Now have I fed and eaten up the rose,
Which then she laid within my stiffcold hand
That I should ever feed upon a rose
I never had believed in liveman's land

Only I wonder was it white or red?
The flower that in the darkness has been my food
Give us, and if Thou give, thy daily bread,
Deliver us from evil, Lord, Amen.



~Gottfried Keller
Trans. James Joyce