Hyacinths | Theodor Storm, 1817-88

Hyacinths

Music sounds in the distance;
but silent night is here,
The flowers waft slumber-scent at me;
I have always, always thought of you;
I would sleep, but you must dance.

It does not stop, it whirls without pause;
The candles burn and the fiddles scream;
The rows part and close,
And all are flushed, but you are pale.

And you must dance; strange arms twine
Around your heart; oh suffer no violence!
I see your white dress fly by
And your light, delicate form.

And the night scent wells more sweetly
And more dreamily from the calyx of the flowers.
I have always, always thought of you;
I would like to sleep, but you must dance.

 Hyazinthen / Theodor Storm, 1817-1888
Translation: Elisabeth Siekhaus, 2008