On Originality (1812)

 

I

Somebody says: "Of no school I am part,

Never to living master lost my heart;

Nor any more can I be said

To have learned anything from the dead."

That statement – subject to appeal­ –

Means: "I'm a self-made imbecile."

 

II

My build from Father I inherit,

His neat and serious ways;

Combined with Mother's cheerful spirit,

Her love of telling stories.

Great-grandfather courted the loveliest,

His ghost won't leave me alone;

Great-grandmother liked fine jewels best,

This twitch I've also known.

If, then, no mortal chemist can

Divide the components from the whole,

What is there in the entire man

You could call original?

 

(c. 1812- 14)

 

 

                Translated by Michael Hamburger