Seite:Marsh Hallig 1856.djvu/162

  Wouldst thou receive! then give, as price !
  Within thyself dost thou retire ?
  Behold thy looked-for joys expire !
  Life only pays for sacrifice.

  Thou wave-rocked child, of ocean born !
  Poor islet on a stormy seal
  Thy sod from earth's broad kingdom torn !
  Thou art my home ! my joy's in thee !

  No waving forest hems thee round ;
  No rocky girdle holds thee fas ;
  Only the watery waste profound,
  With heaven's broad curtain o'er thee cast.

  Thy meager landscape lieth bare
  Beneath the source of light intense ;
  And 'gainst the elemental war,
  Thou hast no weapon, no defense.

  Peace in thy humble huts doth live
  Thy riches are thy poverty ;
  And simple manners aye survive
  From sire to son, unchanged, in thee.

  Virtue and piety remain
  Guests at the fireside of the poor ;
  None envies here another's gain —
  No heart, impatient, asks for more.