Three poems by Heinrich Heine in the translations of Mary Alexander

Once o’er my dark and troubled life,
There shone a ray of light,
But now that cheering ray’s withdrawn 
Around me all is night.
 
When children in the dark are left,
And there perforce must stay,
To still their little trembling hearts
They sing a merry lay.
 
So I, a foolish child, I sing,
In the darkness of my heart
And though the lay be nothing worth
With it my griefs depart.

I wander through the wood and weep,
The thrush sits on the tree
And gladly chirps and sweetly sings,
What ails it now with thee.
 
The swallows who thy sisters are,
Can answer thee right well
For in their nests, ah happy they,
By my love’s house they dwell.

What means the lonely tear?
Which dims my saddened gaze?
A remnant, ‘tis the last,
Of early, bygone days.
 
‘Tis one of many sisters,
Who long ago were shed,
O’er former joys and sorrows,
In wind and darkness fled.
 
Like vapoury clouds dissolving,
Those azure stars are gone,
Which one each joy and sorrows,
Once on my eyelids shone.
 
And even my love has melted
Away in empty air,
Then go, thou lonely teardrop,
Go thou and and join it there.