Time & Brevity

When I was still a youthful wight

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 1749–1832

Translated by Edgar Alfred Bowring (1853) · From Miscellaneous Poems

Time & Brevity

WHEN I was still a youthful wight,
So full of enjoyment and merry,
The painters used to assert, in spite,
That my features were small--yes, very;
Yet then full many a beauteous child
With true affection upon me smil'd.
Now as a greybeard I sit here in state,

By street and by lane held in awe, sirs;
And may be seen, like old Frederick the Great,
On pipebowls, on cups, and on saucers.
Yet the beauteous maidens, they keep afar;
Oh vision of youth! Oh golden star!

MLA

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von. “When I was still a youthful wight.” Translated by Edgar Alfred Bowring. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/goethe/174/.

Chicago

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von. “When I was still a youthful wight.” Translated by Edgar Alfred Bowring. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/goethe/174/.

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