POEMS OF GOETHE
377
Who gives himself to solitude,
Soon lonely will remain;
Each lives, each loves in joyous mood,
And leaves him to his pain.
Yes! leave me to my grief!
Were solitude's rellef
E'er granted me,
Alone I should not be.
A lover steals, on footstep light,
To learn if his love's alone;
Thus o'er me steals, by day and night,
Anguish before unknown;
Thus o'er me steals deep grief.
Ah, when I find relief
Within the tomb so lonely,
Will rest be met with only!
My grief no mortals know,
Except the yearning!
Alone, a prey to woe,
All pleasure spurning,
Up towards the sky I throw
A gaze discerning.
He who my love can know
Seems ne'er returning;
With strange and fiery glow
My heart is burning.
My griefs no mortals know,
Except the yearning!
