Page:The Works of J. W. von Goethe, Volume 9.djvu/32

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Ere long thou held'st me fast,
With arms around me cast,
Upon thy breast I fell;
Scarce was thy bandage gone,
When all my joy was flown,
Thou coldly didst the blind repel.

He groped on every side,
His limbs he sorely tried,
While scoffs arose all round;
If thou no love wilt give,
In sadness I shall live,
As if mine eyes remained still bound.


CHRISTEL.

My senses ofttimes are oppressed,
Oft stagnant is my blood;
But when by Christel's sight I'm blest
I feel my strength renewed.
I see her here, I see her there,
And really cannot tell
The manner how, the when, the where,
The why I love her well.

If with the merest glance I view
Her black and roguish eyes,
And gaze on her black eyebrows too,
My spirit upward flies.
Has any one a mouth so sweet,
Such love-round cheeks as she?
Ah, when the eye her beauties meet,
It ne'er content can be.

And when in airy German dance

I clasp her form divine,