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THE SPRING ORACLE. - 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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THE SPRING ORACLE.

    • OH, prophetic bird so bright,
    • Blossom-songster, cuckoo hight!
    • In the fairest time of year,
    • Dearest bird, oh! deign to hear
    • What a youthful pair would pray;
    • Do thou call, if hope they may:
    • Thy cuck-oo, thy cuck-oo,
    • Ever more cuck-oo, cuck-oo!
    • Hearest thou? A loving pair
    • Fain would to the altar fare;
    • Yes! a pair in happy youth,
    • Full of virtue, full of truth.
    • Is the hour not fix’d by fate?
    • Say, how long must they still wait?
    • Hark! cuck-oo! hark! cuck-oo!
    • Silent yet! for shame, cuck-oo!
    • ’Tis not our fault, certainly!
    • Only two years patient be!
    • But if we ourselves please here,
    • Will pa-pa-papas appear?
    • Know that thou’lt more kindness do us,
    • More thou’lt prophesy unto us.
    • One! cuck-oo! Two! cuck-oo!
    • Ever, ever, cuck-oo, cuck-oo, coo!
    • If we’ve calculated clearly,
    • We have half a dozen nearly.
    • If good promises we’ll give,
    • Wilt thou say how long we’ll live?
    • Truly, we’ll confess to thee,
    • We’d prolong it willingly.
    • Coo cuck-oo, coo cuck-oo,
    • Coo, coo, coo, coo, coo, coo, coo, coo, coo!
    • Life is one continued feast—
    • (If we keep no score, at least.)
    • If now we together dwell,
    • Will true love remain as well?
    • For if that should e’er decay,
    • Happiness would pass away.
    • Coo cuck-oo, coo cuck-oo,
    • Coo, coo, coo, coo, coo, coo, coo, coo, coo!
    • (Gracefully ad infinitum.)