Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Aug. 28, 1749 - Mar. 22, 1832

 

The Brothers

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Slumber, Sleep -- they were two brothers, servants to the Gods above;
Kind Prometheus lur'd them downwards, ever fill'd with earthly love;
But what Gods could bear so lightly, press'd too hard on men beneath;
Slumber did his brother's duty -- Sleep was deepen'd into Death.

A.

Source:

Poems And Ballads Of Goethe
Copyright 1859
Translator:
William Edmondstoune Aytoun, D.C.L. ("A.")
and Theodore Martin ("M.")
Delisser & Procter
508 Broadway, New York