Daz si da heizent minne, Deis niewan senede leit. - Walther von der Vogelweide

He was known to his countrymen as the Nightingale, but his own sweet-sounding name of Bird's-meadow (Vogelweide) suggests even more directly the pure, true, flute-like strain which he poured into Europe’s choir of voices.

Jâ leider desn mac niht gesîn,
daz guot und weltlich êre
und gotes hulde mêre
zesamene in ein herze komen.

To me, the gate of paradise is shut.
I stand an orphan there, locked out;
however much I knock, it's all in vain.