Читать книгу The Greatest German Classics (Vol. 1-14) - Various - Страница 253

Believe me, all doth now depend on thee.

The irritated temper of the king

Alone condemns these men to bitter death.

The soldiers from the cruel sacrifice

And bloody service long have been disused;

Nay, many, whom their adverse fortunes cast

In foreign regions, there themselves have felt

How godlike to the exil'd wanderer

The friendly countenance of man appears.

Do not deprive us of thy gentle aid!

With ease thou canst thy sacred task fulfil;

For nowhere doth benignity, which comes

In human form from heaven, so quickly gain

An empire o'er the heart, as where a race,

Gloomy and savage, full of life and power,

Without external guidance, and oppress'd

With vague forebodings, bear life's heavy load.