| Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–1882). Complete Poetical Works. 1893. | | | | Translations | From the German.
Whither? |
| | | | (Wohin?)
By Wilhelm Müller |
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I HEARD a brooklet gushing | |
| From its rocky fountain near, | |
| Down into the valley rushing, | |
| So fresh and wondrous clear. | |
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| I know not what came o’er me, | 5 |
| Nor who the counsel gave; | |
| But I must hasten downward, | |
| All with my pilgrim-stave; | |
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| Downward, and ever farther, | |
| And ever the brook beside; | 10 |
| And ever fresher murmured, | |
| And ever clearer, the tide. | |
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| Is this the way I was going? | |
| Whither, O brooklet, say! | |
| Thou hast, with thy soft murmur, | 15 |
| Murmured my senses away. | |
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| What do I say of a murmur? | |
| That can no murmur be; | |
| ’T is the water-nymphs, that are singing | |
| Their roundelays under me. | 20 |
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| Let them sing, my friend, let them murmur, | |
| And wander merrily near; | |
| The wheels of a mill are going | |
| In every brooklet clear. | | | |
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