Cassandra by Friedrich Schiller

Translation

I.
Joy resounded through the Trojan
Halls as the songs of lutes swelled;
Hymns were chanted by the drunken
Soon before the towers fell.
Weary heads now calmly rested,
Tears no longer plagued their eyes;
Peleus was soon expected
With his noble bride to rise.

II.
Troops with temples wreathed by laurel
Filled the sanctums of the gods;
All retiring, proudly marching
To the Thymbrian altar halls.
Streets were thriving with the madness
Of the dance-crazed bacchanal;
Yet forgotten in her sadness
Was but one unhappy soul.

III.
Everywhere Cassandra wandered
She was met with joy and cheer.
Still, she roamed Apollo’s orchards,
Haunted by her prescient fear.
She took refuge in the deepest
Acres of a sacred forest,
And flung in a raging tempest
Bindings of her priestly caste.