| |
| WE stood upon the castle’s height, | |
| So full of old romances; | |
| The moon above shone clear and bright, | |
| And silvered all our fancies. | |
| |
| The Neckar murmured in its flow, | 5 |
| The woods with dew were weeping, | |
| And, lighting up the depths below, | |
| The quiet town seemed sleeping. | |
| |
| The battlements rose grim and still | |
| In majesty before us, | 10 |
| And floating faintly up the hill | |
| We heard a students’ chorus. | |
| |
| Inspired by the brimming cup, | |
| Their words were wildly ringing; | |
| They sang of love,—and I took up | 15 |
| The burden of their singing. | |
| |
| I spoke to you: in sweet surprise | |
| A little while you hovered; | |
| Then in the depths of those gray eyes | |
| Your answer I discovered. | 20 |
| |
| We vowed that while the Neckar’s flow | |
| (How low the words were spoken!) | |
| Ran undisturbed these towers below, | |
| Our troth should rest unbroken. | |
| |
| Again beneath these walls I stand, | 25 |
| And here my footsteps linger, | |
| Where once I pressed with loving hand | |
| This token on your finger. | |
| |
| But now the well-loved view I see | |
| Its old enchantment misses; | 30 |
| The evening breeze sighs back to me | |
| The shadows of our kisses; | |
| |
| Untired still the Neckar flows | |
| In the soft summer weather; | |
| But last year’s leaves and last year’s vows | 35 |
| Have flown away together. | |
| |
