A peace on the earth there fell,—
And nature lay hushed in quiet,
At the voice of the evening hell.
150 THE BOOK OF GERMAN BONGS.
I said, " heart, consider

What ^lence all things keep, —

And, with each child of the meadow
Prepare thyself to sleep.
** For every flower is closing
In silence its little eye, —

And every wave in the brooklet
More softly murmureth by.
" The weary caterpillar

Hath nestled beneath the weeds ;
All wet with dew now slumbers

The dragon-fly in the reeds.
" The golden beetle hath laid him
In a rose-leaf cradle to rock ;

Now wend to their nightly shelter
The shepherd and his flock.
" The lark from on high is seeking
In the moistened grass her nest ;

The hart and the hind have lidd them
In their woodland haunt to rest.
" And whoso owneth a cottage

To slumber hath laid him down ;

And he that roams among strangers
In dreams shall behold his own.'^



LOVB SONGS^ BALLADS, ETC. 151

And now doth a yearning seize me,

At this hour of peace and love,
That I cannot reach the dwelling,

The home that is mine, above.
ORIGINAL.
^CH stand auf Berges Halde
(^ Als die Sonn' hinunter gieng,
Und sah wie iiberm Walde
Des Abends Goldnetz hing.
Des Himmels Wolken thauten,

Der Erde Frieden zu,
Bei Abendglockenlauten

Ging die Natur zur kuh.
Ich sprach : " Herz empfinde

Der Schopfung StiUe nun,
Und Schick, mil jedem Kinde

Der Flur dich auch, zu ruhn.
"Die Blumen alle schliessen

Die Augen allgemach,
Und alle Wellen fliessen

Besanfdget im Bach.
" Nun hat der miide Silfe

Sich unter's Blatt gesetzt,
Und die Libell' am Schilfe

Entschlummert, thaubenetzt.
j2



TBB BOOK or QKRltAM BOKaB.
