Heinrich Heine

The oaks with solemnity shook their heads;
The twigs of the birch-trees, in token
Of warning, nodded,--and read more

The oaks with solemnity shook their heads;
The twigs of the birch-trees, in token
Of warning, nodded,--and I exclaim'd:
"Dear Monarch, forgive what I've spoken!"

The air grows cool and darkles,
The Rhine flows calmly on;
The mountain summit sparkles
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The air grows cool and darkles,
The Rhine flows calmly on;
The mountain summit sparkles
In the light of the setting sun.

When I lately stood with a friend before [the cathedral of]
Amiens, . . . he asked me how read more

When I lately stood with a friend before [the cathedral of]
Amiens, . . . he asked me how it happens that we can no longer
build such piles? I replied: "Dear Alphonse, men in those days
had convictions (Ueberzeugungen), we moderns have opinions
(Meinungen) and it requires something more than an opinion to
build a Gothic cathedral.