Econlib

The Library

Other Sites

Front Page arrow Titles (by Subject) arrow EPIPHANIAS. - Goethe's Works, vol. 1 (Poems)

Return to Title Page for Goethe’s Works, vol. 1 (Poems)

Search this Title:

Also in the Library:

Subject Area: Literature

EPIPHANIAS. - 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.

About Liberty Fund:

Liberty Fund, Inc. is a private, educational foundation established to encourage the study of the ideal of a society of free and responsible individuals.


EPIPHANIAS.

lf0841-01_figure_037
    • THE three holy kings with their star’s bright ray,—
    • They eat and they drink, but had rather not pay;
    • They like to eat and drink away,
    • They eat and drink, but had rather not pay.
    • The three holy kings have all come here,
    • In number not four, but three they appear;
    • And if a fourth join’d the other three,
    • Increas’d by one their number would be.
    • The first am I,—the fair and the white,
    • I ought to be seen when the sun shines bright!
    • But, alas! with all my spices and myrrh,
    • No girl now likes me,—I please not her.
    • The next am I,—the brown and the long,
    • Known well to women, known well to song.
    • Instead of spices, ’tis gold I bear,
    • And so I’m welcome everywhere.
    • The last am I,—the black and small,
    • And fain would be right merry withal.
    • I like to eat and to drink full measure,
    • I eat and drink, and give thanks with pleasure.
    • The three holy kings are friendly and mild,
    • They seek the Mother, and seek the Child;
    • The pious Joseph is sitting by,
    • The ox and the ass on their litter lie.
    • We’re bringing gold, we’re bringing myrrh,
    • The women incense always prefer;
    • And if we have wine of a worthy growth,
    • We three to drink like six are not loth.
    • As here we see fair lads and lasses,
    • But not a sign of oxen or asses,
    • We know that we have gone astray
    • And so go further on our way.