Poems (Schiller)/The wandering minstrels
THE WANDERING MINSTRELS(Written for "Our Fireside Friend ".)
We paused at the edge of town, The friend of my heart and I,Our dreaming souls entranced By the beauty of earth and sky;The river murmuring by From the sloping sward at our feet,Widening like a silver span, From mountain to mountain complete.
Soft clouds of a glorious dye, And delicate gold-wrought frillsBent down from an amethyst sky To kiss the brows of the hills.The rays of the dying sun Lay tremulous on the trees,When the wand'ring minstrels came And flung their strains on the breeze.
Midnight of hair and of eyes, Where do the rovers belong?Swift is the glance that descries Their land of romance and song;Italia! the silver-sprayed sea Between us surges and thrills,But the throb of the musical heart Wakes response amid our hills,
Ah! list to the wonderful sounds That quiver and softly glideFrom the violin, and harp-strings That the swarthy fingers guide!Where did they catch the air? From a master brain and hand,Or is it the wail of souls Exiled from their native land?
Away to the far-off heaven Like a troubled prayer it floats.Pain sighs in the higher strains, And sobs in the under notes. As I hearken, vanish from view The pictures of nature nigh,And I wander amid the scenes Of a bright Italian sky.
Rich, sloping vineyards here With their purple fruitage shine,Gay-hearted people press The grapes into gleaming wine,Wild is the dance, light the song, Melody lives on the breeze,Sweet with the myrtle's breath, And odors of fragrant trees.
The miserere ebbs away Recalling me from my dream,Of arches ruined and gray, Where the flashiug fountains gleam,Back for the power that swayed Is past, and I cease to roveBy the distant Alban hills And orange and olive grove.
The sunlight is dead in the air, Stars burn in the dusky sky,The minstrels stray on, while the moon Mounts up to her throne on high,Kind nature is spreading her dews, Like a mist of tears they fall.Dear Dame, dost thy pitiful heart Weep at the weird music's call?