Basic HTML-Version
58
he restless Empress Elisabeth, a keen
traveler, used the Imperial Court Train
now and again, above all to travel to
her beloved Hungary. But more often than
not, she traveled incognito on courier trains
as “Countess Hohenembs” either to her
Bavarian home or to take the waters at the
Bad Kissingen spa.
Sisi, as the empress was lovingly called,
was not only a great traveler, she was also
a talented poet. This poem is said to have
been penned during a journey to Budapest:
O Schwalbe, leih’ mir deine Flügel,
O nimm mich mit ins ferne Land,
Wie selig sprengt’ ich alle Zügel,
Wie wonnig jedes fesselnd’ Band!
Und schwebt’ ich frei mit dir dort oben
Am ewig blauen Firmament,
Wie wollte ich begeistert loben
Den Gott, den man die Freiheit nennt.
Wien, Januar 1887
T
EMPRESS
ELISABETH
of Austria
Empress Elisabeth, 1837-1898
(MMD)
(Oh swallow lend me your wings
Oh take me with you to a far away country
How blissfully would I break all reins
How happily break all chains
And if I glided freely with you up there
In the eternally blue heavens
How enthusiastic would I laud
The God who is called Freedom)