The Muses' Son.

THROUGH field and wood to stray,     And pipe my tuneful lay,     'Tis thus my days are pass'd;     And all keep tune with me,     And move in harmony,     And so on, to the last.     To wait I scarce have power     The garden's earliest flower,     The tree's first bloom in Spring;     They hail my joyous strain,     When Winter comes again,     Of that sweet dream I sing.     My song sounds far and near,     O'er ice it echoes clear,     Then Winter blossoms bright;     And when his blossoms fly,     Fresh raptures meet mine eye,     Upon the well-till'd height.     When 'neath the linden tree,     Young folks I chance to see,     I set them moving soon;     His nose the dull lad curls,     The formal maiden whirls,     Obedient to my tune.     Wings to the feet ye lend,     O'er hill and vale ye send     The lover far from home;     When shall I, on your breast,.     Ye kindly muses, rest,     And cease at length to roam?     [Goethe quotes the beginning of this song in his Autobiography, as expressing the manner in which his poetical effusions used to pour out from him.]