The Poems of Goethe, Translated in the Original Metres · Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
1779.* ----- THE KING OF THULE.*
It is the gardener's pride It now must stand exposed to light, Now in the shade abide. Yet what can make the Count's heart glow Is no mere pomp of outward show; It is a silent flower. Here stand I, modestly half hid, And fain would silence keep; Yet since to speak I now am bid, I'll break my silence deep. If, worthy Knight, I am that flower, It grieves me that I have not power To breathe forth all my sweetness.
Text from Project Gutenberg, public domain in the United States.