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THE FAIR AT HUEHENEFELD. July 25th, 1814. - 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 FAIR AT HUEHENEFELD.

July 25th, 1814.

lf0841-01_figure_096
  • I WENT with haughty nonchalance
  • To give the Fair a passing glance,
  • To see the pedlers at the booths,
  • And, using old Lavater’s truths,
  • Once whisper’d in my ear, to try
  • If I were wise yet. Bluff’d was I.
  • The first I saw were soldiers gay,
  • Dress’d in their very best array.
  • The stress and strain of war was done;
  • They had no wish for another begun.
  • Their fine coats for the girls had charms,
  • Who threw themselves in the soldiers’ arms.
  • Peasant and burgher stood amaz’d;
  • The excellent lads were almost daz’d;
  • Their pennies and pains were thoroughly wasted;
  • The cup of glory they had not tasted.
  • And so for the end they all stood waiting,
  • Not quite pleas’d in contemplating.
  • Matrons and maidens with repose
  • Fitted themselves with wooden sabots.
  • You could see by their gestures, by their faces,
  • That their hopes were set in lofty places.
lf0841-01_figure_097

artist: h. kaulbach.

MAIDEN WISHES.