The Works of J. W. von Goethe/Volume 9/From an Album of 1604
FROM AN ALBUM OF 1604.
Hope provides wings to thought, and love to hope.
Rise up to Cynthia, love, when night is clearest,
And say, that as high on her figure changeth,
So, upon earth, my joy decays and grows.
And whisper in her ear with modest softness,
How doubt oft hung its head, and truth oft wept.
If ye are therefore by the loved one chided,
And, oh, ye thoughts, distrustfully inclined,
Answer: 'tis true ye change, but alter not.
As she remains the same, yet changeth ever.
Doubt may invade the heart, but poisons not,
For love is sweeter, by suspicion flavoured.
If it with anger overcasts the eye,
And heaven's bright purity perversely blackens,
Then zephyr-sighs straight scare the clouds away,
And, changed to tears, dissolve them into rain.
Thought, hope, and love remain there as before,
Till Cynthia gleams upon me as of old.