The Poems of Goethe Part 95

In darkness wrapp'd the church remains, If from the market-place we view it; Thus sees the ignoramus through it.

No wonder that he deems it tame,-- And all his life 'twill be the same.

But let us now inside repair, And greet the holy Chapel there!

At once the whole seems clear and bright, Each ornament is bathed in light, And fraught with meaning to the sight.

G.o.d's children! thus your fortune prize, Be edified, and feast your eyes!

1827.*

----- POETRY.

G.o.d to his untaught children sent

Law, order, knowledge, art, from high, And ev'ry heav'nly favour lent,

The world's hard lot to qualify.

They knew not how they should behave,

For all from Heav'n stark-naked came; But Poetry their garments gave,

And then not one had cause for shame.

1816.

----- A PARABLE.

I PICKED a rustic nosegay lately, And bore it homewards, musing greatly; When, heated by my hand, I found The heads all drooping tow'rd the ground.

I plac'd them in a well-cool'd gla.s.s, And what a wonder came to pa.s.s The heads soon raised themselves once more.

The stalks were blooming as before, And all were in as good a case As when they left their native place.

So felt I, when I wond'ring heard My song to foreign tongues transferr'd.

1828.

----- SHOULD E'ER THE LOVELESS DAY.

SHOULD e'er the loveless day remain Obscured by storms of hail and rain,

Thy charms thou showest never; I tap at window, tap at door: Come, lov'd one, come! appear once more!

Thou art as fair as ever!

1827.*

----- A PLAN THE MUSES ENTERTAINED.

A PLAN the Muses entertain'd

Methodically to impart

To Psyche the poetic art; Prosaic-pure her soul remain'd.

No wondrous sounds escaped her lyre

E'en in the fairest Summer night; But Amor came with glance of fire,--

The lesson soon was learn'd aright.

1827.*

----- THE DEATH OF THE FLY.

WITH eagerness he drinks the treach'rous potion,

Nor stops to rest, by the first taste misled; Sweet is the draught, but soon all power of motion

He finds has from his tender members fled; No longer has he strength to plume his wing, No longer strength to raise his head, poor thing!

E'en in enjoyment's hour his life he loses, His little foot to bear his weight refuses; So on he sips, and ere his draught is o'er, Death veils his thousand eyes for evermore.

1810.

----- BY THE RIVER.

WHEN by the broad stream thou dost dwell,

Oft shallow is its sluggish flood; Then, when thy fields thou tendest well,

It o'er them spreads its slime and mud.

The ships descend ere daylight wanes,

The prudent fisher upward goes; Round reef and rock ice casts its chains,

And boys at will the pathway close.

To this attend, then, carefully,

And what thou wouldst, that execute!

Ne'er linger, ne'er o'erhasty be,

For time moves on with measured foot.

1821.*

----- THE FOX AND CRANE.

ONCE two persons uninvited

Came to join my dinner table; For the nonce they lived united,

Fox and crane yclept in fable.

Civil greetings pa.s.s'd between us

Then I pluck'd some pigeons tender For the fox of jackal-genius,