Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (18071882). Complete Poetical Works. 1893. | | Translations | From the German. The Hemlock Tree |
| O HEMLOCK tree! O hemlock tree! how faithful are thy branches! | |
Green not alone in summer time, | |
But in the winters frost and rime! | |
O hemlock tree! O hemlock tree! how faithful are thy branches! | |
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O maiden fair! O maiden fair! how faithless is thy bosom! | 5 |
To love me in prosperity, | |
And leave me in adversity! | |
O maiden fair! O maiden fair! how faithless is thy bosom! | |
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The nightingale the nightingale, thou takst for thine example! | |
So long as summer laughs she sings, | 10 |
But in the autumn spreads her wings. | |
The nightingale, the nightingale, thou takst for thine example! | |
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The meadow brook, the meadow brook, is mirror of thy falsehood! | |
It flows so long as falls the rain, | |
In drought its springs soon dry again. | 15 |
The meadow brook, the meadow brook, is mirror of thy falsehood! | | | |
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