346

Bewegtes Wasser, 1898

Alberich, what faith is still in you,
Watching those white bodies pass
In the water above you, and their
Carmine hair billowing in great
Clouds? Your eyes are shallow
And grey as musselshells. They
Seem to glow with a dull longing.
Come out from behind the torn
Curtain of your beard, speak to
These bright women, come out
Before their nakedness. Forth
Also, words of awkward devotion!
The maidens rise sleepily out of
The deep water : slender, almost
Brittle legs trailing back into the
Dark, backs arched languidly,
Slight breasts hanging softly on
The tide. Their faces flowerlike
And motionless. Ah, he cannot yet
Speak, for love. The water moves
Gently, a fabric of violet and gold.