Seite:Marsh Hallig 1856.djvu/162

Detdiar sidj as efterluket wurden.


CHAPTER XIII.


THE DISAPPOINTMENT.

     Wouldst thou receive! then give, as price !
          Within thyself dost thou retire ?
          Behold thy looked-for joys expire !
      Life only pays for sacrifice.

      Thou wave-rocked child, of ocean born !
          Poor islet on a stormy seal
      Thy sod from earth's broad kingdom torn !
          Thou art my home ! my joy's in thee !

      No waving forest hems thee round ;
          No rocky girdle holds thee fas ;
      Only the watery waste profound,
          With heaven's broad curtain o'er thee cast.

      Thy meager landscape lieth bare
          Beneath the source of light intense ;
      And 'gainst the elemental war,
          Thou hast no weapon, no defense.

      Peace in thy humble huts doth live
          Thy riches are thy poverty ;
      And simple manners aye survive
          From sire to son, unchanged, in thee.

      Virtue and piety remain
          Guests at the fireside of the poor ;
      None envies here another's gain —
          No heart, impatient, asks for more.