Wonderment fresh dost thou feel, as soon as the stem rears the flowerOver the scaffolding frail of the alternating leaves.
But this glory is only the new creation's foreteller,Yes, the leaf with its hues feeleth the hand all divine, And on a sudden contracteth itself; the tenderest figuresTwofold as yet, hasten on, destined to blend into one.
Lovingly now the beauteous pairs are standing together,Gather'd in countless array, there where the altar is raised.
Hymen hovereth o'er them, and scents delicious and mightyStream forth their fragrance so sweet, all things enliv'ning around.
Presently, parcell'd out, unnumber'd germs are seen swelling,Sweetly conceald in the womb, where is made perfect the fruit.
Here doth Nature close the ring of her forces eternal;Yet doth a new one, at once, cling to the one gone before, So that the chain be prolonged for ever through all generations,And that the whole may have life, e'en as enjoy'd by each part.
Now, my beloved one, turn thy gaze on the many-hued thousandsWhich, confusing no more, gladden the mind as they wave.
Every plant unto thee proclaimeth the laws everlasting,Every flowered speaks louder and louder to thee;But if thou here canst decipher the mystic words of the goddess,Everywhere will they be seen, e'en though the features are changed.
Creeping insects may linger, the eager butterfly hasten,--Plastic and forming, may man change e'en the figure decreed!
Oh, then, bethink thee, as well, how out of the germ of acquaintance,Kindly intercourse sprang, slowly unfolding its leaves;Soon how friendship with might unveil'd itself in our bosoms,And how Amor, at length, brought forth blossom and fruit Think of the manifold ways wherein Nature hath lent to our feelings,Silently giving them birth, either the first or the last!
Yes, and rejoice in the present day! For love that is holySeeketh the noblest of fruits,--that where the thoughts are the same, Where the opinions agree,--that the pair may, in rapt contemplation,Lovingly blend into one,--find the more excellent world.
1797.
PROVERBS.
'TIS easier far a wreath to bind, Than a good owner fort to find.
I KILL'D a thousand flies overnight, Yet was waken'd by one, as soon as twas light.
To the mother I give;
For the daughter I live.
A BREACH is every day,By many a mortal storm'd;Let them fall in the gaps as they may,Yet a heap of dead is ne'er form'd.
WHAT harm has thy poor mirror done, alas?
Look not so ugly, prythee, in the glass!
1815.
TAME XENIA.
THE Epigrams bearing the title of XENIA were written by Goethe and Schiller together, having been first occasioned by some violent attacks made on them by some insignificant writers.They are extremely numerous, but scarcely any of them could be translated into English.Those here given are merely presented as a specimen.
GOD gave to mortals birth,In his own image too;Then came Himself to earth,A mortal kind and true.
1821.
BARBARIANS oft endeavourGods for themselves to make But they're more hideous everThan dragon or than snake.
1821.
WHAT shall I teach thee, the very first thing?--Fain would I learn o'er my shadow to spring!
1827.
"WHAT is science, rightly known?
'Tis the strength of life alone.
Life canst thou engender never, Life must be life's parent ever.
1827.
It matters not, I ween,Where worms our friends consume, Beneath the turf so green,Or 'neath a marble tomb.
Remember, ye who live,Though frowns the fleeting day, That to your friends ye giveWhat never will decay.
1827.
RELIGION AND CHURCH.
THOUGHTS ON JESUS CHRIST'S DESCENT INTO HELL.
[THE remarkable Poem of which this is a literal but faint representation, was written when Goethe was only sixteen years old.It derives additional interest from the fact of its being the very earliest piece of his that is preserved.The few other pieces included by Goethe under the title of Religion and Church are polemical, and devoid of interest to the English reader.]
WHAT wondrous noise is heard around!
Through heaven exulting voices sound,A mighty army marches on By thousand millions follow'd, lo, To yon dark place makes haste to goGod's Son, descending from His throne!
He goes--the tempests round Him break,As Judge and Hero cometh He;He goes--the constellations quake,The sun, the world quake fearfully.
I see Him in His victor-car, On fiery axles borne afar,Who on the cross for us expired.
The triumph to yon realms He shows,--Remote from earth, where star ne'er glows,The triumph He for us acquired.
He cometh, Hell to extirpate,Whom He, by dying, wellnigh kill'd;He shall pronounce her fearful fateHark! now the curse is straight fulfill'd.
Hell sees the victor come at last, She feels that now her reign is past,She quakes and fears to meet His sight;She knows His thunders' terrors dread, In vain she seeks to hide her head,Attempts to fly, but vain is flight;Vainly she hastes to 'scape pursuitAnd to avoid her Judge's eye;The Lord's fierce wrath restrains her footLike brazen chains,--she cannot fly.
Here lies the Dragon, trampled down, He lies, and feels God's angry frown,He feels, and grinneth hideously;He feels Hell's speechless agonies, A thousand times he howls and sighs:
"Oh, burning flames! quick, swallow me!"
There lies he in the fiery waves,By torments rack'd and pangs infernal, Instant annihilation craves,And hears, those pangs will be eternal.
Those mighty squadrons, too, are here, The partners of his cursed career,Yet far less bad than he were they.
Here lies the countless throng combined, In black and fearful crowds entwined,While round him fiery tempests play;He sees how they the Judge avoid,He sees the storm upon them feed, Yet is not at the sight o'erjoy'd,Because his pangs e'en theirs exceed.
The Son of Man in triumph passes Down to Hell's wild and black morasses,And there unfolds His majesty.
Hell cannot bear the bright array, For, since her first created day.
Darkness alone e'er govern'd she.
