise the glad exulting shout!Toward the land that gave them birthTurn they now the ships about,As they seek their native […]

Why run the crowd? What means the throngThat rushes fast the streets along?Can Rhodes a prey to flames, then, be?In crowds they gather hastily,And, on his steed, a noble knightAmid the rabble, meets my sight;Behind him–prodigy unknown!–A monster fierce they’re drawing on;A dragon stems it by its shape,With wide and crocodile-like jaw,And on the knight […]

“I Can love thee well, believe me,As a sister true;Other love, Sir Knight, would grieve me,Sore my heart would rue.Calmly would I see thee going,Calmly, too, appear;For those tears in silence flowingFind no answer here.” Thus she speaks,–he hears her sadly,–How his heartstrings bleed!In his arms he clasps her madly,Then he mounts his steed.From the […]