olemnity spread out over the nightly world, and it
lay as if in repose, smiling in blissful dreams. The air was filled
with perfumes, wafted to the balcony upon which dreamed the poet with
unclosed eyelids and waking thoughts. The clouds were all dispersed;
full and clear was suspended the moon in the deep, blue vault, where
twinkled thousands of stars, whispering of unknown worlds, and the
mysteries of Nature, and the greatness of Him who created them all.

"Oh, beloved, golden moon, how calmly you look down upon me, sublime and
lovely at the same time! When I gaze at you, moving so quietly, floating
in infinity, and contemplating reflect thyself in finiteness, I think of
you, oh Charlotte, who stands above me like the moon so bright and mild,
and I envelop myself in your rays, and my spirit becomes heavenly in
your light.

Mir ist es, denk ich nur an Dich,
Als in den Mond zu seh'n,
Ein suesser Friede weht um mich,
Weiss nicht, wie mir gescheh'n!

"Yes, like sweet peace, and quiet, sacred moonlight, my thoughts shall
be of you, Charlotte; not like the glowing rays of the sun, or the cold
light of the stars. Bright and beaming like the moon you are to me,
spreading around me your soft light. Oh, beautiful golden moon, mirrored
in the water, you lie as in a silvery bath, and would entice me to seek
you in the murmuring depths. Hark! how the ruffled waves of the Ilm
with repeated gentle caresses kiss the shore, rush from thence in golden
links down the river! Sweet of the Ilm, I come, I come!"

Goethe hastened from the balcony, threw aside his apparel, plunged into
the silvery flood, shouting with joy.

What heavenly pleasure to float there, rocked by the murmuring waves,
gazing at the silvery stars and the golden moon, a lovely May night,
listening to the voices of Nature! Add to that the perfume-laden breeze
rising from the rain-refreshed meadows. How glorious to plunge into the
cool stream, splashing and dashing the water, and then to shoot like
a fish through the drops falling like golden rain! Suddenly, while
swimming, Goethe raised his head to listen. He thought he heard
footsteps on the poet's forbidden bridge. The moon distinctly revealed a
peasant from Oberweimar, who would be early to the weekly market, and so
serve himself to the shortest route while no one could see him.

"Such presumption deserves punishment, my good peasant, and if there is
no one else to do it the ghosts must."