Laudator Temporis Acti

Heinrich Heine, "Wahrhaftig," Buch der Lieder (tr. Hal Draper):

When the sunshine comes with the spring combined,
Then flowerets sprout by night and day;
When the moon sets out on its beamy way,
Then bright little stars swim along behind.
When a singer looks into two beautiful eyes,
Then out of his heart bales of songs arise.—
    But songs and stars and flowers by the ton,
    Or eyes and moons and springtime sun,
    No matter how much you like such stuff,
    To make a world they're just not enough.

Wenn der Frühling kommt mit dem Sonnenschein,
Dann knospen und blühen die Blümlein auf;
Wenn der Mond beginnt seinen Strahlenlauf,
Dann schwimmen die Sternlein hintendrein;
Wenn der Sänger zwei süße Aeuglein sieht,
Dann quellen ihm Lieder aus tiefem Gemüth;
Doch Lieder und Sterne und Blümelein,
Und Aeuglein und Mondglanz und Sonnenschein,
Wie sehr das Zeug auch gefällt,
So macht's doch noch lang keine Welt.

A literal rendering by Peter Branscombe:

When spring comes with sunshine the little flowers bud and bloom; when the moon begins its shining course the little stars swim behind; when the minstrel sees two sweet little eyes, songs spring from the depths of his being; — but songs and stars and little flowers, and little eyes and moonlight and sunshine, however much this stuff pleases, it is nowhere near being the whole world.

John Lees, ed., H. Heine, Buch der Lieder (Manchester: At the University Press, 1920), p. 184:

The poem marks a stage in the development of Heine's revolt against Romanticism...