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Half of Life
By Friedrich Hoelderlin
Born 1770 Lauffern/Neckar, died 1843 Tuebingen

Translation: Haelfte des Lebens

With golden pears hangs,
And full of wild roses,
The land into the lake.
You gracious swans,
And drunk with kissing
You dip your heads
Into the hallowed-sober water.

Woe to me, where shall I find,
When winter comes, the flowers
And where the sunshine
And shadows of the earth?
The walls stand
Speechless and cold, weathervanes Bristling in the wind.