Poems (Hooper)/Farewell

by Lucy Hamilton Hooper

For works with similar titles, see Farewell.

FAREWELL.

Den letzten Becher bring' ich dir.

In one last cup I drink to thee,
 Thou fair and foreign strand!
Ah, bitter 'tis to part from thee
 As from my fatherland!
Farewell, farewell! The wind doth press
 The sail with sportive zeal;
And on the green and rushing wave
 Doth heave the vessel's keel.

The sun sinks in the island sea,
 The light glows rosy red;
Still gleams before me yonder house
 Where our farewells were said.
How gladly would I, fairest child,
 Have lingered with thee there!
In vain! the dream has faded now—
 The dream that was so fair.

Ay, such is life—to come, to go,
 By wind and wave thus driven;
Sent forth, to nevermore return,
 When scarce we've found a haven.
To be belov'd, to be forgot,
 To love—the sunset light
Methinks must surely dazzle me,
 So dim has grown my sight!

'Tis past, 'tis past. The tears are shed,
 Ended are joy and pain;
Forth rushes to the busy world
 This untamed heart again.
So let it be. The moon's first ray
 Doth deck the wave with light.
The shore recedes.—My maiden fair,
 For the last time, good-night!
Geibel.