Prologue

By Heinrich Heine

Good-Fortune is a giddy maid,

Fickle and restless as a fawn;

She smoothes your hair; and then the jade

Kisses you quickly, and is gone.

But Madam Sorrow scorns all this,

She shows no eagerness for flitting;

But, with a long and fervent kiss,

Sits by your bed—and brings her knitting.