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THE WARNING. - 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 WARNING.

    • WHEN sounds the trumpet at the Judgment-Day,
    • And when forever all things earthly die,
    • We must a full and true account supply
    • Of ev’ry useless word we dropp’d in play.
    • But what effect will all the words convey
    • Wherein with eager zeal and lovingly,
    • That I might win thy favor, labor’d I,
    • If on thine ear alone they die away?
    • Therefore, sweet love, thy conscience bear in mind,
    • Remember well how long thou hast delay’d,
    • So that the world such sufferings may not know.
    • If I must reckon, and excuses find
    • For all things useless I to thee have said,
    • To a full year the Judgment-Day will grow.