I
will write you a new, a sweeter song;
You shall sing it without a quaver;
We will build the kingdom of heaven on earth
'Tis a better plan and a braver.
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text .
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a new, a sweeter song: one of Heine's many biblical
allusions betokening both religious rebirth and social
justice (the latter made clearer in the German, which
literally means "a better song").
We
shall then be happy and starve no more:
We whom the earth was spoiled for;
No longer shall lazy bellies waste
What busy hands have toiled for.
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text .
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11
Oh,
here below there's not only food
In abundance for every comer,
But beauty and pleasure and lollipops,
And the myrtle and rose of summer.
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12
The
sugar plums, as soon as they're ripe,
Shall to each and all be given,
And angels and sparrows may have our share
Of the vague delights of heaven.
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13
And
if after death our wings should sprout,
We'll pay you a visit with pleasure,
And help you to eat your tarts and cakes,
And similar laid up treasure.
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14
As
sweet as the viol and flute shall ring
My song, when that other's supplanted.
The passing bell shall be tolled no more,
Nor the Miserere chanted.
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passing bell: a bell tolled to indicate death • Miserere: Latin, "have mercy,"from
the opening of Psalm 51, which was frequently set to music
and sung in the service for the dead.
15
To
the Genius of Freedom, Europe, the Maid,
Her virgin heart has yielded;
They have plighted their troth, and, heart on heart,
With a first fond kiss have sealed it.
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x
16
And
a wedding true it will be, though the priest
May pronounce no blessing hollow.
Long live the bridegroom and the bride,
And the children that shall follow!
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x x
17
Oh,
a wedding song is this new song;
There's gladness in every line there;
And stars, at the Holy Sacrament,
Arise in my soul, and shine there.
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text .
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x
18
They
are rapturous stars that blaze and pass
In streams of flame and wonder—
I feel such vigour in my blood
I could split the oaks asunder.
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text .
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x
19
For,
now I have stepped on German sod,
A magic sap steals through me;
The giant has touched his mother again,
And her love and her strength renew me.
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text .
•
In Classical mythology, the titan Antaeus derived his
strength from contact with his mother, the earth.
