The Works of J. W. von Goethe/Volume 9/The Death of the Fly

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

THE DEATH OF THE FLY.

With eagerness he drinks the treacherous potion,
Nor stops to rest, by the first taste misled;
Sweet is the draught, but soon all power of motion
He finds has from his tender members fled;
No longer has he strength to plume his wing,
No longer strength to raise his head, poor thing!
E'en in enjoyment's hour his life he loses,
His little foot to bear his weight refuses;
So on he sips, and ere his draught is o'er,
Death veils his thousand eyes for evermore.