C.D. Warner, et al., comp. The Library of the World’s Best Literature.
An Anthology in Thirty Volumes. 1917.
Spring Song
By Ludwig Heinrich Christoph Hölty (1748–1776)
Translation of Alfred Baskerville
T
May comes at last,
Now shoots each spray
Forth blossoms gay,
The warbling bird
Around is heard.
And on the heath
The dance prepare
Ye maidens fair!
Come, twine a wreath,
Dance on the heath!
The tolling bell,
When we with May
No more shall play?
Canst thou foretell
The coming knell?
To speak his voice
Who gave us birth
For joy on earth.
God gives us time,—
Enjoy its prime.