Page:The Works of J. W. von Goethe, Volume 9.djvu/267

Rh Gave me trances, aspirations, Glimpses of divine emotion, Soothing, melting, undefined. So the night passed lightly over, And Aurora found me sleeping, Scarce I wakened with the sun.

Lastly, came the glorious summer; What aroused me then from dreaming, At the earliest dawn of morning? 'Twas the buzzing of the flies! They are touched by no compassion; Euthlessly they do their duty, Though the half-awakened sleeper Greets them with a malediction. Unabashed their clan they summon, And the humming swarm is vocal, And they banish from my eyelids All the luxury of sleep.

Straightway start I from my pillow, Leave the close-beleaguered chamber, Sally out to seek the Muses, In the haunts to them are dearest. And I find them 'neath the beeches, Waiting for me, sometimes chiding, For my over-long delay. Thus I owe you, libelled insects. Thanks for many hours of rapture. Dullards may indeed abuse you, Since you wake them to sensation; But the poet ought to prize you, And I thank you, as a poet, Ranking you, beyond all others, As the ushers to the Muse.