Fiddler's Farewell/Bagpipe Player
Bagpipe Player
(Nuremberg Fountain)
He plays a sprightly tune in water.Each note spurts from the bronze pipe-holes;The piper playsFour spraysThat mix and make a chord their own,Bubbling in the bowl of stone.
(I know this tune!First playedIn some deep German woodSome drowsy June;Where hoofed and hairy thingsRoused from the sleepy shade,Drew nearTo hear;And nymphs were unafraid!)
Hans Sachs and Dürer passed this fountain,And Peter Vischer, Martin Luther's friend;Passed to their worthy end.But did they mark the goat-god's godless ditty?Or did the dripping little knavePlay drier tunes for themIn the staid street of the red-gabled city?