grgr (26): brenne auf mein licht!

[Lorentzen / Nicklaus]

 "at nightfall the children roam the streets, carrying round paper lanterns, 
singing  l a t e r n e, l a t e r n e, s o n n e, m o n d  u n d  s t e r n e 
... spheres in country evenings, pale as souls, singing good-bye to another 
summer." (p. 567) 

  this children song is still very popular. sang it a lot with my daughter last 
fall. every year around halloween (- actually not in summer) children and their 
parents do this "laterne gehen" when the dusk comes in. the lyrics go: "laterne, 
laterne, sonne, mond und sterne. brenne auf mein licht, brenne auf mein licht, 
aber nur meine liebe laterne nicht! la-ter-ne, la-ter-ne ..." this is, like a 
mantra, repeated many many times. in books you'll find additional stanzas, but 
actually only that classical one you hear on the streets. in m.o.p.a.t: 
"lantern, lantern, sun, moon and stars. burn up my light, burn up my light, but 
only not my lovely lantern! lantern, lantern ...". this is, in all social 
classes, really given from one generation to the next.

 kai frederik /: ps: about the corresponding variation of the hide-and-seek   
  game, weisenburger writes about in his companion (p. 244), i did not know 
before.