Music, and Other Poems

LOVE'S NEARNESS

     I think of thee, when golden sunbeams shimmer
                   Across the sea;
     And when the waves reflect the moon's pale glimmer,
                   I think of thee.

     I see thy form, when down the distant highway
                   The dust-clouds rise;
     In deepest night, above the mountain by-way,
                   I see thine eyes.

     I hear thee when the ocean-tides returning
                   Loudly rejoice;
     And on the lonely moor, in stillness yearning,
                   I hear thy voice.

     I dwell with thee: though thou art far removed,
                   Yet art thou near.
     The sun goes down, the stars shine out,—
                      Beloved,
                   Ah, wert thou here!

     From Goethe: "Nahe des Geliebten."