Living
The Wedding
Translated by Edgar Alfred Bowring (1853) · From Parables
A FEAST was in a village spread,--
It was a wedding-day, they said.
The parlour of the inn I found,
And saw the couples whirling round,
Each lass attended by her lad,
And all seem'd loving, blithe, and glad;
But on my asking for the bride,
A fellow with a stare, replied:
"'Tis not the place that point to raise!
We're only dancing in her honour;
We now have danced three nights and days,
And not bestowed one thought upon her."
Whoe'er in life employs his eyes
Such cases oft will recognise.
Cite this poem
MLA
Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von. “The Wedding.” Translated by Edgar Alfred Bowring. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/goethe/241/.
Chicago
Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von. “The Wedding.” Translated by Edgar Alfred Bowring. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/goethe/241/.
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