The Coy One

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



ONE Spring-morning bright and fair,

Roam'd a shepherdess and sang;
Young and beauteous, free from care,

Through the fields her clear notes rang:
So, Ia, Ia! le ralla.

Of his lambs some two or three

Thyrsis offer'd for a kiss;
First she eyed him roguishly,

Then for answer sang but this:
So, Ia, Ia! le ralla.

Ribbons did the next one offer,

And the third, his heart so true
But, as with the lambs, the scoffer

Laugh'd at heart and ribbons too,--
Still 'twas Ia! le ralla.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

27 sec read
358

Quick analysis:

Scheme a ba bC x dc dC x ea ec
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 465
Words 90
Stanzas 9
Stanza Lengths 1, 2, 2, 1, 2, 2, 1, 2, 2

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

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

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