Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Germany: Vols. XVII–XVIII. 1876–79.
The Edelweiss Gatherer
By Franz von Kobell (18031882)A
I gather Edelweiss;
High up along the Watzmann’s sides,
And up above the ice.
The flower is held so dear;
And if I bring my Edelweiss
To some great cavalier,
Each one the flower will wear;
For Edelweiss becomes them well,
And they are all so fair.
Where grew my snow-white store;
But when I to the Watzmann point,
They don’t ask any more.
’T is not won in a trice;
It courage needs, and hence ’t is called,
Not wrongly, Edelweiss.
I trust my God is near,
Gladly I pluck a posy, too,
For our sweet Ladye dear.
No avalanche below,
Where stands my little garden, where
The hunter’s flower doth grow!
Roll down with wild alarm,
Remember me, and prithee guard
My Edelweiss from harm!