Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Poems on Time (66 Poems)

Hermann And Dorothea – VI. Klio (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Poems)

THE AGE. WHEN the pastor ask’d the foreign magistrate questions,What the people had suffer’d, how long from their homes they had wander’d,Then the man replied:–”By no means short are our sorrows,For we have drunk the bitters of many a long … Continue reading →

Hermann And Dorothea – IX. Urania (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Poems)

CONCLUSION. O YE Muses, who gladly favour a love that is heartfelt,Who on his way the excellent youth have hitherto guided,Who have press’d the maid to his bosom before their betrothal,Help still further to perfect the bonds of a couple … Continue reading →

Hermann And Dorothea – II. Terpsichore (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Poems)

HERMANN. THEN when into the room the well-built son made his entry,Straightway with piercing glances the minister eyed him intently,And with carefulness watch’d his looks and the whole of his bearing,With an inquiring eye which easily faces decyphers;Then he smiled, … Continue reading →

Hermann And Dorothea – IV. Euterpe (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Poems)

MOTHER AND SON. THUS the men discoursed together; and meanwhile the motherWent in search of her son,–at first in front of the dwellingOn the bench of stone, for he was accustom’d to sit there.When she found him not there, she … Continue reading →

Hermann And Dorothea – V. Polyhymnia (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Poems)

THE COSMOPOLITE. BUT the Three, as before, were still sitting and talking together,With the landlord, the worthy divine, and also the druggist,And the conversation still concern’d the same subject,Which in every form they had long been discussing together.Full of noble … Continue reading →

Hermann And Dorothea – VII. Erato (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Poems)

DOROTHEA. As the man on a journey, who, just at the moment of sunset,Fixes his gaze once more on the rapidly vanishing planet,Then on the side of the rocks and in the dark thicket still sees heHov’ring its image; wherever … Continue reading →

Alexis And Dora (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Poems)

FARTHER and farther away, alas! at each moment the vessel Hastens, as onward it glides, cleaving the foam-cover’d flood!Long is the track plough’d up by the keel where dolphins are sporting, Following fast in its rear, while it seems flying … Continue reading →

Explanation Of An Ancient Woodcut (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Poems)

EARLY within his workshop here,On Sundays stands our master dear;His dirty apron he puts away,And wears a cleanly doublet to-day;Lets wax’d thread, hammer, and pincers rest,And lays his awl within his chest;The seventh day he takes reposeFrom many pulls and … Continue reading →

Hermann And Dorothea – III. Thalia (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Poems)

THE BURGHERS. THUS did the prudent son escape from the hot conversation,But the father continued precisely as he had begun itWhat is not in a man can never come out of him, surely!Never, I fear, shall I see fulfill’d my … Continue reading →

Roman Elegies (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Poems)

SPEAK, ye stones, I entreat! Oh speak, ye palaces lofty! Utter a word, oh ye streets! Wilt thou not, Genius, awake?All that thy sacred walls, eternal Rome, hold within them Teemeth with life; but to me, all is still silent … Continue reading →