goethe endurance through change

Dauer im WechselHielte diesen frühen Segen,Ach, nur eine Stunde fest!Aber vollen BlütenregenSchüttelt schon der laue West.Soll ich mich des Grünen freuen,Dem ich Schatten erst verdankt?Bald wird Sturm auch das zerstreuen,Wenn es falb im Herbst geschwankt.

Willst du nach den Früchten greifen,Eilig nimm dein Teil davon!Diese fangen an zu reifen,Und die andern keimen schon;Gleich mit jedem RegengusseÄndert sich dein holdes Tal,Ach, und in demselben FlusseSchwimmst du nicht zum Zweitenmal.

Du nun selbst! Was felsenfesteSich vor dir hervorgetan,Mauern siehst du, siehst PalästeStets mit andern Augen an.Weggeschwunden ist die Lippe,Die im Kusse sonst genas,Jener Fuß, der an der KlippeSich mit Gemsenfreche maß.

Jene Hand, die gern und mildeSich bewegte, wohlzutun,Das gegliederte Gebilde,Alles ist ein andres nun.Und was sich an jener StelleNun mit deinem Namen nennt,Kam herbei wie eine Welle,Und so eilt's zum Element.

Laß den Anfang mit dem EndeSich in eins zusammenzieh'n!Schneller als die GegenständeSelber dich vorüberflieh'n.Danke, daß die Gunst der MusenUnvergängliches verheißt:Den Gehalt in deinem Busen Und die Form in deinem Geist.

PERMANENCE IN CHANGE

AH, but would these early gracesstand for just a moment still!Yet now, rife with flowers, shatterswith his showers mild Zephyr.Should I cheer for this green foliage,whose sweet shade at first I thanked?Soon, in fall, it'll rock and tarnish,and be scattered by the gale.

Would you reach for these fruits lavish?Hurry, and your part take soon!These are starting now their riping,And those others give their shoots;Just with every rinse of showerWill your beautiful vale change,Ah, and in that very riverYou will never bathe again.

You yourself! What apparitions,Once rock-solid in their guise,You see ramparts, you see mansionsBut this time with different eyes.Gone and vanished is yon lip,Which in kissing would rejoice,And yon foot, that on the cliff,Would compete with mountain goats.

And yon hand, which mild and pleasantReadily with grace would flow,E'en the complex in dissection,Everything is other now.And what fillis that space this moment,which with justice takes your name,Came around with a wave's movement,And recedes to whence it came.

Let the end with the beginningIn a single thing be joined!Faster than all objects' beingThus they flee away from you!Greatful be to pious MusesWho eternity forsawIn your breast's perennial substance,And the form which shapes your soul.

A. S. Kline:Permanence In Change If only this early blessingCould last a single hour!But the warm west wind is shakingOver me a rain of flowers.Shall I take pleasure in the leavesWhose shade I once enjoyed?Soon a storm will scatter sheavesThrough autumn’s trembling void. If you want to grasp the fruit then,Hurry now and take your share!Some of it’s begun to ripen,Some is germinating there:Swiftly and with every showerThere’s change along the valley’s rim,Alas, in the selfsame riverA second time you cannot swim. You yourself too! What was standingFirm as rock before your sight,Wall and Palace, now you’re seeingWith ever-changing eyes.Wasted now are those lipsKisses healed once long agoAnd the feet now that skippedOn cliffs like mountain goats’.

And the hand that gently moved,That articulated structure,Generously, to do good,Shows a different nature.And what now in their placeCalls itself by your name,To the elements in hasteFlows like water, as it came. Let the end and the beginningGather themselves into one!Let your own self go flyingSwifter than all these objects can!Give thanks that the Muses’ artPromises one unfading thing,The Meaning in your Heart,And the Form in your Being.