Wie der Mond sich leuchtend dränget

As the moon through heavy cloud-drifts
Bursts with his effulgent rays,
So a shining memory rises
From the old and darkened days.

On the deck we sat, and drifted
Down the Rhine as on a throne;
And the banks, bright green with summer,
In the radiant twilight shone.

And there was a gracious lady;
At her feet I sat and dreamed.
On that pale, dear face the ruddy,
Burnished gold of sunset gleamed.

Lutes were ringing, boys were singing;
Happiness on every side!
And the vault of heaven grew bluer,
And the very soul grew wide.

And there passed, as in a legend,
Cliff and castle, wood and field . . .
And I saw them through her beauty;
In her eyes they lay revealed.