Poems and Rhymed prayers cover

To EmmyBeneath a shining moonfar out among the heatherI wandered all alone.Where’er its beams broke throughthe branches danced wild shadowsand patterns silver-hued.For miles no single soundexcept a lone owl calling –then silence all around.That night of nights the powerof love awoke within me:I lost my heart that hour.For her alone I yearned:if she were only with meand never from me turned!Led on by longing’s guiseI heard her very footstepsand looked into her eyes.What joy beyond compare,to see her cherished features –O might it stay fore’er!The moon now cast its brightwhite beams upon the birches –a strange, bewitching sight.O will she be my own?To me, Lord, have you giv’n her?And does she long for me?The shadows disappeared.The moon lit up the heather.The land lay bright and clear.She will be mine, I know!My heart is overflowing –how could it not be so?Halle, March 1907On March 26, 1907, after an evening Bible study, Eberhard took Emmy toher home, and they had their first “real talk” (they had met before but notexchanged more than a few words). Later Eberhard wrote to her, “Afterleaving you…in the moonlight, I prayed long and earnestly on my knees andreceived the certainty that you would become mine. I then went to a café onGeist-Strasse and ate something, and then walked to the moor, where I experiencedthe most glorious night of my life, praying and thinking of you.”This is the night described in the poem above. Three days later, on GoodFriday (March 29), having received permission from Emmy’s parents –though not his own – the couple was engaged.P O E M S & R H Y M E D P R A Y E R S:E B E R H A R D A R N O L D 26