Jed Jackson (b. 1954)Sex Life of Flowers - or Goethe, Byron and Madame de Stael in Elysium
1986
oil on canvas
32 7/8 x 40 1/8 inches
Gift of Scott Goldman and Nancy Brock, 2010
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (German, 1749–1832)
The bed of flowers
Loosens amain
The beauteous snowdrops
Droop o’er the plain
The crocus opens
Its glowing bud
Like emerald others,
Others, like blood.
With saucy gesture
Primroses flare,
And roguish violets,
Hidden with care;
And whatsoever
There stirs and strives,
The Spring’s contented,
If work and Thrives.