AMBERGRIS 
53 
 
 
 
FROM TANNHÄUSER 
 
Shepherd Boy’s Song 
 
O Gretchen, when the morn is gray, 
Forsake thy flocks and steal away 
To that low bank where, shepherds say, 
The flowers eternal are. 
Thine eyes should gleam to see me there, 
As fixed upon a star. 
And yet thy lips should make a tune, 
And match me unaware— 
So steals the sun beside the moon 
And hides her lustre rare. 
The bloom upon the peach is fine ; 
The blossom on thy cheek is mine ! 
O kiss me—if you dare ! 
I called thee by the name of love 
That mothers fear and gods approve, 
And maidens blush to say— 
O Gretchen, meet me in the dell 
We know and love, who love so well, 
While morn is cold and gray ! 
So match thy blushes to the dawn ; 
Thy bosom to the rising moon, 
Until our loves to earth have drawn 
Some new bewitching tune. 
Come, Gretchen, in the dusk of day, 
Where nymphs and dryads creep away 
Beneath the oaks, to laugh and play 
And sink in lover’s swoon. 
We’ll sing them sister songs, and show 
What secrets mortal lovers know.