Contents -BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD

Margarete Münsterberg, ed., trans. A Harvest of German Verse. 1916.

By On the Death of a Child

Hugo Terberg (Pseud. for Hugo Münsterberg) (1863–1916)

DEAR child, now you have gone to sleep so gently:

You smile in peace.

Your little boat sails into port contently;

Your day must cease.

The happy frolics with your dolls are over,

Your merry play;

The flowers you loved—the daisies, poppies, clover—

All fade away.

There stands your rocking-horse for you to ride it:

You ride no more!

No school work—ah, you never could abide it!—

Makes your heart sore.

Your sister in the lonely yard is straying

With heavy heart.

She waits for you no longer: in her playing

You have no part.

You lie as if in dreams—sweet calm about you:

Dream on, dream on …

Grieve not because the children play without you,

When you are gone.

We cannot long be playing games so gaily,

Dear child, I know:

Upon the rough wide road of life—ah, daily

Rude winds must blow.

To go through life means fighting hard and grieving

With wounded breast …

He who can part as child, his frolics leaving,

Is truly blessed.