Could I from this valley drear, <br /> Where the mist hangs heavily, <br />Soar to some more blissful sphere, <br /> Ah! how happy should I be! <br />Distant hills enchant my sight, <br /> Ever young and ever fair; <br />To those hills I'd take my flight <br /> Had I wings to scale the air. <br /> <br />Harmonies mine ear assail, <br /> Tunes that breathe a heavenly calm; <br />And the gently-sighing gale <br /> Greets me with its fragrant balm. <br />Peeping through the shady bowers, <br /> Golden fruits their charms display. <br />And those sweetly-blooming flowers <br /> Ne'er become cold winter's prey. <br /> <br />In you endless sunshine bright, <br /> Oh! what bliss 'twould be to dwell! <br />How the breeze on yonder height <br /> Must the heart with rapture swell! <br />Yet the stream that hems my path <br /> Checks me with its angry frown, <br />While its waves, in rising wrath, <br /> Weigh my weary spirit down. <br /> <br />See--a bark is drawing near, <br /> But, alas, the pilot fails! <br />Enter boldly--wherefore fear? <br /> Inspiration fills its sails, <br />Faith and courage make thine own,-- <br /> Gods ne'er lend a helping-hand; <br />'Tis by magic power alone <br /> Thou canst reach the magic land!<br /><br />Friedrich Schiller<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/longing-6/
