Mythology & Folklore

The Evil Star

by Heinrich Heine 1797–1856

Translated by Edgar Alfred Bowring (1908) · From New Poems: Romances

Mythology & Folklore

The star, after beaming so brightly,
From the sky fell, a vision unsightly,
What is the love by poets sung?
A star amid a heap of dung.

Like a poor mangy dog, when he’s dying,
Beneath all this filth it is lying;
Shrill crows the cock, loud grunts the sow,
And wallows in the fearful slough.

In the garden O had I descended,
By fair flowerets lovingly tended,
Where I oft yearn’d to find my doom,
A virgin death, a fragrant tomb!

MLA

Heine, Heinrich. “The Evil Star.” Translated by Edgar Alfred Bowring. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/heine/257/.

Chicago

Heine, Heinrich. “The Evil Star.” Translated by Edgar Alfred Bowring. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/heine/257/.

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