Oh, Night! Poem by Annette Von Droste-Hulshoff

Oh night, you canopy of embroidered gold!
Oh moon, you lamp of silver!
You, who shroud the world around
And you, who lights us all.

Where have you enfolded
The purest pearl of all?
Where is your dreaming light reflected
In the clearest mirror of all?

Oh, spread sevenfold
The shielding garland round,
That the youth may not observe her
Blazing up in flames;
That no girl with loss of bloom be struck
With all pervading eye.

And gentle lamp looking deeply
Into the clearness of her mirror,
Did you see a picture there?
And, if so, was it mine?

Translation by: David Paley