Frederik Hegel

(See Note 79)         I      DEDICATION     You never came here; but I go     Here often and am met by you.     Each room and road here must renew     The thought of you and your form show     Standing with helpful hand extended,     As when long since in trust and deed     My home you from my foes defended.         ...     So often, while I wrote this book,     The light shone from your genial eye;     Then we were one, both you and I     And what in silence being took;     So here and there the book possesses     Your spirit and your heart's fresh faith,     And therefore now your name it blesses.     I love the air, when growing colder         It, clear and high,         The purer sky     Broadens with sense of freedom bolder.     I find in forests joy the keenest         In autumn days         When fancy plays,     And not when they are young and greenest.     I knew a man: in autumn clearness         His even course, -         His heart's fine force     Like autumn sky in soft-hued sheerness.     His memory is, as - when a-swarming         The cold blasts first         Of winter burst -     The gentle flame my room first warming.     When all our outward longings falter,         And summer's mind         Within we find,     Is friendship's feast round autumn's altar.