Karl Marx
EARLY LITERARY EXPERIMENTS
FROM THE ALBUMS OF POEMS DEDICATED
TO JENNY VON WESTPHALEN [1]
*
From the BOOK OF LOVE (Part I) [2]
CONCLUDING SONNETS TO JENNY
I
Take all, take all these songs from me
That Love at your feet humbly lays,
Where, in the Lyre's full melody,
Soul freely nears in shining rays.
Oh! if Song's echo potent be
To stir to longing with sweet lays,
To make the pulse throb passionately
That your proud heart sublimely sways,
Then shall I witness from afar
How Victory bears you light along,
Then shall I fight, more bold by far,
Then shall my music soar the higher;
Transformed, more free shall ring my song,
And in sweet woe shall weep my Lyre.
II
To me, no Fame terrestrial
That travels far through land and nation
To hold them thrillingly in thrall
With its far-flung reverberation
Is worth your eyes, when shining full,
Your heart, when warm with exultation,
Or two deep-welling tears that fall,
Wrung from your eyes by song's emotion.
Gladly I'd breathe my Soul away
In the Lyre's deep melodious sighs,
And would a very Master die,
Could I the exalted goal attain,
Could I but win the fairest prize --
To soothe in you both joy and pain.
III
Ah! Now these pages forth may fly,
Approach you, trembling, once again,
My spirits lowered utterly
By foolish fears and parting's pain.
My self-deluding fancies stray
Along the boldest paths in vain;
I cannot win what is most High,
And soon no more hope shall remain.
When I return from distant places
To that dear home, filled with desire,
A spouse holds you in his embraces,
And clasps you proudly, Fairest One.
Then o'er me rolls the lightning's fire
Of misery and oblivion.
IV
Forgive ...
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