Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Germany: Vols. XVII–XVIII. 1876–79.
A Legend of Koesen Bridge
By George Browning (1813?–1878)L
Upon the Saale’s shore
A shepherd loved a shepherdess:
His love was triéd sore;
For on the left bank he his flock
Did tend, while on the right
Was hers,—but yet across the stream
Their true love they did plight.
It pleased him to command
His vassals here to build a bridge
For his Thüringen land.
Soon was the work begun, huge stones
Were lowered in the stream,
And the shepherd lad he danced to think
Fulfilled might be his dream.
Full many a year had flown,
The love of that true, loving pair
Had but intenser grown.
At length the road across the stream
Was free; to yonder side
The shepherd drove his little flock,
There to embrace his bride.
To meet her own true, love,
So towards the new-built bridge her flock
She with a full heart drove,—
And on the bridge these lovers met,
They vowed they ne’er would part,—
To seal their love then each one carved
Upon the brink a heart.
Of separation’s woe,
And their two flocks from that day forth,
Together grazed below.
E’en to this day those hearts remain
Carved there,—do not forget
In passing o’er the bridge to look—
’T is where those lovers met!