Motives

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 1749 (Frankfurt) – 1832 (Weimar)



IF to a girl who loves us truly
Her mother gives instruction duly
In virtue, duty, and what not,--
And if she hearkens ne'er a jot,
But with fresh-strengthen'd longing flies

To meet our kiss that seems to burn,--

Caprice has just as much concerned
As love in her bold enterprise.

But if her mother can succeed
In gaining for her maxims heed,
And softening the girl's heart too,
So that she coyly shuns our view,--
The heart of youth she knows but ill;

For when a maiden is thus stern,

Virtue in truth has less concern
In this, than an inconstant will.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

33 sec read
115

Quick analysis:

Scheme AABBC D XC EEFFG D DG
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 544
Words 108
Stanzas 6
Stanza Lengths 5, 1, 2, 5, 1, 2

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German writer and politician. more…

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