A Parable
A Parable - form Summary
Parable Restores Vitality
Goethe frames the poem as a compact parable: a simple, narrated incident (a picked nosegay revived in cool water) stands for a larger idea. The anecdote functions allegorically, showing how something transplanted—here a poem or "song"—can regain vitality in a new medium or language. The clear cause-and-effect narrative and tidy moral turn compress experience into an easy-to-grasp lesson about renewal through translation or reception.
Read Complete AnalysesCertainly! Here is the formatted version of the poem in classical style: I picked a rustic nosegay lately, And bore it homewards, musing greatly; When, heated by my hand, I found The heads all drooping tow'rd the ground. I plac'd them in a well-cool'd glass, And what a wonder came to pass The heads soon raised themselves once more. The stalks were blooming as before, And all were in as good a case As when they left their native place. So felt I, when I wond'ring heard My song to foreign tongues transferr'd.
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