March by Goethe
By Mike • March 19, 2011 • 1 commentSwallows are a sure sign of spring the world over. The famous swallows of San Juan Capistrano are Cliff Swallows, but for me, Tree Swallows signal both the end of winter in March and its new beginning around October. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe poem clearly perceived the connection between swallows and spring, which he memorialized in a poem fittingly and succinctly titled March. I had no idea that the renowned, supremely influential German novelist , playwright (Goethe’s most popular piece, Faust, is a great work of genius), courtier, scholar, and natural philosopher was also a splendid poet, but here’s the proof:
MARCH
Goethe, 1817The snow-flakes fall in showers,
The time is absent still,
When all Spring’s beauteous flowers,
When all Spring’s beauteous flowersOur hearts with joy shall fill.
With lustre false and fleeting
The sun’s bright rays are thrown;
The swallow’s self is cheating:
The swallow’s self is cheating,And why? He comes alone!
Can I e’er feel delighted
Alone, though Spring is near?
Yet when we are united,
Yet when we are united,The Summer will be here.
Goethe probably didn’t have Tree Swallows in mind when he wrote this beautiful poem, but these gorgeous azure aerialists are worthy of song!
Tree Swallow by Mike Bergin
If you liked this poem and would like to browse the entire archive of poetry posts on 10,000 Birds please check out our Bird Poems page.
Tags: poetry, swallows
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Thanks for mentioning Goethe, and yes, I would rate Goethe’s Faust as one of the best pieces of all time. I suppose reading Faust is the reason why I never got particularly excited by Shakespeare, yet found Poe to be the only one to have ever come close to Goethe’s genius.
You should read the German original of Faust! So incredible. I actually once was able to recite Dr. Faustus’ opening monologue by heart as it is such an impressive chain of thoughts for anyone immersed in studying natural sciences.
Goethe is generally referred to as the world’s “last universal genius”, as he was a leading authority in all scientific and philosophic fields, e.g. poetry, literature, philosophy, medical sciences, anatomy, physics, maths, and also – yes – biology. Despite being mainly interested in botany, about which he published some of the most influencial scientific essays of his time, he was also very well acquainted with the animal kingdom. And being a universal genius, he liked to combine these things, like writing a poem about a swallow and calling it “March”.
Goethe had only one flaw: he preferred wine over beer.
Too bad, really.