Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

At Midnight Hour

AT midnight hour I went, not willingly, A little, little boy, yon churchyard past, To Father Vicar's house; the stars on high On all around their beauteous radiance cast, At midnight hour. And when, in journeying o'er the path of life, My love I follow'd, as she onward moved, With stars and northern lights o'er head in strife, Going and coming, perfect bliss I proved At midnight hour. Until at length the full moon, lustre-fraught, Burst thro' the gloom wherein she was enshrined; And then the willing, active, rapid thought Around the past, as round the future twined, At midnight hour. Goethe relates that a remarkable situation he was in one bright moonlight night led to the composition of this sweet song, which was \