Karl Marx EARLY LITERARY EXPERIMENTS

FROM THE ALBUMS OF POEMS DEDICATED

TO JENNY VON WESTPHALEN [1]

From the BOOK OF LOVE (Part I)[2]

CONCLUDING SONNETS TO JENNY

I

Take all,take all these songs from me That Love at your feet humbly lays,Where,in the Lyre's full melody,Soul freely nears in shining rays.

Oh!if Song's echo potent be To stir to longing with sweet lays,To make the pulse throb passionately That your proud heart sublimely sways,Then shall I witness from afar How Victory bears you light along,Then shall I fight,more bold by far,Then shall my music soar the higher;

Transformed,more free shall ring my song,And in sweet woe shall weep my Lyre.

II

To me,no Fame terrestrial That travels far through land and nation To hold them thrillingly in thrall With its far-flung reverberation Is worth your eyes,when shining full,Your heart,when warm with exultation,Or two deep-welling tears that fall,Wrung from your eyes by song's emotion.

Gladly I'd breathe my Soul away In the Lyre's deep melodious sighs,And would a very Master die,Could I the exalted goal attain,Could I but win the fairest prize --

To soothe in you both joy and pain.