The Old Weather Cock
In Cleversulzbach in the Lower Land
Hundred and thirteen years did I stand.
A good weather cock on the church spire
To show the wind and for the folks to admire.
Fell the rain so strong, blew the wind so hard
The Village below me I did guard.
Many a pale lightning bolt touched me,
Many a frost covered me.
Many a fine summer’s day,
When everyone in the shade would stay,
The sun did not shirk, I did not wail.
So I blackened in many a year,
And the shine and luster did disappear.
And in the end the folks did frown
On me and took me down.
So be it! I resign
For a new cock, shiny and fine.
Show off and dance a menuett,
The wind will teach you a lesson yet!
(Part of The Idyll by Eduard Mörike. The poet was a minister in Cleversulzbach, Germany from 1834-1843)
