One version:
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Epitaph
In boyhood stubborn, withdrawn,
In youth presumptuous, suspicious,
When mature, an active man,
In old age reckless, capricious. –
On your gravestones they'll make out:
This one was human, never doubt!
Another version:
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Epitaph
As a boy, reserved and naughty;
As a youth, a coxcomb and haughty;
As a man, for action inclined;
As a greybeard, fickle in mind. –
Upon they grave will people read:
This was a very man, indeed!
About the only thing which is the same is the last three lines of punctuation!
I think I am really going to have to get the original German poems and read them with a series of translations to hand. Commentators remark on the difficulty (some say "impossibility") of translating Goethe – I certainly have a good feeling for it now (after reading three different translations of various poems).
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