Page:The Works of J. W. von Goethe, Volume 9.djvu/226

196 Roam through flowery valleys, Rule the butterfly people, And soft-nourishing dew With bee-like lips Drink from the blossom:

Or else she may, With fluttering hair And gloomy looks, Sigh in the wind Round rocky cliffs, And thousand-hued, Like morn and even, Ever changing, Like moonbeam's light, To mortals appear.

Let us all, then, Adore the Father! The old, the mighty, Who such a beauteous Ne'er-fading spouse Deigns to accord To perishing mortals!

To us alone Doth he unite her, With heavenly bonds, While he commands her In joy and sorrow, As a true spouse Never try to fly us.

All the remaining Eaces so poor Of life-teeming earth, In children so rich,