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<div style="background:#fff;border:#bbb dashed 1px;padding:5px"><a href="http://en.citatepedia.ro/comments.php?id=418641" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none"><div style="margin:10px 0"><strong>Hermann And Dorothea - I. Kalliope</strong></div><div style="margin:10px 0">FATE AND SYMPATHY.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">'NE'ER have I seen the market and streets so thoroughly empty!<br>Still as the grave is the town, clear'd out! I verily fancy<br>Fifty at most of all our inhabitants still may be found there.<br>People are so inquisitive! All are running and racing<br>Merely to see the sad train of poor fellows driven to exile.<br>Down to the causeway now building, the distance nearly a league is,<br>And they thitherward rush, in the heat and the dust of the noonday.<br>As for me, I had rather not stir from my place just to stare at<br>Worthy and sorrowful fugitives, who, with what goods they can carry,<br>Leaving their own fair land on the further side of the Rhine-stream,<br>Over to us are crossing, and wander through the delightful<br>Nooks of this fruitful vale, with all its twistings and windings.<br>Wife, you did right well to bid our son go and meet them,<br>Taking with him old linen, and something to eat and to drink too,<br>Just to give to the poor; the rich are bound to befriend them.<br>How he is driving along! How well he holds in the horses!<br>Then the new little carriage looks very handsome; inside it<br>Four can easily sit, besides the one on the coachbox.<br>This time he is alone; how easily-turns it the corner!'<br>Thus to his wife the host of the Golden Lion discoursed,<br>Sitting at ease in the porch of his house adjoining the market.<br>Then replied as follows the shrewd and sensible hostess<br>'Father, I don't like giving old linen away, for I find it<br>Useful in so many ways, 'tis not to he purchased for money<br>Just when it's wanted. And yet to-day I gladly have given<br>Many excellent articles, shirts and covers and suchlike;<br>For I have heard of old people and children walking half-naked.<br>Will you forgive me, too, for having ransacked your presses?<br>That grand dressing-gown, cover'd with Indian flowers all over,<br>Made of the finest calico, lined with excellent flannel,<br>I have despatch'd with the rest; 'tis thin, old, quite out of fashion.'</div><div style="margin:10px 0">But the worthy landlord only smiled, and then answer'd<br>I shall dreadfully miss that ancient calico garment,<br>Genuine Indian stuff! They're not to be had any longer.<br>Well! I shall wear it no more. And your poor husband henceforward<br>Always must wear a surtout, I suppose, or commonplace jacket,<br>Always must put on his boots; good bye to cap and to slippers!'</div><div style="margin:10px 0">'See,' continued his wife, 'a few are already returning<br>Who have seen the procession, which long ago must have pass'd by.<br>See how dusty their shoes are, and how their faces are glowing<br>Each one carries a handkerchief, wiping the sweat from his forehead.<br>I, for one, wouldn't hurry and worry myself in such weather<br>Merely to see such a sight! I'm certain to hear all about it.'</div><div style="margin:10px 0">And the worthy father, speaking with emphasis, added<br>'Such fine weather seldom lasts through the whole of the harvest<br>And we're bringing the fruit home, just as the hay we brought lately,<br>Perfectly dry; the sky is clear, no cloud's in the heavens,<br>And the whole day long delicious breezes are blowing.<br>Splendid weather I call it! The corn already too ripe is,<br>And to-morrow begin we to gather the plentiful harvest.'</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Whilst he was thus discoursing, the number of men and of women<br>Crossing the market and going towards home kept ever increasing;<br>And there return'd amongst others, bringing with him his daughters,<br>On the other side of the market, their prosperous neighbour,<br>Going full speed to his newbuilt house, the principal merchant,<br>Riding inside an open carriage (in Landau constructed).<br>All the streets were alive; for the town, though small, was well peopled,<br>Many a factory throve there, and many a business also.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Long sat the excellent couple under the doorway, exchanging<br>Many a passing remark on the people who happen'd to pass them.<br>Presently thus to her husband exclaim'd the good-natured hostess<br>'See! Yon comes the minister; with him is walking the druggist:<br>They'll be able to give an account of all that has happen'd,<br>What they witness'd, and many a sight I fear which was painful.'</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Both of them came in a friendly manner, and greeted the couple,<br>Taking their seats on the wooden benches under the doorway,<br>Shaking the dust from their feet, their handkerchiefs using to fan them.<br>Presently, after exchanging reciprocal greetings, the druggist<br>Open'd his mouth, and almost peevishly vented his feelings<br>'What strange creatures men are! They all resemble each other,<br>All take pleasure in staring, when troubles fall on their neighbours.<br>Ev'ry one runs to see the flames destroying a dwelling,<br>Or a poor criminal led in terror and shame to the scaffold.<br>All the town has been out to gaze at the sorrowing exiles,<br>None of them bearing in mind that a like misfortune hereafter,<br>Possibly almost directly, may happen to be their own portion.<br>I can't pardon such levity; yet 'tis the nature of all men.'<br>Thereupon rejoin'd the noble and excellent pastor,<br>He, the charm of the town, in age scarce more than a stripling:--<br>(He was acquainted with life, and knew the wants of his hearers,<br>Fully convinced of the worth of the Holy Scriptures, whose mission<br>Is to reveal man's fate, his inclinations to fathom;<br>He was also well read in the best of secular writings.)<br>'I don't like to find fault with any innocent impulse<br>Which in the mind of man Dame Nature has ever implanted;<br>For what reason and intellect ne'er could accomplish, is often<br>Done by some fortunate, quite irresistible instinct within him.<br>If mankind were never by curiosity driven,<br>Say, could they e'er have found out for themselves the wonderful manner<br>Things in the world range in order? For first they Novelty look for,<br>Then with untiring industry seek to discover the Useful,<br>Lastly they yearn for the Good, which makes them noble and worthy.<br>All through their youth frivolity serves as their joyous companion,<br>Hiding the presence of danger, and. swiftly effacing the traces<br>Caused by misfortune and grief, as soon as their onslaught is over.<br>Truly the man's to be praised who, as years roll onward, develops<br>Out of such glad disposition an intellect settled and steady,--<br>Who, in good fortune as well as misfortune, strives zealously, nobly;<br>For what is Good he brings forth, replacing whatever is injured.'<br>Then in a friendly voice impatiently spoke thus the hostess:--<br>'Tell us what have you seen; I am eagerly longing to hear it.'</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Then with emphasis answer'd the druggist:--' The terrible stories<br>Told me to-day will serve for a long time to make me unhappy.<br>Words would fail to describe the manifold pictures of mis'ry.<br>Far in the distance saw we the dust, before we descended<br>Down to the meadows; the rising hillocks hid the procession<br>Long from our eyes, and little could we distinguish about it.<br>When, however, we reach'd the road that winds thro' the valley,<br>Great was the crowd and the noise of the emigrants mix'd with the waggons.<br>We unhappily saw poor fellows passing in numbers,<br>Some of them showing how bitter the sense of their sorrowful flight was,<br>Some with a feeling of joy at saving their lives in a hurry.<br>Sad was the sight of the manifold goods and chattels pertaining<br>Unto a well-managed house, which the careful owner's accustom'd<br>Each in its proper position to place, and in regular order,<br>Always ready for use, for all are wanted and useful.--<br>Sad was the sight of them now, on many a waggon and barrow<br>Heap'd in thorough confusion, and hurriedly huddled together.<br>Over a cupboard was placed a sieve and a coverlet woollen;<br>Beds in the kneeding troughs lay, and linen over the glasses.<br>Ah! and the danger appear'd to rob the men of their senses,<br>Just as in our great fire of twenty years ago happen'd,<br>When what was worthless they saved, and left all the best things behind them.<br>So on the present occasion with heedless caution they carried<br>Many valueless chattels, o'erlading the cattle and horses,--<br>Common old boards and barrels, a birdcage next to a goosepen.<br>Women and children were gasping beneath the weight of their bundles,<br>Baskets and tubs full of utterly useless articles, bearing.<br>(Man is always unwilling the least of his goods to abandon.)<br>Thus on its dusty way advanced the crowded procession,<br>All in hopeless confusion. First one, whose cattle were weaker,<br>Fain would slowly advance, while others would eagerly hasten.<br>Then there arose a scream of half-crush'd women and children,<br>And a lowing of cattle, with yelping of dogs intermingled,<br>And a wailing of aged and sick, all sitting and shaking,<br>Ranged in their beds on the top of the waggon too-heavily laden.<br>Next some lumbering wheel, push'd out of the track by the pressure,<br>Went to the edge of the roadway; the vehicle fell in the ditch then,<br>Rolling right over, and throwing, in falling, the men who were in it<br>Far in the field, screaming loudly, their persons however uninjured.<br>Then the boxes roll'd off and tumbled close to the waggon.<br>Those who saw them failing full surely expected to see them<br>Smash'd to pieces beneath the weight of the chests and the presses.<br>So the waggon lay broken, and those that it carried were helpless,<br>For the rest of the train went on, and hurriedly pass'd them,<br>Thinking only of self, and carried away by the current.<br>So we sped to the spot, and found the sick and the aged<br>Who, when at home and in bed, could scarcely endure their sad ailments,<br>Lying there on the ground, all sighing and groaning in anguish,<br>Stifled by clouds of dust, and scorch'd by the fierce sun of summer.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Then replied in tones of compassion the sensitive landlord<br>Hermann I trust will find them and give them refreshment and clothing.<br>I should unwillingly see them: I grieve at the eight of such sorrow.<br>Touch'd by the earliest news of the sad extent of the suffering,<br>Hastily sent we a trifle from out of our superabundance,<br>Just to comfort a few, and then our minds were more easy.<br>Now let us cease to discourse on such a sorrowful subject,<br>For men's hearts are easily overshadow'd by terror,<br>And by care, more odious far to me than misfortune.<br>Now let us go to a cooler place, the little back-parlour;<br>There the sun never shines, and the walls are so thick that the hot air<br>Never can enter; and mother shall forthwith bring us a glass each<br>Full of fine Eighty-three, well fitted to drive away trouble.<br>This is a bad place for drinking; the flies will hum round the glasses.'<br>So they all went inside, enjoying themselves in the coolness.<br>Then in a well-cut flask the mother carefully brought them<br>Some of that clear good wine, upon a bright metal waiter<br>With those greenish rummers, the fittingest goblets for Rhine wine.<br>So the three sat together, around the glistening polish'd<br>Circular large brown table-Äon massive feet it was planted.<br>Merrily clink'd together the glasses of host and of pastor,<br>But the other one thoughtfully held his glass without moving,<br>And in friendly fashion the host thus ask'd him to join them:--</div><div style="margin:10px 0">'Drink, good neighbour, I pray! A merciful God has protected<br>Us in the past from misfortune, and will protect us in future.<br>All must confess that since He thought fit to severely chastise us,<br>When that terrible fire occurr'd, He has constantly bless'd us.<br>And watch'd over us constantly, just as man is accustom'd<br>His eye's precious apple to guard, that dearest of members.<br>Shall He not for the future preserve us, and be our Protector?<br>For 'tis in danger we learn to appreciate duly His Goodness.<br>This so flourishing town, which He built again from its ashes<br>By the industrious hands of its burghers, and bless'd it so richly,<br>Will He again destroy it, and render their toil unavailing?'</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Cheerfully answer'd the excellent pastor, in accents of mildness<br>'Steadfastly cling to this faith, and cherish such worthy opinions;<br>In good fortune they'll make you prudent, and then in misfortune<br>Well-grounded hopes they'll supply, and furnish you true consolation.'</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Then continued the host, with thoughts full of manhood and wisdom<br>'Oft have I greeted with wonder the rolling flood of the Rhine stream,<br>When, on my business trav'lling, I've once more come to its borders.<br>Grand has it ever appear'd, exalting my feelings and senses;<br>But I could never imagine that soon its beautiful margin<br>Into a wall would be turn'd, to keep the French from our country,<br>And its wide-spreading bed a ditch to hinder and check them.<br>So by Nature we're guarded, we're guarded by valorous Germans,<br>And by the Lord we're guarded; who then would foolishly tremble?<br>Weary the combatants are, and all things indicate peace soon;<br>And when at length the long-expected festival's holden<br>Here in our church, and the bells chime in with the organ in chorus,<br>And the trumpets are blowing, the noble Te Deum upraising,<br>Then on that selfsame day I fain would see, my good pastor,<br>Our dear Hermann kneel with his bride at the altar before you,<br>And the glad festival held through the length and breadth of the country<br>Will henceforward to me be a glad anniversary also!<br>But I am grieved to observe that the youth, who is always so active<br>When he is here at home, abroad is so slow and so timid.<br>Little at any time cares he to mix with the rest of the people;<br>Yes, he even avoids young maidens' society ever,<br>And the frolicsome dance, that great delight of young people.'</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Thus he spake, and then listen'd. The sound of the stamping of horses<br>Drawing nearer was heard; and then the roll of the carriage,<br>Which, with impetuous speed, now thunder'd under the gateway.</div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br /></a><br />poem by <a href="http://en.citatepedia.ro/by.php?a=Johann+Wolfgang+von+Goethe">Johann Wolfgang von Goethe</a><div class=q>
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'NE'ER have I seen the market and streets so thoroughly empty!
Still as the grave is the town, clear'd out! I verily fancy
Fifty at most of all our inhabitants still may be found there.
People are so inquisitive! All are runnin..."></div>
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