A PARABLE.

Portrait of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 1749–1832
15The Poems

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 glass, And what a wonder came to pass 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.

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