History & Politics
Adam the First
Translated by Edgar Alfred Bowring (1908) · From New Poems: Poems for the Times
Gendarmes of heaven with flaming swords
Thou sent’st in cruel fashion,
And drov’st me out of Paradise
Without the least compassion.
In search of another country, I
And my wife from Eden hasted;
Thou canst not alter the fact that there
The tree of knowledge I tasted.
Thou canst not alter the fact that I know
Thy weakness and many blunders,
However mighty thou seemest to be
When wielding death and thunders.
O heavens, how pitiful is this
Consilium abeundi!
I call it a Magnificus
Of earth, a Lumen Mundi.
I shall not miss the spacious realms
Of Paradise one minute.
It is no genuine Paradise
When trees forbidden are in it.
I claim my full unfetter’d rights!
The slightest limitation
Changes my Paradise at once
To hell and desolation.
Cite this poem
MLA
Heine, Heinrich. “Adam the First.” Translated by Edgar Alfred Bowring. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/heine/287/.
Chicago
Heine, Heinrich. “Adam the First.” Translated by Edgar Alfred Bowring. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/heine/287/.
Read this poem with the Codex →