Classic Poem

The Mystery of Reminiscence

TO LAURA.

Who reveals to me th' imperious need
Ever insanely on thy lips to feed?
And who the passion which would fain inhale
Thy breath; and to the very death prevail,
So thou art by?

Does not my spirit unresisting rise,
As conquered minions yield, to meet thine eyes?
Torn is my spirit with internal strife,
Struggling in frenzy o'er the bridge of life,
When thou art near.

Why should my soul from me, its master, stray,
And before thine its truant offering lay?
Do they like sundered brothers meet again,
Emancipated from their earthly chain,
Before thine eyes?

Were our two Essences already one?
Does this explain our heart-beat's rhythmic tone?
In the departed light of suns gone by,
In days of now forgotten ecstasy
Were we combined?

Aye, but we were indeed! United fast
Were thou and I in ages now long past;
In the dark tablets of a vanished age
My peering Muse saw written on the page: —
" Our Love is one. "

And in the rapture of our common soul,
Amazed, I saw inscribed upon the roll
That we were God , wielding creative power,
And that the world was given as a bower
For us to roam.

Eternal streams, voluptuous and sweet,
Of heavenly nectar babbled at our feet;
We burned to open life's mysterious seal,
And flew, the truth in daylight to reveal
On eager wings.

Weep, Laura, weep! That God has passed away,
And thou and I in ruined disarray
For the too glorious past unsated grieve.
Once more Divinity we would achieve —
Be God again.

And hence, my Laura, springs th' imperious need
Ever insanely on thy lips to feed,
And hence the passion which would fain inhale
Thy breath, and to the very death prevail,
So thou art by.

So does my spirit unresisting rise,
As conquered minions yield, to meet thine eyes,
And thus my spirit, torn with inward strife,
Struggles in frenzy o'er the bridge of life
When thou art near.

Thus does my soul from me, its master, stray,
And before thine its truant offerings lay;
Emancipated from their earthly chain,
The sundered brothers meet, and kiss again
In long embrace.

And for thyself — thy secret swift I knew,
Discovered by thy cheek's empurpled hue;
Like near and dear ones, sped we hand in hand,
As leaps the exile toward his native land;
And we were one!EnglishJohann Christoph Friedrich Von Schiller