The first flowers

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By the stream bed
In the meadow so red
There have appeared in these days
Many yellow flowers
Which have opened up their golden eyes.
And I, long fallen from innocence,
Am deeply moved by a memory
Coming from the hours of my life’s golden morning
Brightly watching from the eyes of the flowers.
I was thinking of cutting some;
Now I leave them all alone
And go on home, an old man now.

Die ersten Blumen
Hermann Hesse, 12 February 1912

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