Winter vexed the meadow Many weary hours: Fled his chill and shadow,-- Lo, the fields are laughing Red with flowers.[6]
[6] Ibid., page 178: 'Springe wir den Reigen.'
Or the song at the dance may set forth some of the preliminaries, as when a girl is supposed to sing:--
Care and sorrow, fly away! On the green field let us play, Playmates gentle, playmates mine, Where we see the bright flowers shine, I say to thee, I say to thee, Playmate mine, O come with me!
Gracious Love, to me incline, Make for me a garland fine,-- Garland for the man to wear Who can please a maiden fair. I say to thee, I say to thee, Playmate mine, O come with me![7]
[7] Ibid., page 213: 'Ich wil Trûren Varen lân.'
The greeting from youth to maiden, from maiden to youth, was doubtless a favorite bit of folk-song, whether at the dance or as independent lyric. Readers of the 'Library' will find such a greeting incorporated in 'Child Maurice'[8]; only there it is from the son to his mother, and with a somewhat eccentric list of comparisons by way of detail, instead of the terse form known to German tradition:--
Soar, Lady Nightingale, soar above! A hundred thousand times greet my love!
[8] Article in 'Ballads,' Vol. iii., page 1340.
The variations are endless; one of the earliest is found in a charming Latin tale of the eleventh century, 'Rudlieb,' "the oldest known romance in European literature." A few German words are mixed with the Latin; while after the good old ballad way the greeting is first given to the messenger, and repeated when the messenger performs his task:--"I wish thee as much joy as there are leaves on the trees,--and as much delight as birds have, so much love (_minna_),--and as much honor I wish thee as there are flowers and grass!" Competent critics regard this as a current folk-song of greeting inserted in the romance, and therefore as the oldest example of _minnesang_ in German literature. Of the less known variations of this theme, one may be given from the German of an old song where male singers are supposed to compete for a garland presented by the maidens; the rivals not only sing for the prize but even answer riddles. It is a combination of game and dance, and is evidently of communal origin. The honorable authorities of Freiburg, about 1556, put this practice of "dancing of evenings in the streets, and singing for a garland, and dancing in a throng" under strictest ban. The following is a stanza of greeting in such a song:--