Social Commentaries
The Death of the Fly
Translated by Edgar Alfred Bowring (1853) · From Parables
WITH eagerness he drinks the treach'rous potion,
Nor stops to rest, by the first taste misled;
Sweet is the draught, but soon all power of motion
He finds has from his tender members fled;
No longer has he strength to plume his wing,
No longer strength to raise his head, poor thing!
E'en in enjoyment's hour his life he loses,
His little foot to bear his weight refuses;
So on he sips, and ere his draught is o'er,
Death veils his thousand eyes for evermore.
Cite this poem
MLA
Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von. “The Death of the Fly.” Translated by Edgar Alfred Bowring. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/goethe/236/.
Chicago
Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von. “The Death of the Fly.” Translated by Edgar Alfred Bowring. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/goethe/236/.
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