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Our attempt to convey some idea of the nature of Goethe's poetry by an account of the contents of the first four volumes , is so unsatisfactory to ourselves , t h at we are d es i rous , be f ore we p r o cee d to another class of his writings , of p resent i n g our rea d ers w i t h a f ew s p ec i mens o f trans l at i on ; an d , f or t h at p ur p ose , wit h permiss i on o f t h e trans l ator , we will reprint a few articles which app eare d near ly thirty years ago , in a work of very confined circulation , and entirely forgotten now . The discerning reader will not fail to perceive that in these versions there is no attempt at ornament or poetical diction . For our purpose , h owe v er , they serve better than better compositions . There is no attempt to accommodate the German images and thoughts to English taste . They are all taken from the first collection of the author's poems , wr i tten ear ly in life , and are among the most original and characteristic of his poems . The three first migh t be termed philosophic musings . They severally express—the first what it is usual to consider as the anti-religious feeling , but it is rather the h ero i c r e s i stance t o t h at mo ns t r o us c o nce p tion , divine power without the other divine attributes : the second embodies the devotional feeling , and the last is an unimpassioned philosophic speculation . The translator has followed * his authors example in printing them as if they were verse , but it may be doubte d w h et h er th e composition is not rather rhythmical than metrical .
PROMETHEUS . Bedec&e deinen Himmel , Zeus , Mit Wolkendunst , Und libe , dem Knaben gleicb , Der Disteln kbpft , An Eichen dich und Bergeshohn ; Musst mir meine Erde Doch lassen stehn , Und meine H ' utte , die du nicht gebaut , Und meinen Herd , Um dessen Gluth X > u mich beneidest .
Ich kenne nichts Aermeres Unter der Sonn * , als euch , Gotter ! Ihr nHhret kummerljch Von Opfersteuern Und Gebetshauch Euro MajestUt , Und darbtet , wUren Nicht Kinder und Bettler HofFnungsvolle Thoren .
Da ich ein Kind war , Nicht wusate wo aus noch ein ,, Rtihrt' ich nwin verinteg Aug «
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460
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GOETHE * S WORKS . NO . II .
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PROMETHEUS . Cover thy heaven , Jove , With cloudy vapour , And , like the boy Who cuts down thistles , Show thy strength on oaks And mountain tops ; Thou canst not touch My earth ; the cottage Which thou hast not built , Nor this my hearth , Whose glow thou enviest me .
I know nothing poorer , Under the sun , Than you , ye Gods . You nourish sparingly With smoke of sacrifice And breath of prayer , Your majesty . And you would starve If children , beggars , Were not hoping fools . When I was a child , And nothing knew , I turned my puazted eye
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1832, page 460, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1816/page/28/
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