Shepherd Song of Füredi

Say, Shepherd! where thy sheep are gone,
And why this discontented frown?
They're wending forth to Balaton,
And heavy sorrows press me down.
I eat not, drink not—but I lie
Like a fell'd trunk upon the plain;
The sun sinks downwards from the sky,
And gives me up to night and pain.
O hopeless doom! She turns away,
Indifference in her eyes I see;
In vain my Shepherd's pipe I play—
She listens not, nor looks on me.
The freshest milk, the whitest lamb,
And wreaths of knots, to her I bore;
And all I have, and all I am—
Life, soul—would give, to win her o'er.
Her face I press'd with kisses sweet,
Upon her breast my sighs outpour'd,
Fell, like a pilgrim, at her feet,
And drank her every breath and word.
But what of this? She knows it all,
And all forgets—she laughs at woe;
No pity on despair lets fall;
For other youth her passions glow.
But God shall punish her. O why,
Why was that lovely maid untrue?
Why did she bid my pleasure die?
Why pierce my heart, and pierce it through?
When shepherdless my sheep shall stray,
And madness thought and hope destroy,
"Shame on the maid!" the youths will say;
"Poor fool! beloved Shepherd boy!"