Engels 1836

Poem


Source: MECW Volume 2, p. 554
First published: Die Internationale, Berlin, jg. 2, Heft 26, December 1, 1920;
Transcribed: Andy Blunden;


The evening sky grows dimmer With pictures to delight,
As, through the clouds, stars glimmer With soft and gentle light.
Now they draw near — full well
Those forms I seem to know:
The Archer, William Tell,
Siegfried, the Dragon’s foe;
Then Faust, the defiant one,
Achilles, striding free,
The warrior-knight Bouillon
With all his chivalry;
Then — please, no laughing, brother —
On gallant steed doth ride
Don Quixote and none other
Across this world so wide.
Approaching and receding,
They float across the night,
Who can arrest their speeding,
Or stay them in their flight?
Oft may these poetry-weaving
Fair images appear,
To put an end to grieving
As gently they draw near.