第18章 EPIGRAMS(2)

VII

ON A CERTAIN BALDHEAD

As lightning born of radiancy Sparkles from cloudrealms far away,Pallas Athena victorious Sprang from the thoughtfilled head of Zeus.

Even so,in sportiveness unbounded,On to his head she's likewise bounded,And what in depth he could never plumb Visibly shines on his cranium.

VIII

PUSTKUCHEN (FALSE WANDERING YEARS)

1

Schiller,thinks he,had been less of a bore If only he'd read the Bible more.

One could have nothing but praise for The Bell If it featured the Resurrection as well,Or told how,on a little ass,Christ into the town did pass;

While David's defeat of the Philistine Would have added something to Wallenstein .

2

Goethe can give the ladies a fright,For elderly women he's not quite right.

He understood Nature,but this is the quarrel,He wouldn't round Nature off with a moral.

He should have got Luther's doctrine off pat And made up his poetry out of that.

He had beautiful thoughts,if sometimes odd,But omitted to mention"Made by God"

3

Extremely strange is this desire To elevate Goethe higher and higher.

How low in actual fact his reach

Did he ever give us a sermon to preach?

Show me in Goethe solid ground For Peasant or Pedagogue to expound.

Such a genius marked with the stamp of the Lord That a sum in arithmetic had him floored.

4

Hear Faust in the full authentic version;

The Poet's account is sheer perversion.

Faust was up to his ears in debts,Was dissolute,played at cards for bets.

No offer of help from above was extended,So he wanted it all ignominiously ended.

But was overwhelmed by a fearful sensation Of Hell and the anguish of desperation.

He then devoted due reflection To Knowledge,Deed,Life,Death,and Perdition;

And on these topics had much to say In a darkly mystical sort of way.

Couldn't the Poet have managed to tell How debts lead man to the Devil and Hell.

Who loses his credit may well conceivably Forfeit redemption quite irretrievably.

5

Since Faust at Easter had the gall To think,why trouble the Devil at all?

Who dares to think on Easter Day Is doomed to Hellfire anyway.

6

Credibility too is defied.

The Police would soon have had enough!

They'd surely have had him clapped inside For running up debts and making off!

7

Vice alone could elevate Faust,Who really loved himself the most.

God and the World he dared to doubt,Moses thought they'd both worked out.

Silly young Gretchen had to adore him Instead of getting his conscience to gnaw him,Telling him he was the Devil's prey,And the Day of Judgment was well on the way.

8

There's use for the "Beautiful Soul"It's simple:

Just trim it with specs and a nun's wimple.

"What God hath done is right well done,"

Thus the true Poet hath begun.

CONCLUDING EPIGRAM ON THE PUFFPASTRY COOK

So knead your cake as well as you can,You'll never be more than a baker's man.

And,after all,whoever asked you To emulate Goethe the way you do?

As he knew nothing of your profession,Whence came his genius and perception?