1
How not to be bored? when above our globe
A million silent stars are shining,
And each is brilliant in a different mode,
And everything is standing – and flying . . .
2
And the earth is standing – so is the chasm of ages,
And all living this moment,
Of them not a single bone will remain,
Though people will be, without change . . .
3
How not to be bored on this small stage
So inexpertly raised,
Where everyone’s Ideals are played,
And the theater with life is paid –
4
How to kill these moments, I do not know,
I am so utterly bored;
This question, my lady, I now pose,
To write verses, or pen prose? –
5
Or write nothing . . . just sit in the bright sun
And read a romance for fun:
What the Deluge wrote on grains of sand,
Surely for the entertainment of man (!) –
6
Or better still – I know a braver action
Against this boredom, so extreme:
Forget people, visit grandees,
– Keep my tie neatly fastened! . . .
1861