The Poems of Goethe, Translated in the Original Metres · Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
III. ATONEMENT.
That my features were small--yes, very; Yet then full many a beauteous child With true affection upon me smil'd. Now as a greybeard I sit here in state, By street and by lane held in awe, sirs; And may be seen, like old Frederick the Great, On pipebowls, on cups, and on saucers. Yet the beauteous maidens, they keep afar; Oh vision of youth! Oh golden star! THE happiness that man, whilst prison'd here, Is wont with heavenly rapture to compare,-- The harmony of Truth, from wavering clear,-- Of Friendship that is free from doubting care,-- The light which in stray thoughts alone can cheer The wise,--the bard alone in visions fair,-- In my best hours I found in her all this, And made mine own, to mine exceeding bliss.
Text from Project Gutenberg, public domain in the United States.