The Mountain Boy - Johann Ludwig Uhland

The shepherd of the Alps am I,
The castles far beneath me lie;
Here first the ruddy sunlight gleams,
Here linger last the parting beams.
      The mountain boy am I!

Here is the river’s fountain-head,
I drink it from its stony bed;
As forth it leaps with joyous shout,
I seize it ere it gushes out.
      The mountain boy am I!

The mountain is my own domain:
It calls its storms from sea and plain;
From north to south they howl afar;
My voice is heard amid their war.
      The mountain boy am I!

And when the tocsin sounds alarms,
And mountain bale-fires call to arms,
Then I descend, I join my king,
My sword I wave, my lay I sing.
      The mountain boy am I!

The lightnings far beneath me lie;
High stand I here in clear blue sky;
I know them, and to them I call;
In quiet leave my father’s hall.
      The mountain boy am I!

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Johann Ludwig Uhland (1787 – 1862) Germany