Poems (Hooper)/Farewell

For works with similar titles, see Farewell.
FAREWELL.
Den letzten Becher bring' ich dir.
In one last cup I drink to thee,Thou fair and foreign strand!Ah, bitter 'tis to part from theeAs from my fatherland!Farewell, farewell! The wind doth pressThe sail with sportive zeal;And on the green and rushing waveDoth heave the vessel's keel.
The sun sinks in the island sea,The light glows rosy red;Still gleams before me yonder houseWhere our farewells were said.How gladly would I, fairest child,Have lingered with thee there!In vain! the dream has faded now—The dream that was so fair.
Ay, such is life—to come, to go,By wind and wave thus driven; Sent forth, to nevermore return,When scarce we've found a haven.To be belov'd, to be forgot,To love—the sunset lightMethinks must surely dazzle me,So dim has grown my sight!
'Tis past, 'tis past. The tears are shed,Ended are joy and pain;Forth rushes to the busy worldThis untamed heart again.So let it be. The moon's first rayDoth deck the wave with light.The shore recedes.—My maiden fair,For the last time, good-night!Geibel.