NIGHT THOUGHTS.

Portrait of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 1749–1832
77The Poems

OH, unhappy stars! your fate I mourn,

Ye by whom the sea-toss'd sailor's lighted, Who with radiant beams the heav'ns adorn,

But by gods and men are unrequited: For ye love not,--ne'er have learnt to love! Ceaselessly in endless dance ye move, In the spacious sky your charms displaying,

What far travels ye have hasten'd through, Since, within my loved one's arms delaying,

I've forgotten you and midnight too!

1789.*

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