One summer afternoon;

It was the marriage-time of May

With her young lover, June.

From her mother's heart, seemed loath to part

That queen of bridal charms,

But her father smiled on the fairest child

He ever held in his arms.

The trees did wave their plumy crests,

The glad birds caroled clear;

And I, of all the wedding guests,

Was only sullen there!

There was not one, but wished to shun

My aspect void of cheer;

The very grey rocks, looking on,

Asked, "What do you here?"

And I could utter no reply;

In sooth, I did not know

Why I had brought a clouded eye

To greet the general glow.

So, resting on a heathy bank,

I took my heart to me;

And we together sadly sank

Into a reverie.

We thought, "When winter comes again,

Where will these bright things be?

All vanished, like a vision vain,

An unreal mockery!

The birds that now so blithely sing,

Through deserts, frozen dry,

Poor spectres of the perished spring,

In famished troops, will fly.

And why should we be glad at all?

The leaf is hardly green,

Before a token of its fall

Is on the surface seen!

Now, whether it were really so,

I never could be sure;

But as in fit of peevish woe,

I stretched me on the moor.

A thousand thousand gleaming fires

Seemed kindling in the air;

A thousand thousand silvery lyres

Resounded far and near:

Methought, the very breath I breathed

Was full of sparks divine,

And all my heather-couch was wreathed

By that celestial shine!

And, while the wide earth echoing rung

To their strange minstrelsy,

The little glittering spirits sung,

Or seemed to sing, to me.

"O mortal! mortal! let them die;

Let time and tears destroy,

That we may overflow the sky

With universal joy!

Let grief distract the sufferer's breast,

And night obscure his way;

They hasten him to endless rest,

And everlasting day.

To thee the world is like a tomb,

A desert's naked shore;

To us, in unimagined bloom,

It brightens more and more!

And could we lift the veil, and give

One brief glimpse to thine eye,

Thou wouldst rejoice for those that live,

Because they live to die."

The music ceased; the noonday dream,

Like dream of night, withdrew;

But Fancy, still, will sometimes deem

Her fond creation true.

Маленький бутон розы

Маленький розы бутон,

Шар в ожидании новом,

Робко раскроется он,

Прячась в халате махровом,

Сладостной, легкой и пряной

Сказкой дыша над поляной.

Роза состарится вскоре,

Червь подорвал ее корень,

Бедному сердцу на горе

Жизненный цикл ускорен.

Тайком я соцветие с ветки

Возьму из фамильной беседки.

Я – этот червь возле розы,

Тянущий слезные росы,

Стеблям останется впредь

В землях изгнания смерть.

Вздохи прощаний над ними

Смешались с ветрами чужими.

A Little Budding Rose

It was a little budding rose,

Round like a fairy globe,

And shyly did its leaves unclose

Hid in their mossy robe,

But sweet was the slight and spicy smell

It breathed from its heart invisible.

The rose is blasted, withered, blighted,

Its root has felt a worm,

And like a heart beloved and slighted,

Failed, faded, shrunk its form.

Bud of beauty, bonnie flower,

I stole thee from thy natal bower.