| Margarete Münsterberg, ed., trans. A Harvest of German Verse. 1916. | | | | Song of the Evening | | By Gottfried Keller (1819–1890) |
| | | YOU my eyes, my little windows dear, | |
| Leave me yet a while your vision clear, | |
| Welcome many pictures in with cheer— | |
| Sometime soon you will be dark and drear! | |
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| And when once these weary lids shall close, | 5 |
| Then the soul shall rest—when darkness grows; | |
| Groping, off she strips her shoes and goes | |
| In her coffin black to find repose. | |
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| Still she sees two little sparks that gleam: | |
| Like two tiny inward stars they beam, | 10 |
| Till they fade and vanish like a dream; | |
| Blown away by moth-wings’ beat they seem. | |
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| Yet I’m wandering still at eventide, | |
| Only fading stars as friends abide. | |
| Drink, my eyes, whate’er can be espied | 15 |
| Of the glories in this world so wide! | | | | |
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