Stefan George - Selections From His Works and Others

Selection from his works, tr. into English by Cyril Scott.
George, Stefan, 1868-

1933. London, E. Mathews, 1910.http://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015030179785Public
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Public Domain in the United States, Google-digitized /
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(University of Chicago) on 2014-12-18 00:52 GMT /
http://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015030179785 Public Domain in the United States,
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for Christian Pecaut (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-18 00:52 GMT /
Google-digitized / http://www.hathitrust.org/access_use#pd-us-google?STEFAN GEORGE
??Generated for Christian Pecaut (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-18 00:52 GMT /
Google-digitized / http://www.hathitrust.org/access_use#pd-us-google?By the same
AuthorTHE SHADOWS OF SILENCE ANDTHE SONGS OF YESTERDAYTHE GRAVE OF EROS AND THEBOOK
OF MOURNFUL MELODIESWITH DREAMS FROM THE EASTBAUDELAIRE--THE FLOWERS OF EVILIn
preparationTHE VOICE OF THE ANCIENT??Generated for Christian Pecaut (University of
http://www.hathitrust.org/access_use#pd-us-google?STEFAN GEORGESELECTION FROM HIS
WORKS? ? ?"? * '.>> ? - ?TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISHBYCYRIL SCOTTLONDONELKIN MATHEWS,
VIGO STREETMCMX ??Generated for Christian Pecaut (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-
18 00:52 GMT / http://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015030179785 Public Domain in the
United States, Google-digitized / http://www.hathitrust.org/access_use#pd-us-google
?ToFRIEDRICH GUNDOLF ANDERNST GUNDOLF; THEFRIENDS OF THE FRIEND??Generated for
Christian Pecaut (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-18 00:52 GMT /
Google-digitized / http://www.hathitrust.org/access_use#pd-us-google?FOREWORDIN the
opinions of some of the deepest literarythinkers of Germany, Stefan George finds a
place asthe greatest poet of the day. Apart from his depthand beauty, he has
created a new form, endowedverse with new colour and sound, and greatly ex-tended
the possibilities of expression in the Germanlanguage. Through his personality; his
pathos andethology he has furthermore engendered a new ideal;a synthesis of
Christian and Pagan feeling which inthis form has not existed before. That the
English-speaking public may gain at any rate some faint ideaof his genius, it has
been my joyous task to translatethe following small selection of his works.421202??
Generated for Christian Pecaut (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-18 00:52 GMT /
Google-digitized / http://www.hathitrust.org/access_use#pd-us-google?INDEX OF FIRST
LINESI may not lean across the wicket, turning 11As on the languorous settle 12
Silvery swallows I saw flying 13Through the blossoms softly simmer 17Were it much
to implore thee 18Since I be down-cast 19See my child I'm going 20This is just the
kind of morning 21Through the casement a noble-child saw 22Come in the death-
foreboded park, to view 25'Neath trembling tree-tops to and fro we wander 26Let us
surround the silent pool 27To-day we will not cross the garden-railing 27The blue-
toned campions and the blood-red poppies ... 28Doth still before thee rise the
beauteous image 29There laughs in the heightening year, soft 30The blissful meadows
beckoned. To the stile 31Night of grief and gloom }? 31I know you step within mine
house 32'Tis not wise until the latest hour 32The hill where o'er we wander lies in
shadow 33Needs must thou be upon the wastelands yearning ... 34Seek not to know
which song or saying yields 37As long as tinted haze the mountain covered 38Ye
speak of raptures that are void and friendless 39??Generated for Christian Pecaut
Google-digitized / http://www.hathitrust.org/access_use#pd-us-google?Look at this
azure hour 40I stood in summer waiting. Now with pallor 41Blossoms of summer, rich
is your fragrance still 42Can such a pain be branded? 43This throbbing shows what
we abandoned 44By the waters that make faint moan 45Lustre and fame! thus ariseth
our sphere 46Troubled soul -- thus didst thou ask -- why art thoumourning? 49Now
let me call across the snow-clad meadows 50There were no ruins, neither fragments
51In sorrow day and night the disciple watched 52Sunlight slantingly flows 53The
wild resplendence of the year resolves 54Doth live for thee again, Beloved that
October? 55In white and glowing blossomy undulation 57Stars ascend up there 58Par
from the harbour's noise 59My child came home 60Love calls not worthy him whoe'er
renounced 61Behold the crossways 62Windows where I gazed with you 63Whene'er I
stand upon your bridge 64??Generated for Christian Pecaut (University of Chicago)
on 2014-12-18 00:52 GMT / http://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015030179785 Public
Domain in the United States, Google-digitized /
http://www.hathitrust.org/access_use#pd-us-google?FROMHYMNS, PILGRIMAGES, ALGABAL
ERRATAPage 20, line 11, for " Brief " read " Grief."Page 34, line 5, for " put"
read "but."Page 63, line 8, for " through " read " threw."??Generated for Christian
Pecaut (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-18 00:52 GMT /
Google-digitized / http://www.hathitrust.org/access_use#pd-us-google?From--"
VisionsI may not lean across the wicket, turningMy gaze so long towards the lawn,I
hear a mellow flute's afar-off yearning.Amid the laurels laughs a fawn.Whene'er I
meet you at the ruddy tower,You ne'er reward me with more gentle tread,You know not
how I prize this sacred hour,How sad I am when it is dead.Denying that which mine
own spirit guesses--Our great and ancient fame is also known--Can I tear off the
scarf which veils my tresses,And with an early widowhood atone?Oh may he glean my
lips delights unbidden,--I gleaned them all since as a dream he rose--The oleanders
"mid the fragrance hiddenAnd others smiling as the jasmin blows.I may not lean
across the wicket, turningMy gaze so long towards the lawn,I hear a mellow flute's
afar-off yearning,Amid the laurels laughs a fawn.11??Generated for Christian Pecaut
Google-digitized / http://www.hathitrust.org/access_use#pd-us-google?From--" Days"
As on the languorous settleSlumber evaded me long,Then bring me no wondrous saga,
Nor sooth me with slumbrous songFrom maidens of mythical regionsThat favoured my
fancy erewhile,But snare me into your bondageFlute-players from the Nile.I lay in
the ether recesses,I ate of the heavenly bread,Ye sang of celestial journeys,Ye
sang of the glorious dead.Before my burning eyelidsAt last me with slumber
beguile,O! carry me distant and kill meFlute-players from the Nile!12??Generated
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Silvery swallows I saw flying,Swallows snow and silver white,In the breezes
lullabying,In the breezes hot and light.Coloured jackdaws I saw hiding,Paroquets
and kolibri,Through the magic branches glidingIn the woods of Tusfery.Great black
ravens I saw flutt'ring,Caddows black and sombre gray,In the enchanted coppice
strutting'Mid the adders on the way.And again I see them flying,Swarms of swallows
silver white,In the breezes lullabying,In the breezes brisk and bright.13??
Google-digitized / http://www.hathitrust.org/access_use#pd-us-google?FROMTHE BOOK
OF THE SHEPHERDS,OF PRIZE POEMS, SONGS ANDSAYINGS, AND THE HANGINGGARDENS??
Google-digitized / http://www.hathitrust.org/access_use#pd-us-google?Songs of a
Strolling PlayerTHROUGH the blossoms softly simmerDrops profound and fairSince the
light-beams o'er them shimmer.And if I should languish, jaded,That which was
erewhile unknownNow to me this day is clear,That my final hope hath flown:That your
joys for me have fadedNew-born sun, and youthful year.17??Generated for Christian
Google-digitized / http://www.hathitrust.org/access_use#pd-us-google?WERE it much
to implore thee,If devoutly, once,I might kneel before theeAfter suffering long?And
thine hand embracing,Press it tenderly,Calm with kisses tracing,Short and soft and
still?Would'st thou grant my pleading,If severe and stillPassively conceding,Thy
look should suffer me?18??Generated for Christian Pecaut (University of Chicago) on
2014-12-18 00:52 GMT / http://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015030179785 Public Domain
in the United States, Google-digitized / http://www.hathitrust.org/access_use#pd-
us-google?SINCE I be down-cast,Alone I know one thing,I dream myself near thee,A
song to thee I sing.Then methinks I hearAlmost thy voice's sound,Afar its echo
falls,And calmer grows my care.19??Generated for Christian Pecaut (University of
http://www.hathitrust.org/access_use#pd-us-google?SEE my child, I'm going,For I
would not pain theeMortal sorrows vainlyUnto thee foreshowing.I for thee am wary,
See my child I'm going,Lest erelong thy fairyRoses pale be growing.Fain would I
have taught thee,But alone that wrought me,U. Brief beyond all knowing,See my
child, I'm going.20??Generated for Christian Pecaut (University of Chicago) on
us-google?THIS is just the kind of morning;Balmy breaths o'er brook and treeMake
thine ear more keen and tenderUnto vows I hid for thee;Sweet petitions softly
dawning.No more should I be dismayedIf beside the verdant hedges,We again together
strayed,I would whisper soft my pledgesAnd to thee all homage tender.21??Generated
Google-digitized / http://www.hathitrust.org/access_use#pd-us-google?THROUGH the
casement a noble-child sawIn the spring-time golden and green,As he harked to the
swallow's lore,And looked so rejoiced and keen.A minstrel.--Minstrel here!Come give
me thy loveliest lay.The child inclined his ear,And then grew weary and gray.Oh 1
why did he sing me that song,I threw him the ring from my handBitter and
treacherous wrongThat sought me with fetters to brand.No longer the flowers are
gay,The springtime hath lost its caress,Alone I will dream to-day,Weep in the
silent recess.22??Generated for Christian Pecaut (University of Chicago) on 2014-
12-18 00:52 GMT / http://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015030179785 Public Domain in
the United States, Google-digitized / http://www.hathitrust.org/access_use#pd-us-
google?FROMTHE YEAR OF THE SOUL??Generated for Christian Pecaut (University of
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VintageCOMB in the death-foreboded park, to viewHow yonder smiling bank in radiance
shimmers,The virgin cloudlets' unexpected blueUpon the tarn and tinted pathway
glimmers.There, take the darkling gold, the gentle grayFrom birches and from box--
the zephyrs sway,Few lingering roses yet their perfumes breathe,Select them, kiss
them and a crown enwreathe.Do not forget these asters that remain,The scarlet
leafage round the tendrils twining,And all the rests of verdant life combining,
Resolve them in the soft autumnal vein.25??Generated for Christian Pecaut
Google-digitized / http://www.hathitrust.org/access_use#pd-us-google?NEATH
trembling tree tops to and fro we wanderAlong the beech-grove, nearly to the bower,
And see within the silent meadow yonder,The almond tree a second time in flower.We
search for seats by cooling shades deserted,There, where never strangers' voices
fluster,Our arms entwined, our eyes in dreams averted,We steep our souls in gentle
lingering lustre.We feel so grateful, when to soft discoursesOf tree-tops, slanting
rays towards us travel,And only look, and listen when in pauses,The ripened fruit
resounds upon the gravel.26??Generated for Christian Pecaut (University of Chicago)
http://www.hathitrust.org/access_use#pd-us-google?LET us surround the silent pool
Wherein the water ways commingle,You seek my chary soul to kindle:A breeze
o'erwafts us chaste and cool.Prom leaflets that bedeck the groundRenewed and goodly
scents arise,The coloured volume I expound,While you repeat the words I prize.But
can you glean the silent sorrows,And unto deeper joys attain?With shaded eyes your
vision followsThe gentle swans' receding train.TO-DAY we will not cross the garden
railing,For sometimes swiftly, yet in ways unclear,This soft caressing or this
sweet exhaling,With long-forgotten joy again draws near:And thus it brings us
ghosts which goad and harass,And anguish rendering weary and afraid.Behold beneath
the tree upon the terraceThe many corpses from the tempest's raid.From off the
gateway's rusting iron asters,5The birds take flight to far sequestered greens,?And
others shiv'ring on the stone pilasters* Drink raindrops from the hollow flower-
steens,27??Generated for Christian Pecaut (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-18
00:52 GMT / http://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015030179785 Public Domain in the
?The Conquest of SummerTHE blue-toned campions and the blood-red poppiesEscape the
murmuring and fleeting grain!O wander without brooding through these valleys,
Through every oft-entwining path again.Bestow no heed to signs upon the beeches,The
hand that carved them once now hangs effete,And be not deaf to other names and
speeches:To young and fresher stems your steps entreat.Forget the anguish and the
ancient bleedings,The wounds engendered by the thorny rind,And leaves of arid
hours, and empty pleadings,O'ertrample them and leave them all behind.28??Generated
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before thee rise the beauteous imageOf him who high the cliff for roses scales,Who
nigh forgets the day amidst the scrimmage,Who fullest honey from the bunch inhales?
Who oft towards the park for quiet wanderedWhen far a bird allured him o'er the
lea,Who sat beside the tranquil pool and pondered,And listened to the silent
secrecy?And from the moss-crowned island slowly glidingThe swan forsook the
fountain's mellow note,Within his noble infant-hand confidingThe virgin frailty of
its slender throat.29??Generated for Christian Pecaut (University
of Chicago) on 2014-12-18 00:52 GMT /
Google-digitized / http://www.hathitrust.org/access_use#pd-us-google?Solemn Dances
THERE laughs in the heightening year, Sweet,The scent from the garden benign.Weaves
in thy fluttering hair, Sweet,Ivy and celandine.The wavering corn is like gold,
still,Perhaps not so rich nor so hale,Roses with greetings unfold still,Be though
their bloom something pale.Let's hush over all that's denied us,Let's promise at
peace to remain,Though everything else be decried usBut still a stroll-round
atwain.30??Generated for Christian Pecaut (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-18
?THE blissful meadows beckoned. To the stileShe came o'er violet carpets soft,
attired,To meet the harvest bridegroom, as erewhile,To be his truelove till the
feast expired.Only a lark that sang within the grove,Beheld her start; beheld her
secret blushes.And as the lengthening days of summer throve,She sighed, then
withered by the waving rushes.And left--her slender sweetness to divine,Alone a
necklace wreathed with silken tresses,(With which a godly friend arrayed her
shrine)A marble block amid the weeds and cresses.NIGHT of grief and gloom 1Black
velvet covering veilsFootsteps in the roomWherein thy love travails.His death
wrought thy desire,Now look how mute and wanHe rests upon the pyre.Around him
tapers burn.The tapers slowly fadeThou speedest from these halls,Now that thy love
is dead--And sound of weeping falls.31??Generated for Christian Pecaut (University
of Chicago) on 2014-12-18 00:52 GMT / http://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015030179785
http://www.hathitrust.org/access_use#pd-us-google?I KNOW you step within mine house
Like some-one who to grief is prone,Who wearies when in rude carouse,The viols
twixt the columns drone.Here no man treadeth oft nor loud,Through casement comes
the Autumn balm,Here to the hopeless, hope is vowed,To pleadings, tendered words of
calm.On entering, soft, a touch of hand,And at the dole of parting-time,A kiss,
with an adornment bland,As farewell gift: a gentle rhyme.'Tis not wise until the
latest hourTo enjoy delight's ephemeral dower:Birds to southern seas have taken
flight,Fading flow'rs wait till the snows alight.How thy hands caress the weary
rose!Other ones this year no more bestows,No petitions can recall them here,Other
ones with springtide may appear.Loosen thou mine arm, yet steadfast stay,Leave the
park ere sunlight's parting ray,And the mists descend o'er mount and lea,Let's
depart ere winter bids us flee.82??Generated for Christian Pecaut (University of
http://www.hathitrust.org/access_use#pd-us-google?THE hill where o'er we wander
lies in shadow,Whereas the other side is bathed in light,The moon upon its tender
verdant meadowAppears but as a tiny cloud in flight.The outlines of the distant
streets grow shorter,A murmuring bids the wanderer to respite;Is it the music of
some hidden water?Is it a bird that trills his mate "goodnight?"Two early night-
winged butterflies togetherBe-chase themselves from halm to halm in jest,The balk
prepares from out the shrubs and weather,The balm of evening for the soul
distressed.??Generated for Christian Pecaut (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-18
?NEEDS must thou be upon the wastelands, yearningFor earlier, richer colours yet?
Towards the fallow deserts ever turning,And crops of barren summers still regret?
Console thyself if ptlt in shadow's veilingSoft shimmering, thou thy previous
plenty seest,And a Redeemer through the breezes sailing;The distant wind that
falters from the East.And look! within our annals past, those hoursThat burned as
wounds, now fade in silent breath,For all the things we ever christened flowers
Regather round the well of Death.84??Generated for Christian Pecaut (University of
http://www.hathitrust.org/access_use#pd-us-google?FROMTHE TAPESTRY OF LIFE ANDTHE
SONGS OF DREAM ANDDEATH. WITH A PRELUDE??Generated for Christian Pecaut (University
Google-digitized / http://www.hathitrust.org/access_use#pd-us-google?From the
Prelude ixSEEK not to know which song or saying yieldsThe palm of praise or garland
at the feast,What yester tempest blew through arid fields,Now lies 'mid laurels in
the hallowed Bast.Erewhile 'twas corn resplendent and unstained,Or crystal, that
through morning radiance shone,Now flowing agate, deep and sombre-veined,Then like
a crimson sparkling precious stone.What as a gurgling softly simmered throughThe
soil, within the dead deserted brake,--And no more than a drop of fragrant dewThat
fell from flowerlet unto deepest lake:Becomes the clinging mist that cleaves the
heights,And which in darkest midnights as a beamThe heart of the chasm suddenly be-
smitesTo spring and ramble like a ruddy stream.37??Generated for Christian Pecaut
Google-digitized / http://www.hathitrust.org/access_use#pd-us-google?X X IAs long as
tinted haze the mountain covered,Upon my course the track I soon discovered.And
through the copse a few known voices stray,Now all is silent on the evening way.Now
no one fares awhile my road, forsaken,I find no wight within me hope to waken,Who
yet the smallest solace might implore,So deep in darkness plods no pilgrim more.And
with the dying strain--the songful cricket--Remembrance too fades in the silent
thicket,A fallow vapour broods the woods aroundAnd veils the pathway without gleam
or sound.A damp and death-like odour from the hollow--Where all must slumber--
rises, yet I followThy wafture still, which fire enkindles newAnd Thy great love
which ever watches true.??Generated for Christian Pecaut (University of Chicago) on
us-google?The DiscipleYB speak of raptures that are void and friendless,With me all
love ascends towards my Lord,Ye know alone the luscious, I the endless,I live but
for mine endless Lord.More than for any work your guild adjureth,Am I ordained to
labour for my Lord,Thus I will prosper, for my Lord endureth,I ever serve my kindly
Lord.I know the way we tread is dark and snaryAnd many fainted, yet beside my LordI
dare all dangers, for my Lord is wary,I ever trust my wary Lord.And should he deem
it well, and ne'er requite meMy comfort is the vision of my Lord,Are others richer,
he is the most mighty,I follow my most mighty Lord,39??Generated for Christian
Google-digitized / http://www.hathitrust.org/access_use#pd-us-google?Azure HourLOOK
at this azure hour.Dissolving o'er the garden tent,It brought a joyful dower,For
sisters pale a sweet lament.Resplendent, fleet and flowingIt hastens with the
clouds; beholdAn offering's-billet glowing:It tells what it bestowed when cold.
"That it so swiftly passes"--For thus in rapt regret we trow--A night of joy
amassesIts wealth of arches even now.Tis like a burden oldenThat renders grave or
renders gay,In heaven new and goldenStill charms and thrills when died away.40??
Google-digitized / http://www.hathitrust.org/access_use#pd-us-google?A Boy who Sang
to me of Autumn andEveningI STOOD in summer waiting. Now with pallor,I see the
scarlet flag already waving;It means the harvest-hirelings' dance with Death;With
unpicked fruitage tempest-toused and torn.Now all that faith, so free from care,
hath vanished,Now in the short respite I haste and gatherOf all remaining, binding
leaf and blossoms;Half withered marvels of my sorrowed hand.My hand in dedicative
worship liftsIn shame on high to thee the scattered off'ring,No more a token of
imagined glory,--Although with many a precious tear-drop shining--No more a choice
of rare and wondrous jewels,That fain from destiny for thee I'd conquer,Than e'er
the tale of hellish love and hatredCan spread by this subdued and falt'ring voice.
41??Generated for Christian Pecaut (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-18 00:52
GMT / http://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015030179785 Public Domain in the United
States, Google-digitized / http://www.hathitrust.org/access_use#pd-us-google?July
MelancholyBLOSSOMS of summer, rich is your fragrancestill,Breezes blend with the
bitter scent of seed.You lead me to the withering balustrade,The gardens' sesame
has become so strange.From
the forgotten you call forth dreams; thechildReposing on the ground in the corn-
clad fields,In harvest-glow beside the naked mowers.Beside the shining scythe and
exhausted jug.Sleepily lull the wasps in the noon-day song,And through the meagre
shelter of the bladesUpon his sunburnt forehead slowly trickleThe poppy-petals:
large red drops of blood.Transience ne'er can rob me of aught thathas been,
Languishing just as erewhile on the languish-ing field,I lie: from languid lips
there sighs " how wearyAm I of all the flowers--the lovely flowers."42??Generated
Google-digitized / http://www.hathitrust.org/access_use#pd-us-google?Thrill of the
DawnCAN such a pain be branded?And such an haze and such a light?The morning be
commanded,That breaks within us blest and bright?As through the spirit paling,The
pathways--then across the wealdCaressing breezes sailingRespond themselves o'er
fence and field.Dim, as through tears o'erflowing,The tree--the house that offers
rest;A silver saint's-day glowing,The cherry-branch that waves its crest.A rustling
and a flitterTorments and charms, makes sad and free.A swaying sweet and bitter,A
singing without melody. .43??Generated for Christian Pecaut (University of Chicago)
http://www.hathitrust.org/access_use#pd-us-google?ThrobbingTHIS throbbing shows
what we abandoned,Which through the vacant chamber wells,Wherein our joys, in
parting, beckoned,No longer hour nor pathway tells 1How oft in sleep we wander,
straying!How shrill at every word it quells,Resounding like those joys' last echoes
IHow sorely every stone retells.That we perceived ourselves erst only ....How all
around, it chokes and swellsWhen we approach the things they cherished.Against it
how the heart rebels.--Since, chides and asks our solemn action,For such an end
what rage compels ?--Yet silenced cannot be this throbbingWhich dolefulness alone
dispels.44??Generated for Christian Pecaut (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-18
?Day SongBY the waters that make faint moan,Yonder where the poplar tree sways,Sits
a songful bird, whose quaint toneT'wards us softly o'er the lea strays.And the
warbler's voice resounds clear :?"Bloom is in the garden-close dead,All within its
season rounds fair,See how yonder summit glows red.Only memory leaves him prize-
dreams,Who to happier ones the way treads,Golden glory from his eyes beams,Which in
flight he on the way sheds.Lift thy tired head that fain bends,Should a visage from
the night rise,And thus wait until my strain ends,And thus tarry until the light
dies."45??Generated for Christian Pecaut (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-18
?Dream and DeathLUSTRE and fame! thus ariseth our sphereLike heroes we banish both
mountain and mere,Young and great beams the spirit, unboundOn the fields, on the
floods that surround.O'er the way, a light breaks, a form flies,And both rapture
and grief swiftly rise,The Supreme, muses, weeps, to bend were fain:"Thou my weal,
thou my star, thou my gain."Then a dream of great pomp rises o'er,And it conquers
the god that it bore,Till a shout casts us down far beneath;We so small, and so
stript before death.All these storm, tear and beat, blare and blast,Till on the
night-firmament at last,Converged in a light-gem that glisteneth;Lustre and fame,
rapture and grief, dream and death.??Generated for Christian Pecaut (University of
http://www.hathitrust.org/access_use#pd-us-google?FROMTHE SEVENTH RING??Generated
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TROUBLED soul--thus didst thou ask--why art thoumourning?Is this then thy return
for fate's good will?Sickly soul--I said to thee--but now in mourningThis fate is
wrong and makes me deathly ill.Pallid soul--thus didst thou ask--is dead the fire
Forever, that divinely in us burns?Blinded soul--I said to thee--I'm full of fire;
My yearning is mine only grief that burns.Harden'd soul--thus didst thou ask--can
more begivenThan youth can give? I gave mine every good. .Has e'er a higher wish in
any bosom thrivenThan this one: take unto thy weal my blood!Flighty soul--I said to
thee--what means "I lovethee " 1A shade alone of that for thee I shed . . .Sombre
soul--thus didst thou say--I needs must lovetheeAlthough through thee my fairest
dream be dead.49??Generated for Christian Pecaut (University of Chicago) on 2014-
12-18 00:52 GMT / http://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015030179785 Public Domain in
the United States, Google-digitized / http://www.hathitrust.org/access_use#pd-us-
google?Now let me call across the snow-clad meadows,Wherein you threatened oft to
sink away,As you, oblivious, lead me through the shadowsOf time--my solace now--but
erst in play.You came amidst the show of flow'ry splendour,Again I saw you at the
aftermath,And, 'mid the ruddy corn-blades' rustling tender,Unto your cottage always
wound my path.Your speech resounded, as the foliage faded,So gently, that my life
in yours I laid.And as you left, suspired confused and jadedIn sighful accents the
deserted glade.Thus did alone, with every wand'ring wendedAs goal, the shimmer of
two eyelets glow,Thus your faint song as song of the year ascended,And all befell,
since you ordained it so.50??Generated for Christian Pecaut (University of Chicago)
http://www.hathitrust.org/access_use#pd-us-google?THERE were no ruins, neither
fragments,There was no chasm, nor grave nor pall,There was no longing, was no
wooing,Where but one hour rendered all.Prom thousand blossoms came a bubbling'Mid
purple sheen of sorcery,The song of countless warblers singingBroke through the
Spring's first cry of glee.Then such a rearing without bridle,A raging which no arm
could fend,An opening of new fragrant spaces,A thrill in which all senses blend.??
Google-digitized / http://www.hathitrust.org/access_use#pd-us-google?From MaximinIN
sorrow, day and night the disciple watchedUpon the mount where from the Lord
ascended:"Thus leaveth thou thy faithful to despair?Thou think'st no more of earth
in thy great glory?Thy holy voice I never more shall hear,Nor kiss thy feet, nor
kiss thy garment hem?I pray thae for a sign, yet thou art mute."Then came that way
a stranger: "Brother speak,Upon thy cheeks there burns so great a woeThat I must
bear, if it I cannot quench.""In vain is all thy solace .... leave this poorling!I
seek my lord who has forgotten me."The stranger vanished . . the disciple sankWith
anguished cry . . For through the sacred glowThat bathed the spot, he knew that
which throughblindDespair and sickly hope he had not seenBefore: it was the Lord
who came and went.52??Generated for Christian Pecaut (University of Chicago) on
us-google?VisitationSUNLIGHT slantingly flowsDown through the rampart notchesOnto
thine house by the thicket,Onto thy garden-close.When the birds swirl on the sward,
When the trees wave their branches,After sundown the earlyWayfarers wander abroad.
Plenish the pail at the well,Sprinkle the sand on the pathway,Bushes and beds of
the grass-plot,Roses and heather-bell.And on the wall, by the seat,Break the
entangled ivy,Scatter buds for a carpet,Let all be balmy and sweet.Lest as a
pilgrim, again,In such twilight shadows,HE should alight, peradventureOnto our
earth, and thenOver the way he should glide,--Parting the leaves with his radiance-
Through the copse to thy threshold,There awhile to abide.63??Generated for
Google-digitized / http://www.hathitrust.org/access_use#pd-us-google?Dream--
DarknessLANDSCAPE ITHE wild resplendence of the year resolves,The sombre mood of
evening fades awayWithin a wood, where from a late arrayOf saffron, bronze and
crimson--dole dissolves.And leaf on leaf in languid flakes alightUpon the surface
of a silent pool,Whereby a boy keeps watch with eyelets cool;Already cruel spouse
to falling night.And through the solitudes remote and strangeThe golden gloss of
eve, from tree to tree,Descends, amid the yellow, flamingly,Then darksome mists
o'er darksome bushes range.Night-shades assemble, edges white with foam,Around
a wall of blood-red barren thorn,Pale hands throng forward, groping tired and
torn--If only through the thicket sleep would come! . .Then "mid the gray there
peeps a glimmer soon,A new light rises 'neath the evening star,A grass-plot
stretches o'er a crag afar.Along there glides among the violets strewnA row of
slender stems, like lances free.The azure vault in silver shimmers soft,A dewy
breeze with fragrance soars aloft....And blossoms fall upon an open sea.54??
Google-digitized / http://www.hathitrust.org/access_use#pd-us-google?LANDSCAPE II
DOTH live for thee again, Beloved, that October,That stroll we took--and how we
went astray,When midst the bronze-like beams of fir-trees darkand sober,And flaming
crimson leaves we made our wayFrom tree to tree--upon the pathway silent vagrants,
Divided, and in loving strife beset,While each in secret hearkened, midst the
foliagefragrance,To music of a dream that is not yet.At first, the elf-like
laughter of a streamlet roamingDown in the valley, served us still as guide,Which
hastened onward, growing softer and moregloaming,Till unobserved its sobbing echoes
died.So charmed were we, so long we tarried o'er thisramble,That soon the path
forsook us, soon the light,Until a child, who late plucked berries from thebramble,
Across the thicket guided us aright.Along the lichened pathway of the leaf-crowned
alley,With faltering footsteps tardily we passed,And then through ever lighter-
glimmering twigs, thevalleyWith distant dome re-opened forth at last.55??Generated
Google-digitized / http://www.hathitrust.org/access_use#pd-us-google?Our loving
arms towards the mossy bark extended,We bid farewell unto the final tree,Then down
through flowers towards our lovely goaldescended:And earth and ether swam in a
golden sea.56??Generated for Christian Pecaut (University of Chicago) on 2014-12-18
?RosesIN white and glowing blossomy undulation,From shrubs encircling distant
heights and hollows,You lost yourself .... sang musing, as you hastenedWithin the
fragrant thicket. . . you, abandoned quiteWithin the rosy sheen. At noonday tumbled
Leaflets, changing with delight upon your lips,And as you slept there played with
you, bunches,bushes,Billows of roses.That eve should still have found you here! you
wanderIn shrubs where you no longer know the wayYea, blind and wounded by the
thorny kiss . .Now tarry there--your head bowed low and bleeding.And now the
blossoms by the night be stirredAround you surge, and may their purple fallTo veil
from sight your shame. Thus learn ofmourningAnd strife from roses,57??Generated for
Google-digitized / http://www.hathitrust.org/access_use#pd-us-google?SongsPRELUDE
STARS ascend up thereAnd strike up the song,Stars descend up thereWith the counter-
song.Because so fair thou artMoves the spheral course,And when mine thou artI will
command its course.Because so fair thou artExiled I am till death,Because my lord
thou artMy path is dole and death."That so fair I amThus it dawns on me,That all
thine I amThis I swear to thee."58??Generated for Christian Pecaut (University of
http://www.hathitrust.org/access_use#pd-us-google?IFAR from the harbour's noise,
Lies the sun-kissed shore,Where billows sink to rest--Hope slips softly away.There,
a wind from the seaStirs the arched waves up,Rearing high, they break.Thus doth
anguish surge!Still louder the breakwater sounds,And hissing it beats the surfUp to
the sand-dune heights.And thus doth passion moan.59??Generated for Christian Pecaut
Google-digitized / http://www.hathitrust.org/access_use#pd-us-google?IIMY child
came home,The sea-breeze in his hair still blows,His gait still bearsThe
traveller's proven fear and youthful glee.From salty sprayThe brown tint of his
glowing cheek still rough;Fruit quickly ripe,'Neath foreign suns in scorching airs
and heat.His look is grave,--Yea from thejsecret that I never knew--And slightly
glazed,Since to our winter from the spring he came.So fully bloomedThe bud, that
almost dazed I looked thereon,Denying myselfThat mouth which chose another mouth to
kiss.Mine arms enfoldThat, which unswayed by me grew up and bloomedTo other worlds:
Mine own, and yet so infinitely far.60??Generated for Christian Pecaut (University
http://www.hathitrust.org/access_use#pd-us-google?IllLOVE calls not worthy him
whoe'er renounced . . .It perseveres if grief be all its view,And squanders gems
for which no mortal thanks,And blesses when self as sacrifice it burns.Dearest! the
only path you know to joyGrows dark through my approach: that never lotConfound
you, which betrays itself so soonAgainst desire, I wrench myself away.Sweetest! yea
more than this, that never breathShould mar your virgin sport, to exile IDepart,
and doubly suffering, only thisMine anguish speaks with me, and this poor song.61??
Google-digitized / http://www.hathitrust.org/access_use#pd-us-google?BEHOLD the
crossways .We are at the end.Eve descended ....This is the end.A moment's wandering
Whom maketh tired?For me too long though,Pain maketh tired.Hands extended:Thou
heedest not?Sighs ascended,Thou gleanest not?Along my pathwayThou goest not.Tears
are falling:Thou knowest not.??Generated for Christian Pecaut (University of
http://www.hathitrust.org/access_use#pd-us-google?WINDOWS where I gazed with youAt
eve upon the landscape onceAre now illumed with other lights.From the gate the path
still runs,Where without looking back you stood,Then swerved towards the valley
down.By the turning, once again,The moon thniwfeh up your visage wan,And yet too
late to call you back.Darkness--silence--rigid airAs whilome sink around your
house.Yea every joy you took with you.??Generated for Christian Pecaut (University
http://www.hathitrust.org/access_use#pd-us-google?Whene'er I wander by thine house,
I send a silent prayer on highAs if thou layest dead within.WHENE'ER I stand upon
your bridge,A whisper tells me from the stream,"Here rose your light within me
once."And when yourself you come my wayMy vision does not cleave, but turnsWithout
a shiver or salute.And only inwardly inclines,As we are wont if there draws nighA
stranger on his final round.W. U. DAHOAN, LTD., BKITUFIELD, E.C.??Generated for
Google-digitized / http://www.hathitrust.org/access_use#pd-us-google??Generated for
Google-digitized / http://www.hathitrust.org/access_use#pd-us-google

Stefan George - Selections From His Works and Others

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Stefan George - Selections From His Works and Others

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Selection from his works, tr. into English by Cyril Scott.

George, Stefan, 1868-

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