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THE METAMORPHOSIS OF PLANTS. - 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 METAMORPHOSIS OF PLANTS.

  • THOU art confus’d, my beloved, at seeing the thousandfold union
  • Shown in this flowery troop, over the garden dispers’d;
  • Many a name dost thou hear assign’d; one after another
  • Falls on thy list’ning ear, with a barbarian sound.
  • None resembleth another, yet all their forms have a likeness;
  • Therefore, a mystical law is by the chorus proclaim’d;
  • Yes, a sacred enigma! O dearest friend, could I only
  • Happily teach thee the word, which may the mystery solve!
  • Closely observe how the plant, by little and little progressing,
  • Step by step guided on, changeth to blossom and fruit!
  • First from the seed it unravels itself, as soon as the silent
  • Fruit-bearing womb of the earth kindly allows its escape,
  • And to the charms of the light, the holy, the ever-in-motion,
  • Trusteth the delicate leaves, feebly beginning to shoot.
  • Simply slumber’d the force in the seed; a germ of the future,
  • Peacefully lock’d in itself, ’neath the integument lay,
  • Leaf and root, and bud, still void of color, and shapeless;
  • Thus doth the kernel, while dry, cover that motionless life.
  • Upward then strives it to swell, in gentle moisture confiding,
  • And, from the night where it dwelt, straightway ascendeth to light.
  • Yet still simple remaineth its figure, when first it appeareth;
  • And ’tis a token like this points out the child ’mid the plants.
  • Soon a shoot, succeeding it, riseth on high, and reneweth,
  • Piling up node upon node, ever the primitive form;
  • Yet not ever alike: for the following leaf, as thou seest,
  • Ever produceth itself, fashion’d in manifold ways.
  • Longer, more indented, in points and in parts more divided,
  • Which, all-deform’d until now, slept in the organ below,
  • So at length it attaineth the noble and destin’d perfection,
  • Which, in full many a tribe, fills thee with wondering awe.
  • Many ribb’d and tooth’d, on a surface juicy and swelling,
  • Free and unending the shoot seemeth in fulness to be;
  • Yet here Nature restraineth, with powerful hands, the formation,
  • And to a perfecter end, guideth with softness its growth,
  • Less abundantly yielding the sap, contracting the vessels,
  • So that the figure ere long gentler effects doth disclose.
  • Soon and in silence is check’d the growth of the vigorous branches,
  • And the rib of the stalk fuller becometh in form.
  • Leafless, however, and quick the tenderer stem then upspringeth,
  • And a miraculous sight doth the observer enchant.
  • Rang’d in a circle, in numbers that now are small, and now countless,
  • Gather the smaller-siz’d leaves, close by the side of their like.
  • Round the axis compress’d the sheltering calyx unfoldeth,
  • And, as the perfectest type, brilliant-hued coronals forms.
  • Thus doth Nature bloom, in glory still nobler and fuller,
  • Showing, in order arrang’d, member on member uprear’d.
  • Wonderment fresh dost thou feel, as soon as the stem rears the flower
  • Over the scaffolding frail of the alternating leaves.
  • But this glory is only the new creation’s foreteller,
  • Yes, the leaf with its hues feeleth the hand all divine,
  • And on a sudden contracteth itself; the tenderest figures,
  • Twofold as yet, hasten on, destin’d to blend into one.
  • Lovingly now the beauteous pairs are standing together,
  • Gather’d in countless array, there where the altar is rais’d.
  • Hymen hovereth o’er them, and scents delicious and mighty
  • Stream forth their fragrance so sweet, all things enliv’ning around.
  • Presently, parcell’d out, unnumber’d germs are seen swelling,
  • Sweetly conceal’d in the womb, where is made perfect the fruit.
  • Here doth Nature close the ring of her forces eternal;
  • Yet doth a new one at once cling to the one gone before,
  • So that the chain be prolonged forever through all generations,
  • And that the whole may have life, e’en as enjoy’d by each part.
  • Now, my beloved one, turn thy gaze on the many-hued thousands
  • Which, confusing no more, gladden the mind as they wave.
  • Every plant unto thee proclaimeth the laws everlasting,
  • Every floweret speaks louder and louder to thee;
  • But if thou here canst decipher the mystic words of the goddess,
  • Everywhere will they be seen, e’en though the features are chang’d;
  • Creeping insects may linger, the eager butterfly hasten,—
  • Plastic and forming may man change e’en the figure decreed!
  • Oh, then, bethink thee, as well, how out of the germ of acquaintance
  • Kindly intercourse sprang, slowly unfolding its leaves;
  • Soon how friendship with might unveil’d itself in our bosoms,
  • And how Amor at length brought forth blossom and fruit!
  • Think of the manifold ways wherein Nature hath lent to our feelings,
  • Silently giving them birth, either the first or the last!
  • Yes, and rejoice in the present day! For love that is holy
  • Seeketh the noblest of fruits—that where the thoughts are the same,
  • Where the opinions agree—that the pair may, in rapt contemplation,
  • Lovingly blend into one—find the more excellent world.
lf0841-01_figure_099

artist: r. geiszler.

THE METAMORPHOSIS OF PLANTS.