It was such a night as this—
I looked out through the window
and saw:
wagons standing before the terrace,
father and mother in front,
my brother in his white waist-coat,
and all the neighbors and guests.
Afterward I heard
the horses neighing from afar.
That night in my trundle bed
a dream with dark wing
brought them back again:
They are riding through woods, lakes,
mills,
and old jesters are playing
sleepy and weary
the song of the bridal canopy.
They rush on, rush on,
toward the bride in the city,
but a jester has loosened a wheel
of the wagon.
And though they all lie now in the ground
(even Meyer Pudding and his horse),
I thought of them today.
Because it was such a night as this,
I looked out through the window
and saw:
leaves dancing in the wind,
and I alone in the house—a child
in terror.
They have all gone away to the wedding,
all night I have waited for them,
but they have all deceived me.
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