Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE BROKEN RING, by JOSEPH VON EICHENDORFF


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE BROKEN RING, by                    
First Line: Down in yon cool valley
Last Line: Then all were calm and still.
Subject(s): Jewelry & Jewelers; Unfaithfulness; Rings; Bracelets; Necklaces; Infidelity; Adultery; Inconstancy


ADOWN in yon cool valley
I hear a mill-wheel go:
Alas! my love has left me,
Who once dwelt there below.

A ring of gold she gave me,
And vowed she would be true;
The vow long since was broken,
The gold ring snapped in two.

I would I were a minstrel,
To rove the wide world o'er,
And sing afar my measures,
And rove from door to door;

Or else a soldier, flying
Deep into furious fight,
By silent camp-fires lying
A-field in gloomy night.

Hear I the mill-wheel going:
I know not what I will;
'Twere best if I were dying—
Then all were calm and still.





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