Folk Songs

English translation by Alice Stone Blackwell

The song of the Stork

STORK, I welcome thy return.
Thou stork, I welcome thy return.
Thy coming is the sign of spring,
And thou dost joy and gladness bring.

Stork, upon our roof descend.
Thou stork, upon our roof descend.
Upon our ash-tree build thy nest,
Our dear one, and our honoured guest.

Stork, I would complain to thee:
Yes, stork, I would complain to thee.
A thousand sorrows I would tell,
The griefs that in my bosom dwell.

Stork, when thou our house didst leave;
When last our ash-tree thou didst leave,
Cold, blasting winds the heavens filled,
And all our smiling flowers were killed.

Clouds obscured the brilliant sky;
Dark clouds obscured the brilliant sky.
Up there in flakes they broke the snow,
And Winter killed the flowers below.

The exile's song

BELOVED one, for thy sweet sake,
By whirlwinds tessed and swayed I roam;
The stranger's accents round me wake
These burning thoughts that wander home.
No man such longings wild can bear
As in my heart forever rise.
Oh that the wind might waft me there
Where my beloved's vineyard lies!
Oh that I were the zephyr fleet,
That bends her vines and roses sweet.

For I am piteous and forlorn,
As is the bird that haunts the night;
Who inconsolably doth mourn
Whene'er his rose is from his sight.
O'er earth and ocean, everywhere
I gaze in vain, with weary eyes.