| Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–1882). Complete Poetical Works. 1893. | | | | Translations | From the German.
Forsaken |
| | | SOMETHING the heart must have to cherish, | |
| Must love and joy and sorrow learn, | |
| Something with passion clasp, or perish, | |
| And in itself to ashes burn. | |
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| So to this child my heart is clinging, | 5 |
| And its frank eyes, with look intense, | |
| Me from a world of sin are bringing | |
| Back to a world of innocence. | |
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| Disdain must thou endure forever; | |
| Strong may thy heart in danger be! | 10 |
| Thou shalt not fail! but ah, be never | |
| False as thy father was to me. | |
| |
| Never will I forsake thee, faithless, | |
| And thou thy mother ne’er forsake, | |
| Until her lips are white and breathless, | 15 |
| Until in death her eyes shall break. | | | | |
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