Living
All kinds of men, both small and great
Translated by Edgar Alfred Bowring (1853) · From West-Eastern Divan
Living
ALL kinds of men, both small and great,
A fine-spun web delight to create,
And in the middle they take their place,
And wield their scissors with wondrous grace.
But if a besom should sweep that way:
"What a most shameful thing," they say,--
"They've crush'd a mighty palace to-day."
Cite this poem
MLA
Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von. “All kinds of men, both small and great.” Translated by Edgar Alfred Bowring. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/goethe/379/.
Chicago
Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von. “All kinds of men, both small and great.” Translated by Edgar Alfred Bowring. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/goethe/379/.
Read this poem with the Codex →