Moonlit Night

It was as though heaven
had softly kissed the earth,
So that she in a gleam of blossom
had only to dream of him.
The breeze passed through the fields,
the corn swayed gently to and fro,
the forests murmured softly.
The night was so clear with stars.
And my soul spread
her wings out wide,
flew across the silent land,
as though flying home.

September

The garden mourns,
cool rain sinks into the flowers.
The summer shivers
quietly to its end.

Leaves fall down one by one,
golden, from the high acacia.
The summer smiles suprisedly and dimly
towards the dying garden dream.

He stands for a long time at the roses,
longing for a rest.
Slowly he closes
his big tired eyes.

Herman Hesse

At sunset

Joseph von Eichendorff

Through sorrow and joy
we have gone hand in hand.
We are both at rest from our wanderings
now above the quiet land.
Around us, the valleys bow,
the air already darkens.
Only two larks soar musingly into the haze.

Come close, and let them flutter,
soon it will be time to sleep,
so that we don’t get lost
in this solitude.

O vast, tranquil peace,
so deep in the afterglow!
How weary we are of wandering,
is this perhaps death?

Upon Going to Sleep

Hermann Hesse

Now that day has made me tired,
will my blissful yearning
Receive the starry night
in friendship like a tired child.

Hands, rest from all your tasks,
brow, forget all thinking.
All my senses now
want to sink in slumber.

And the soul, unwatched,
wants to soar in freest flight,
within enchanted night time circles,
to live a thousand fold profoundly.

Beyond the Final Town –

Gerrit Achterberg

At helm that evening heart stood strong,
embarking moon and woods with him on board.
And sailing ‘cross reflection of
all things that grief had known,
It steered with wind and dusk
round bow and rig beyond the final town.