Classic Poem

Der Herbstwind rüttelt die Bäume

Wild Autumn shakes the branches,
The night is damp and cold;
I ride through a lonely forest,
Wrapped in my cloak's gray fold.

And, as I ride, my fancies
Fly faster along the road;
They bear me, light and eager,
To her beloved abode.

The dogs awake; the torches
Flare, and the whole house stirs;
I storm the spiral staircase
And mount, with a clatter of spurs.

Lo, in her own soft chamber,
Warm with its fragrant charms,
My love awaits me, smiling —
I fly to her open arms . . .

I hear the oak-tree speaking;
The wind, in the branches, screams:
" What wouldst thou, oh wild horseman —
Thou, and thy wilder dreams! "