All Poems
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On Receiving A Book From Dante Rossetti
© Sydney Thompson Dobell
Since he is Poet of whom gods ordain
Some most anthropic and perhuman act
The Destruction Of Magdeburg.
© Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
[For a fine account of the fearful sack of Magdeburg,
by Tilly, in the year 1613, see SCHILLER's History of the Thirty
Years' War.]
The Incomparable Soporific Doctor
© James Thomson
Sweet, sleeky Doctor! dear pacific soul!
Lay at the beef, and suck the vital bowl!
From The Mountain.
© Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
[Written just after the preceding one, on a
mountain overlooking the Lake of Zurich.]
I Am A Parcel Of Vain Strivings Tied
© Henry David Thoreau
I am a parcel of vain strivings tied
By a chance bond together,
Dangling this way and that, their links
Were made so loose and wide,
Methinks,
For milder weather.
Explanation Of An Antique Gem,
© Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
A YOUNG fig-tree its form lifts highWithin a beauteous garden;
And see, a goat is sitting by.As if he were its warden.But oh, Quirites, how one errs!The tree is guarded badly;
For round the other side there whirrsAnd hums a beetle madly.The hero with his well-mail'd coatNibbles the branches tall so;
A mighty longing feels the goatGently to climb up also.And so, my friends, ere long ye seeThe tree all leafless standing;
The Doubters And The Lovers
© Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
But we are on the proper road alone!
If gladly is to thaw the frozen soul,
The fire of love must aye be kept alive.
An Epitaph (From The Greek)
© William Cowper
My name -- my country -- what are they to thee!
What, whether base or proud my pedigree?
My Goddess.
© Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
But unto us he
Hath his most versatile,
Most cherished daughter
Granted,--what joy!
So We'll Go No More A-Roving
© George Gordon Byron
So we'll go no more a-roving
So late into the night,
Though the heart still be as loving,
And the moon still be as bright.
Love's Distresses.
© Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
WHO will hear me? Whom shall I lament to?
Who would pity me that heard my sorrows?
Ah, the lip that erst so many raptures
Used to taste, and used to give responsive,
The Drops Of Nectar.
© Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
To a happy end they tasted,
They, and other gentle insects!
For with mortals now divide they
Art?that noblest gift of all.
The Friendly Meeting.
© Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Lovingly I'll sing of love;
Ever comes she from above.THE FRIENDLY MEETING.IN spreading mantle to my chin conceald,I trod the rocky path, so steep and grey,Then to the wintry plain I bent my way
Uneasily, to flight my bosom steel'd.But sudden was the newborn day reveal'd:A maiden came, in heavenly bright array,Like the fair creatures of the poet's lay
In realms of song. My yearning heart was heal'd.Yet turn'd I thence, till she had onward pass'd,While closer still the folds to draw I tried, As though with heat self-kindled to grow warm;But follow'd her. She stood. The die was cast!No more within my mantle could I hide; I threw it off,--she lay within mine arm. 1807-8.
Lily's Menagerie.
© Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
[Goethe describes this much-admired Poem, which
he wrote in honour of his love Lily, as being "designed to change
his surrender of her into despair, by drolly-fretful images."]
To The Lamented Memory Of F. H. C.
© John Kenyon
Sweet friend, farewell! to whom propitious birth
Gave beautysensethe prosperous goods of earth;
Mischievous Joy.
© Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
AS a butterfly renew'd,When in life I breath'd my last,To the spots my flight I wing,Scenes of heav'nly rapture past,Over meadows, to the spring,
Round the hill, and through the wood.Soon a tender pair I spy,And I look down from my seatOn the beauteous maiden's head--When embodied there I meetAll I lost as soon as dead,
Happy as before am I.Him she clasps with silent smile,And his mouth the hour improves,Sent by kindly Deities;First from breast to mouth it roves,Then from mouth to hands it flies,
And I round him sport the while.And she sees me hov'ring near;Trembling at her lovers rapture,Up she springs--I fly away,"Dearest! let's the insect captureCome! I long to make my prey
