Living

Mischievous Joy

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 1749–1832

Translated by Edgar Alfred Bowring (1853) · From Songs

Living

AS a butterfly renew'd,
When in life I breath'd my last,
To the spots my flight I wing,
Scenes of heav'nly rapture past,

Over meadows, to the spring,
Round the hill, and through the wood.
Soon a tender pair I spy,
And I look down from my seat
On the beauteous maiden's head--
When embodied there I meet

All I lost as soon as dead,
Happy as before am I.
Him she clasps with silent smile,
And his mouth the hour improves,
Sent by kindly Deities;
First from breast to mouth it roves,

Then from mouth to hands it flies,
And I round him sport the while.
And she sees me hov'ring near;
Trembling at her lovers rapture,
Up she springs--I fly away,
"Dearest! let's the insect capture

Come! I long to make my prey
Yonder pretty little dear!"

MLA

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von. “Mischievous Joy.” Translated by Edgar Alfred Bowring. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/goethe/33/.

Chicago

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von. “Mischievous Joy.” Translated by Edgar Alfred Bowring. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/goethe/33/.

Read this poem with the Codex →

More by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe