Mythology & Folklore
The Song of the Ducats
Translated by Edgar Alfred Bowring (1908) · From Book of Songs: Youthful Sorrows: Romances
O my golden ducats dear,
Tell me why ye are not here?
Are ye with the golden fishes
Which within the stream so gaily
Leap and splash and wriggle daily?
Are ye with the golden flow’rets
Which, o’er green fields scattered lightly,
In the morning dew gleam brightly?
Are ye with the golden bird-kins
Which we see in happy chorus
In the blue skies hov’ring o’er us?
Are ye with the golden planets
Which in radiant crowds each even
Smile in yonder distant heaven?
Ye, alas, my golden ducats,
Swim not in the streamlet bright,
Sparkle not on meadow green,
Hover not in skies serene,
Smile not in the heavens by night.--
Creditors, with greedy paws,
Hold you safely in their claws.
Cite this poem
MLA
Heine, Heinrich. “The Song of the Ducats.” Translated by Edgar Alfred Bowring. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/heine/75/.
Chicago
Heine, Heinrich. “The Song of the Ducats.” Translated by Edgar Alfred Bowring. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/heine/75/.
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