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LIVING REMEMBRANCE. - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Goethe’s Works, vol. 1 (Poems) [1885]

Edition used:

Goethe’s Works, illustrated by the best German artists, 5 vols. (Philadelphia: G. Barrie, 1885). Vol. 1.

Part of: Goethe’s Works, 5 vols.

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LIVING REMEMBRANCE.

    • HALF vex’d, half pleas’d, thy love will feel,
    • Should’st thou her knot or ribbon steal;
    • To thee they’re much—I won’t conceal;
    • Such self-deceit may pardon’d be;
    • A veil, a kerchief, garter, rings,
    • In truth are no mean trifling things,
    • But still they’re not enough for me.
    • She who is dearest to my heart,
    • Gave me, with well-dissembl’d smart,
    • Of her own life, a living part,
    • No charm in aught beside I trace;
    • How do I scorn thy paltry ware!
    • A lock she gave me of the hair
    • That wantons o’er her beauteous face.
    • If, lov’d one, we must sever’d be,
    • Would’st thou not wholly fly from me,
    • I still possess this legacy,
    • To look at, and to kiss in play.
    • My fate is to the hair’s alli’d,
    • We used to woo her with like pride,
    • And now we both are far away.
    • Her charms with equal joy we press’d,
    • Her swelling cheeks anon caress’d,
    • Lur’d onward by a yearning bless’d,
    • Upon her heaving bosom fell.
    • Oh, rival, free from envy’s sway,
    • Thou precious gift, thou beauteous prey,
    • Remain my joy and bliss to tell!