THE BIRD AND THE SHIP.

FROM THE GERMAN OF MÜLLER.

"THE rivers rush into the sea,
By castle and town they go;

The winds behind them merrily
Their noisy trumpets blow.

"The clouds are passing far and high, We little birds in them play;

And every thing, that can sing and fly,

"I greet thee, bonny boat! Whither, or whence, With thy fluttering golden band ?”

"I greet thee, little bird! To the wide sea I haste from the narrow land.

"Full and swollen is every sail;
I see no longer a hill,

I have trusted all to the sounding gale,
And it will not let me stand still.

"And wilt thou, little bird, go with us? Thou mayest stand on the mainmast tall,

For full to sinking is my house

With merry companions all."-

"I need not and seek not company, Bonny boat, I can sing all alone; For the mainmast tall too heavy am I,

Bonny boat, I have wings of my own.

High over the sails, high over the mast,
Who shall gainsay these joys?

When thy merry companions are still, at last,
Thou shalt hear the sound of my voice.

"Who neither may rest, nor listen may,
God bless them every one!

I dart away, in the bright blue day,
And the golden fields of the sun.

"Thus do I sing my weary song,
Wherever the four winds blow;

And this same song, my whole life long,
Neither Poet nor Printer may know."

WHITHER?

FROM THE GERMAN OF MULLER.

I HEARD a brooklet gushing From its rocky fountain near, Down into the valley rushing,

So fresh and wondrous clear.

I know not what came o'er me, Nor who the counsel gave; But I must hasten downward,

All with mv pilgrim-stave ;

Downward, and ever farther,

And ever the brook beside; And ever fresher murmured,

And ever clearer, the tide.

Is this the way I was going?
Whither, O brooklet, say!

Thou hast, with thy soft murmur,

Murmured my senses away.

What do I say

of a murmur?

That can no murmur be;

'T is the water-nymphs, that are singing

Their roundelays under me.

Let them sing, my friend, let them murmur,

And wander merrily near;

The wheels of a mill are going
In every brooklet clear.