Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Germany: Vols. XVII–XVIII. 1876–79.

Mummelsee

Not at Home

By Andreas Justinus Kerner (1786–1862)

Translated by J. C. Mangan

“One grand cause of this uneasiness is, that Man is not at home.”—Godwin, Thoughts on Man.

MY spirit, alas, knoweth no rest!

I lay under heaven’s blue dome,

One day, in the summer beam,

By the Mummelsee in the forest,

And dreamed a dream

Of my Home—

My Home, the Home of my Father!

Shone glory within and without;

Shone bright in its garden bowers

Such fruits as the angels gather,

And gold-hued flowers

All about!

Alas! the illusion soon vanished.

I awoke. There were clouds in the sky,

My tears began to flow.

My quiet of soul was banished;

I felt as though

I could die!

And still with a heart ever swelling

With yearnings,—and still with years

Overdarked by a desolate lot,

I seek for my father’s dwelling,

And see it not

For my tears!