Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE CHILD, by HEINRICH HEINE


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE CHILD, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: The good their gifts in dream enjoy
Last Line: To wear their clothes in peace.
Subject(s): Germany; Germans


THE good their gifts in dream enjoy,
How did it fare with thee?
Scarce feeling it, you've got a boy,
Poor virgin Germany!

This boy an urchin frolicsome
Ere long shall we behold;
A first-rate archer he'll become,
As Cupid was of old.

He'll pierce the soaring eagle through;
And, proudly though he fly,
The double-headed eagle too
Struck by his bolt, shall die.

But that blind heathen God of love
Will he resemble not
In wearing neither clothes nor glove,
Nor be a sans-culotte.

The seasons in our land combine
With morals and police
To make both old and young incline
To wear their clothes in peace.





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