Page:Complete works of Nietzsche vol 10.djvu/369

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TO GOETHE.[1]


"The Undecaying"
Is but thy label,
God the betraying
Is poets' fable.

Our aims all are thwarted
By the World-wheel's blind roll:
"Doom," says the downhearted,
"Sport," says the fool.

The World-sport, all-ruling,
Mingles false with true:
The Eternally Fooling
Makes us play, too!





  1. This poem is a parody of the "Chorus Mysticus" which concludes the second part of Goethe's "Faust." Bayard Taylor's translation of the passage in "Faust" runs as follows:—
    "All things transitory
    But as symbols are sent,
    Earth's insufficiency
    Here grows to Event:
    The Indescribable
    Here it is done:
    The Woman-Soul leadeth us
    Upward and on!"
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