Page:An Anthology of Modern Bohemian Poetry.pdf/129

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
MODERN BOHEMIAN POETRY
125

And the toiler but wonders, wonders;
A tear of love here, in the foundry the silver: one stream and one brightness.

"A Golden Plough Upon the Field" (1905).

Adolf Wenig (b. 1874).

THE COMING OF EVENING

On the meadow the corn-crake in anguish is weeping,
In the reeds of the marshes his voice is adroop;
Eve from the darkening woods is creeping,
In flocks from the field the tan birds troop.

The day is closing, the red blood wells
From an open wound in the sun setting low;
From the hamlets a chiming like grievous knells,
And the dusky wood like a mound of woe.

And only the wood-dove's peaceful calling
With a lure in the gloom of the forest is falling;
O wearied heart, dost thou hear the cry?—
The end is nigh.
A grievous shadow is cast in the vale,
In the heart of the wood is a pathway pale;
What would it be, thereon to fare,
Returning ne'er?
Peace and rest for the soul is there.
Eve from the darkening woods is creeping.
The corn-crake upon the meadows is sleeping.

"The Garden of the Heart" (1905).