ce and where to?--We only know:
Forth from God's hand into God's hand.

_JOSEPH VON EICHENDORFF_

* * * * *

THE BROKEN RING[35] (1810)

Down in yon cool valley
I hear a mill-wheel go:
Alas! my love has left me,
Who once dwelt there below.

A ring of gold she gave me,
And vowed she would be true;
The vow long since was broken,
The gold ring snapped in two.

I would I were a minstrel,
To rove the wide world o'er,
And sing afar my measures,
And rove from door to door;

Or else a soldier, flying
Deep into furious fight,
By silent camp-fires lying
A-field in gloomy night.

Hear I the mill-wheel going:
I know not what I will;
'Twere best if I were dying--
Then all were calm and still.

[Illustration: JOSEPH VON EICHENDORFF]

* * * * *

MORNING PRAYER[36] (1833)

O silence, wondrous and profound!
O'er earth doth solitude still reign;
The woods alone incline their heads,
As if the Lord walked o'er the plain.

I feel new life within me glow;
Where now is my distress and care?
Here in the blush of waking morn,
I blush at yesterday's despair.

To me, a pilgrim, shall the world,
With all its joy and sorrows, be
But as a bridge that leads, O Lord,
Across the stream of time to Thee.

And should my song woo worldly gifts,
The base rewards of vanity--
Dash down my lyre! I'll hold my peace
Before thee to eternity.

FROM THE LIFE OF A GOOD-FOR-NOTHING (1826)

BY JOSEPH VON EICHENDORFF TRANSLATED BY MRS. A.L.W. WISTER

CHAPTER I

The wheel of my father's mill was once more turning and whirring
merrily, the melting snow trickled steadily from the roof, the
sparrows chirped and hopped about, as I, taking great delight in the
warm sunshine, sat on the door-step and rubbed my eyes to rid them
of sleep. Then my father made his appearance; he had been busy in the
mill since daybreak, and his nightcap was all awry as he said to me--

You Good-for-nothing! There you sit sunning yourself, and stretching
yourself till your bones crack, leaving me to do all the work alone. I
can keep you here no longer. Spring is at hand. Off with you into the
world and earn your own bread!"

"Well," said I, "all right; if I am a Good-for-nothing, I will go
forth into the world and make my fortune." In fact, I was very glad to
hav