The German Classics of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries/Volume 5/The Sentinel
THE SENTINEL[1] (1827)
Lonely at night my watch I keep,
While all the world is hush'd in sleep.
Then tow'rd my home my thoughts will rove;
I think upon my distant love.
| Permission E. Linde & Co., Berlin | E. Hader |
WILHELM HAUFF
| Permission Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, Stuttgart | Robert Haug |
THE SENTINEL
When to the wars I march'd away,
My hat she deck'd with ribbons gay;
She fondly press'd me to her heart,
And wept to think that we must part.
Truly she loves me, I am sure,
So ev'ry hardship I endure;
My heart beats warm, though cold's the night;
Her image makes the darkness bright.
Now by the twinkling taper's gleam,
Her bed she seeks, of me to dream,
But ere she sleeps she kneels to pray
For one who loves her far away.
For me those tears thou needst not shed;
No danger fills my heart with dread;
The pow'rs who dwell in heav'n above
Are ever watchful o'er thy love.
The bell peals forth from yon watch-tower;
The guard it changes at this hour.
Sleep well! sleep well! my heart's with thee;
And in your dreams remember me.
- ↑ Translator: John Oxenford.
From Representative German Poems, Henry Holt & Co., New York.