Gottfried Keller (1819–1890)

YOU my eyes, my little windows dear,

Leave me yet a while your vision clear,

Welcome many pictures in with cheer—

Sometime soon you will be dark and drear!

And when once these weary lids shall close,

Then the soul shall rest—when darkness grows;

Groping, off she strips her shoes and goes

In her coffin black to find repose.

Still she sees two little sparks that gleam:

Like two tiny inward stars they beam,

Till they fade and vanish like a dream;

Blown away by moth-wings’ beat they seem.

Yet I’m wandering still at eventide,

Only fading stars as friends abide.

Drink, my eyes, whate’er can be espied

Of the glories in this world so wide!