Goethe's Poem: Declaration Of War (1803)

Goethe's Poem: Declaration Of War (1803)

May 07, 2024

Country Girl Leaning Against A Ladder - Silvestro Lega (1887 - 1890)

DECLARATION OF WAR

OH, would I resembled

The country girls fair,
Who rosy-red ribbons

And yellow hats wear!

To believe I was pretty

I thought was allow'd;
In the town I believed it

When by the youth vow'd.

Now that Spring hath return'd,

All my joys disappear;
The girls of the country

Have lured him from here.

To change dress and figure,

Was needful I found,
My bodice is longer,

My petticoat round.

My hat now is yellow.

My bodice like snow;
The clover to sickle

With others I go.

Something pretty, e'er long

Midst the troop he explores;
The eager boy signs me

To go within doors.

I bashfully go,—

Who I am, he can't trace;
He pinches my cheeks,

And he looks in my face.

The town girl now threatens

You maidens with war;
Her twofold charms pledges.

Of victory are.

Parisian - Sergey Solomko (1910)

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“One ought, every day at least, to hear a little song, read a good poem, see a fine picture, and, if it were possible, to speak a few reasonable words.”

~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

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