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POEMS OF GOETHE
WOMAN.
This, then, is my cottage.
WANDERER.
'Tis a ruined temple![1]
WOMAN.
Just below you it, see,
Springs, the fountain
Whence I drink.
WANDERER.
Thou dost hover
O'er thy grave, all glowing,
Genius! while upon thee
Hath thy masterpiece
Fallen crumbling,
Thou Immortal One!
WOMAN.
Stay, a cup I'll fetch thee
Whence to drink.
WANDERER.
Ivy circles thy slender
- ↑ Compare with the beautiful description contained in the subsequent lines, an account of a ruined temple of Ceres, given by Chamberlayne in his "Pharonnida" (published in 1659):—
"... With mournful majesty
A heap of solitary ruins lie,
Half sepulchred in dust, the bankrupt heir
To prodigal antiquity ..."
