Classic Poem

My father he 's at the kiln away,
My mother sits at her spinning;
But wait, I 'll too be a man some day,
And a sweetheart I 'll then be winning.
So dark it is far off in the forest.

At dawn I am up and off with the sun—
Hurrah! when the sun 's a-shimmer.
To father then with his food I run;
Soon follows the twilight's glimmer.
So dark it is far off in the forest.

I roam the green foot-path fearlessly
As I haste through the woods alone there.
But darkly the pines look down on me,
And long mountain shadows are thrown there.
So dark it is far off in the forest.

Tralala! As glad as a bird in flight
I 'll sing as the path I follow.
But harsh the reply from the mountain height,
And the woods are heavy and hollow.
So dark it is far off in the forest.

If I were but with my old father, though!
Hark! the bear is growling with hunger.
And the bear is the mightiest fellow, I know,
And spares neither older nor younger.
So dark it is far off in the forest.

The shadows come down so thick, so thick,
As if curtains were drawn together.
There 's rustle and rattle of stone and stick,
And trolls are walking the heather.
So dark it is far off in the forest.

There 's one! There are two! In their net they'll take
Me, alas!—how the firs are waving.
They beckon. O God, do not Thou forsake!
By flight my life I 'd be saving.
So dark it is far off in the forest.

The hours went by, the daylight was gone,
The way it grew ever more wild now,
There 's whisp'ring and rustling o'er stick and o'er stone
As over the heath runs the child now.
So dark it is far off in the forest.

With rosy-red cheek and heart beating fast
To his father's kiln swiftly fleeing,
He fell. “My dear son, oh, welcome at last!”
“'Tis trolls, aye and worse I've been seeing.
So dark it is far off in the forest.”

“My son, it is long here I've had to dwell,
But God has preserved me from evil.
Whoever knows his Our Father well
Fears neither for troll nor for devil,
Though dark it is far off in the forest.”