10 June 2005 | Vol. 5, No. 2

Hermann and Dorothea: 3. Thalia

by JOHANN WOLFGANG VON GOETHE

THE CITIZENS

Thus did the modest son slip away from the angry upbraiding;

But in the tone he had taken at first, the father continued:

"That comes not out of a man which he has not in him; and hardly

Shall the joy ever be mine of seeing my dearest wish granted:

That my son may not as his father be, but a better.

What would become of the house, and what of the city if each one

Were not with pleasure and always intent on maintaining, renewing,

Yea, and improving, too, as time and the foreigner teach us!

Man is not meant, forsooth, to grow from the ground like a mushroom,

Quickly to perish away on the spot of ground that begot him,

Leaving no trace behind of himself and his animate action!

As by the house we straightway can tell the mind of the master,

So, when we walk through a city, we judge of the persons who rule it.

For where the towers and walls are falling to ruin; where offal

Lies in heaps in the gutters, and alleys with offal are littered;

Where from its place has started the stone, and no one resets it;

Where the timbers are rotting away, and the house is awaiting

Vainly its new supports,—that place we may know is ill governed.

Since if not from above work order and cleanliness downward,

Easily grows the citizen used to untidy postponement;

Just as the beggar grows likewise used to his ragged apparel.

Therefore I wished that our Hermann might early set out on some travels;

That he at least might behold the cities of Strasburg and Frankfort,

Friendly Mannheim, too, that is cheerful and evenly builded.

He that has once beheld cities so cleanly and large, never after

Ceases his own native city, though small it may be, to embellish.

Do not the strangers who come here commend the repairs in our gateway,

Notice our whitewashed tower, and the church we have newly rebuilded?

Are not all praising our pavement? the covered canals full of water,

Laid with a wise distribution, which furnish us profit and safety,

So that no sooner does fire break out than 'tis promptly arrested?

Has not all this come to pass since the time of our great conflagration?

Builder I six times was named by the council, and won the approval,

Won moreover the heartfelt thanks of all the good burghers,

Actively carrying out what I planned, and also fulfilling

What had by upright men been designed, and left