4.
But of course! This is the land of your birth, the soil
Of your homeland: what you seek is near and
Comes to meet you. And not without purpose
A traveling man stands before your portal,
O happy Lindau,
at your portal surrounded
By waves, like a son, searching for loving words.
This is one of the welcoming gates to the nation,
Urging you to go out into a distance filled
With promises, where the Rhine, like a divine
Creature, boldly breaks its way down into the plains.
From the cliffs above, the jubilant valley attracts one
To journey on through the bright mountains to Como,
Or down to the wide sea, as the day progresses.
But the hallowed gateway draws me homeward,
Where the blossoming paths are familiar to me,
To visit there the countryside and beautiful valleys
Of the Neckar, the forests and godlike green trees,
Where
oaks consort with silent birch and beech,
And a friendly spot in the mountains holds me captive.
Continues German text Home All poems
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