He bids the boy in slumber:
"O dwarf, go up this hour,
And see if still the ravens
Are flying round the tower;
And if the ancient ravens
Still wheel above us here.
Then must I sleep enchanted
For many a hundred year."
FROM MY CHILDHOOD DAYS* (1817. 1818)
Fkom my childhood days, from my childhood days, Rings an old song's plaintive tone —
Oh, how long the ways, oh, how long the ways I since have gone!
"What the swallow sang, what the swallow sang,
In spring or in autumn warm — Do its echoes hang, do its echoes hang
About the farm?
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When I went away, when I went away. Full coffers and chests were there ;
When I came today, when I came today. All, all was bare ! ' '
Childish lips so wise, childish lips so wise.
With a lore as rich as gold. Knowing all birds' cries, knowing all birds' cries.
Like the sage of old!
- Translator: A. I. du P. Coleman.
This is a working-over of an old popular song in imitation of the swallow's cry, found in various dialect-forms in different parts of Germany. The most widespread version is:
Wenn ieh wegzieh', wenn ich wegzieh',
Sind Kisten und Kasten vol! J ' Wann ieh wiederkomm', wann ich wiederkomm', 1st alles verzehrt.
