love poetry

Sei mir gegrüsst, du grosse

Greetings to thee, oh city
Of power and mystery,
That once, within thy bosom,
Shielded my love for me.

Tell me, oh gates and towers,
Where is my loved one, where?
Into your care I gave her;
You should have kept her there.

I do not blame the towers,
They could not stir where they stood,
When she, with her trunks and boxes,

A lovely child alone, singing to himself serenely, —
Playing with pebbles in an unfrequented garden
Through drowse of summer afternoon where time drifts greenly.

A youth, impassioned by he knows not what, exploring
Delusive labyrinths in errors age will pardon, —
A youth, all ignorance, all grace, his dreams adoring.

A man, confounded by the facts of life that bind him
Prometheus-like to rocks where vulture doubts assail him, —
A man, with blank discarded youthfulness behind him.

So hast du ganz und gar vergessen

So now you have forgotten wholly
How once your heart was mine, mine solely;
Your heart had so sweet and so false a glow,
Nought could be sweeter or falser, I know.

So the love and the pain is forgotten wholly
That tortured my heart and made it lowly.
But whether the pain was as great as my love,
I know not. I know they were both great enough.

Ich grolle nicht, und wenn das Herz auch bricht

I will not mourn altho' my heart be torn,
Oh love forever lost! I will not mourn.
Altho' arrayed in light and diamonds bright,
No single ray falls in thy heart's deep night.

I know this well . . . I saw thee in a dream
And saw the night within thy heart supreme;
And saw the snake that gnawed upon thy heart . . .
I saw how wretched, oh my love, thou art.

O schwore nicht und küsse nur

Oh kiss me, love, and never swear,
For women's oaths are light as air!
Your speech is sweet, but sweeter is
The silent answer in your kiss!
'Tis this alone that has my faith —
The word is but a perfumed breath.

Well, swear then, love; oh, swear away;
I will believe each word you say!
And as I sink upon your breast
I will believe that I am blessed;
I will believe your love of me
Stretches beyond Eternity.

Dass ich dich liebe, o Mopschen

That I must love you, Mopser,
You surely understand;
For when I feed you sugar
You always lick my hand.

You're nothing but a doggie
And only pose as such.
All of my other friends, alas,
Disguise themselves too much.

2 ND L IEUI ., Cinque P ORTS B ATTALION ,

R OYAL S USSEX R EGIMENT

Strong, loyal-souled, full-hearted, blithely brave,
Only remembering love knows all he gave:
Beautiful be the stars above his grave.

After Jehudah Halevi
On the wind
in the cool of the evening
I send greetings to my friend.

I ask him only to remember the day
of our parting when we made a covenant
of love by an apple tree.

Blue noon shines o'er the sea;
Waves break starry on the sand;
Lights and sounds and scents come free
On the radiant air of the land.
I am filled with the melody of waves
That take my heart onward in tune;
My heart follows yearning after, and craves
No other delight nor boon.

They enfold the earth in desire
With a closer and closer kiss;
From life into life they expire,
In dying their birth and their bliss.
I am melted in them, I am filled
With the passion in peace they have found.

(Recruitment Poster)
I can love a dog,
but a whole country
with interests bigger
than death?
You gotta be kidding!

that way, uncle,
you mean to use me