The Poems of Goethe Part 121

Is not your care converted at once to pleasure and rapture?

Speak out, then, for yourself! Why need explanations from others Hermann then stepped forward, and gently address'd her as follows "Do not repent of your tears, nor yet of your pa.s.sing affliction; For they perfect my happiness; yours too, I fain would consider.

I came not to the fountain, to hire so n.o.ble a maiden As a servant, I came to seek to win you affections.

But, alas! my timid gaze had not strength to discover Your heart's leanings; it saw in your eye but a friendly expression, When you greeted it out of the tranquil fountain's bright mirror.

Merely to bring you home, made half of my happiness certain But you now make it complete! May every blessing be yours, then!"

Then the maiden look'd on the youth with heartfelt emotion, And avoided not kiss or embrace, the summit of rapture, When they also are to the loving the long-wish'd-for pledges Of approaching bliss in a life which now seems to them endless.

Then the pastor told the others the whole of the story; But the maiden came and gracefully bent o'er the father, Kissing the while his hand, which he to draw back attempted.

And she said:--" I am sure that you will forgive the surprised one, First for her tears of sorrow, and then for her tears of true rapture.

O forgive the emotions by which they both have been prompted, And let me fully enjoy the bliss that has now been vouchsafed me!

Let the first vexation, which my confusion gave rise to, Also be the last! The loving service which lately Was by the servant promised, shall now by the daughter be render'd."

And the father, his tears concealing, straightway embraced her; Lovingly came the mother in turn, and heartily kiss'd her, Warmly shaking her hand; and silently wept they together.

Then in a hasty manner, the good and sensible pastor Seized the hand of the father, his wedding-ring off from his finger Drawing (not easily though; so plump was the member that held it) Then he took the mother's ring, and betroth'd the two children, Saying:--"Once more may it be these golden hoops' destination Firmly to fasten a bond altogether resembling the old one!

For this youth is deeply imbued with love for the maiden, And the maiden confesses that she for the youth has a liking.

Therefore, I now betroth you, and wish you all blessings hereafter, With the parents' consent, and with our friend here as a witness."

And the neighbour bent forward, and added his own benediction; But when the clergyman placed the gold ring on the hand of the maiden, He with astonishment saw the one which already was on it, And which Hermann before at the fountain had anxiously noticed.

Whereupon he spoke in words at once friendly and jesting "What! You are twice engaging yourself? I hope that the first one May not appear at the altar, unkindly forbidding the banns there!"

But she said in reply:--"O let me devote but one moment To this mournful remembrance! For well did the good youth deserve it, Who, when departing, presented the ring, but never return'd home.

All was by him foreseen, when freedom's love of a sudden, And a desire to play his part in the new-found Existence, Drove him to go to Paris, where prison and death were his portion.

'Farewell,' said he, 'I go; for all things on earth are in motion At this moment, and all things appear in a state of disunion.

Fundamental laws in the steadiest countries are loosen'd, And possessions are parted from those who used to possess them, Friends are parted from friends, and love is parted from love too.

I now leave you here, and whether I ever shall see you Here again,--who can tell? Perchance these words will our last be.

Man is a stranger here upon earth, the proverb informs us; Every person has now become more a stranger than ever.

Ours the soil is no longer; our treasures are fast flying from us; All the sacred old vessels of gold and silver are melted, All is moving, as though the old-fashion'd world would roll backwards Into chaos and night, in order anew to be fashion'd.

You of my heart have possession, and if we shall ever here-after Meet again over the wreck of the world, it will be as new creatures, All remodell'd and free and independent of fortune; For what fetters can bind down those who survive such a period!

But if we are destined not to escape from these dangers, If we are never again to embrace each other with raptures O then fondly keep in your thoughts my hovering image, That you may be prepared with like courage for good and ill fortune!

If a new home or a new alliance should chance to allure you, Then enjoy with thanks whatever your destiny offers, Purely loving the loving, and grateful to him who thus loves you.

But remember always to tread with a circ.u.mspect footstep, For the fresh pangs of a second loss will behind you be lurking.

Deem each day as sacred; but value not life any higher Than any other possession, for all possessions are fleeting.'

Thus he spoke; and the n.o.ble youth and I parted for ever: Meanwhile I ev'rything lost, and a thousand times thought of his warning.

Once more I think of his words, now that love is sweetly preparing Happiness for me anew, and the brightest of hopes is unfolding.

Pardon me, dearest friend, for trembling e'en at the moment When I am clasping your arm! For thus, on first landing, the sailor Fancies that even the solid ground is shaking beneath him."

Thus she spoke, and she placed the rings by the side of each other.

But the bridegroom answer'd, with n.o.ble and manly emotion "All the firmer, amidst the universal disruption, Be, Dorothea, our union! We'll show ourselves bold and enduring, Firmly hold our own, and firmly retain our possessions.

For the man who in wav'ring times is inclined to be wav'ring Only increases the evil, and spreads it wider and wider; But the man of firm decision the universe fashions.

'Tis not becoming the Germans to further this fearful commotion, And in addition to waver uncertainly hither and thither.

'This is our own!' we ought to say, and so to maintain it!

For the world will ever applaud those resolute nations Who for G.o.d and the Law, their wives, and parents, and children Struggle, and fall when contending against the foeman together.

You are mine; and now what is mine, is mine more than ever.

Not with anxiety will I preserve it, or timidly use it, But with courage and strength. And if the enemy threaten Now or hereafter, I'll hold myself ready, and reach down my weapons.

If I know that the house and my parents by you are protected, I shall expose my breast to the enemy, void of all terror; And if all others thought thus, then might against might should be measured, And in the early prospect of peace we should all be rejoicing."

1796-7.

----- WEST-EASTERN DIVAN.

----- Who the song would understand, Needs must seek the song's own land.

Who the minstrel understand, Needs must seek the minstrel's land.

THE Poems comprised in this collection are written in the Persian style, and are greatly admired by Oriental scholars, for the truthfulness with which the Eastern spirit of poetry is reproduced by the Western minstrel. They were chiefly composed between the years 1814 and 1819, and first given to the world in the latter year. Of the twelve books into which they are divided, that of Suleika will probably be considered the best, from the many graceful love-songs which it contains. The following is Hanoi's account of the Divan, and may well serve as a subst.i.tute for anything I could say respecting it:--

It contains opinions and sentiments on the East, expressed in a series of rich cantos and stanzas full of sweetness and spirit, and all this as enchanting as a harem emitting the most delicious and rare perfumes, and blooming with exquisitely-lovely nymphs with eyebrows painted black, eyes piercing as those of the antelope, arms white as alabaster, and of the most graceful and perfectly-formed shapes, while the heart of the reader beats and grows faint, as did that of the happy Gaspard Debaran, the clown, who, when on the highest step of his ladder, was enabled to peep into the Seraglio of Constantinople--that recess concealed from the inspection of man. Sometimes also the reader may imagine himself indolently stretched on a carpet of Persian softness, luxuriously smoking the yellow tobacco of Turkistan through a long tube of jessamine and amber, while a black slave fans him with a fan of peac.o.c.k's feathers, and a little boy presents him with a cup of genuine Mocha. Goethe has put these enchanting and voluptuous customs into poetry, and his verses are so perfect, so harmonious, so tasteful, so soft, that it seems really surprising that he should ever have been able to have brought the German language to this state of suppleness. The charm of the book is inexplicable; it is a votive nosegay sent from the West to the East, composed of the most precious and curious plants: red roses, hortensias like the breast of a spotless maiden, purple digitalis like the long finger of a man, fantastically formed ranunculi, and in the midst of all, silent and tastefully concealed, a tuft of German violets. This nosegay signifies that the West is tired of thin and icy-cold spirituality, and seeks warmth in the strong and healthy bosom of the East."

Translations are here given of upwards of sixty of the best Poems embraced in the Divan, the number in the original exceeding two hundred.

----- I. MORGAGNI NAME.

BOOK OF THE MINSTREL.

TALISMANS.

G.o.d is of the east possess'd, G.o.d is ruler of the west; North and south alike, each land Rests within His gentle hand.

----- HE, the only righteous one, Wills that right to each be done.

'Mongst His hundred t.i.tles, then, Highest praised be this!--Amen.

----- ERROR seeketh to deceive me, Thou art able to retrieve me; Both in action and in song Keep my course from going wrong.

1819.*

----- THE FOUR FAVOURS.

THAT Arabs through the realms of s.p.a.ce

May wander on, light-hearted, Great Allah hath, to all their race,

Four favours meet imparted.

The turban first--that ornament

All regal crowns excelling; A light and ever-shifting tent,

Wherein to make our dwelling;

A sword, which, more than rocks and walls

Doth shield us, brightly glistening; A song that profits and enthrall,

For which the maids are list'ning!

1814.

----- DISCORD.

WHEN by the brook his strain

Cupid is fluting, And on the neighboring plain

Mayors disputing, There turns the ear ere long,

Loving and tender, Yet to the noise a song