Page:The Works of J. W. von Goethe, Volume 9.djvu/380

All forebodes a prosperous voyage; the sailor with calmness
⁠Leans 'gainst the sail, which alone all that is needed performs.
Forward presses the heart of each seaman, like colours and streamers;
⁠Backward one only is seen, mournfully fixed near the mast,
While on the blue-tinged mountains, which fast are receding, he gazeth,
⁠And as they sink in the sea, joy from his bosom departs.
Vanished from thee, too, O Dora, is now the vessel that robs thee
⁠Of thine Alexis, thy friend,—ah, thy betrothed as well!
Thou, too, art after me gazing in vain. Our hearts are still throbbing,
⁠Though, for each other, yet, ah! 'gainst one another no more.
Oh, thou single moment wherein I found life! thou outweighest
⁠Every day which had else coldly from memory fled.
'Twas in that moment alone, the last, that upon me descended
⁠Life, such as deities grant, though thou perceived'st it not.
Phœbus, in vain with thy rays dost thou clothe the ether in glory:
⁠Thine all-brightening day hateful alone is to me.
Into myself I retreat for shelter, and there, in the silence,
⁠Strive to recover the time when she appeared with each day.
Was it possible beauty like this to see, and not feel it?

⁠Worked not those heavenly charms e'en on a mind dull as thine?