The Lord’s own day is here! 
  Alone I kneel on this broad plain;
  A matin bell just sounds; again
    ’Tis silence, far and near.

    Here kneel I on the sod;
  O deep amazement, strangely felt! 
  As though, unseen, vast numbers knelt
    And prayed with me to God!

    Yon heav’n afar and near—­
  So bright, so glorious seems its cope
  As though e’en now its gates would ope—­
    The Lord’s own day is here!

[Illustration:  LUDWIG UHLAND]

* * * * *

  THE CASTLE BY THE SEA[19] (1805)

  Hast thou seen that lordly castle,
    That castle by the sea? 
  Golden and red above it
    The clouds float gorgeously.

  And fain it would stoop downward
    To the mirrored lake below;
  And fain it would soar upward
    In the evening’s crimson glow.

  Well have I seen that castle,
    That castle by the sea,
  And the moon above it standing,
    And the mist rise solemnly.

  The winds and the waves of ocean—­
    Had they a merry chime? 
  Didst thou hear, from those lofty chambers,
    The harp and the minstrel’s rhyme?

  The winds and the waves of ocean,
    They rested quietly;
  But I heard in the gale a sound of wail,
    And tears came to mine eye.

  And sawest thou on the turrets
    The king and his royal bride,
  And the wave of their crimson mantles,
    And the golden crown of pride?

  Led they not forth, in rapture,
    A beauteous maiden there,
  Resplendent as the morning sun,
    Beaming with golden hair!

  Well saw I the ancient parents,
    Without the crown of pride;
  They were moving slow, in weeds of woe—­
    No maiden was by their side!

* * * * *

  SONG OF THE MOUNTAIN BOY[20] (1806)

  The mountain shepherd-boy am I;
  The castles all below me spy. 
  The sun sends me his earliest beam,
  Leaves me his latest, lingering gleam. 
    I am the boy of the mountain!

  The mountain torrent’s home is here,
  Fresh from the rock I drink it clear;
  As out it leaps with furious force,
  I stretch my arms and stop its course. 
    I am the boy of the mountain!

  I claim the mountain for my own;
  In vain the winds around me moan;
  From north to south let tempests brawl—­
  My song shall swell above them all. 
    I am the boy of the mountain!

  Thunder and lightning below me lie,
  Yet here I stand in upper sky;
  I know them well, and cry, “Harm not
  My father’s lowly, peaceful cot.” 
    I am the boy of the mountain!

  But when I hear the alarm-bell sound,
  When watch-fires gleam from the mountains round,
  Then down I go and march along,
  And swing my sword, and sing my song. 
    I am the boy of the mountain!