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Selected Poems
One of world literature's towering figures, Goethe dominated two centuries of European writing and thought. The Enlightenment's most wayward genius, and Romanticism's most remarkable, he led two great artistic movements without fully subscribing to either. While his stature in the English-speaking world is often acknowledged, his poems are little regarded, for the simple reason that they have proven untranslatable. But thanks to John Whaley's outstanding translation, Goethe's poetry can at last be appreciated in English, with all its grace, music, and humanity intact.
175 pages, Paperback
Published September 30, 1998
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About the author
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
13.4k books7,004 followersA master of poetry, drama, and the novel, German writer and scientist Johann Wolfgang von Goethe spent 50 years on his two-part dramatic poem
Faust
, published in 1808 and 1832, also conducted scientific research in various fields, notably botany, and held several governmental positions.
George Eliot called him "Germany's greatest man of letters... and the last true polymath to walk the earth." Works span the fields of literature, theology, and humanism.
People laud this magnum opus as one of the peaks of world literature. Other well-known literary works include his numerous poems, the Bildungsroman Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship and the epistolary novel The Sorrows of Young Werther .
With this key figure of German literature, the movement of Weimar classicism in the late 18th and early 19th centuries coincided with Enlightenment, sentimentality (Empfindsamkeit), Sturm und Drang, and Romanticism. The author of the scientific text Theory of Colours , he influenced Darwin with his focus on plant morphology. He also long served as the privy councilor ("Geheimrat") of the duchy of Weimar.
Goethe took great interest in the literatures of England, France, Italy, classical Greece, Persia, and Arabia and originated the concept of Weltliteratur ("world literature"). Despite his major, virtually immeasurable influence on German philosophy especially on the generation of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel and Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph von Schelling, he expressly and decidedly refrained from practicing philosophy in the rarefied sense.
Influence spread across Europe, and for the next century, his works inspired much music, drama, poetry and philosophy. Many persons consider Goethe the most important writer in the German language and one of the most important thinkers in western culture as well. Early in his career, however, he wondered about painting, perhaps his true vocation; late in his life, he expressed the expectation that people ultimately would remember his work in optics.
George Eliot called him "Germany's greatest man of letters... and the last true polymath to walk the earth." Works span the fields of literature, theology, and humanism.
People laud this magnum opus as one of the peaks of world literature. Other well-known literary works include his numerous poems, the Bildungsroman Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship and the epistolary novel The Sorrows of Young Werther .
With this key figure of German literature, the movement of Weimar classicism in the late 18th and early 19th centuries coincided with Enlightenment, sentimentality (Empfindsamkeit), Sturm und Drang, and Romanticism. The author of the scientific text Theory of Colours , he influenced Darwin with his focus on plant morphology. He also long served as the privy councilor ("Geheimrat") of the duchy of Weimar.
Goethe took great interest in the literatures of England, France, Italy, classical Greece, Persia, and Arabia and originated the concept of Weltliteratur ("world literature"). Despite his major, virtually immeasurable influence on German philosophy especially on the generation of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel and Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph von Schelling, he expressly and decidedly refrained from practicing philosophy in the rarefied sense.
Influence spread across Europe, and for the next century, his works inspired much music, drama, poetry and philosophy. Many persons consider Goethe the most important writer in the German language and one of the most important thinkers in western culture as well. Early in his career, however, he wondered about painting, perhaps his true vocation; late in his life, he expressed the expectation that people ultimately would remember his work in optics.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
September 4, 2018
Translations can be very problematic. I don't read Russian, although I can make out the Cyrillic script and pronounce the words. So how do I know whose Russian translations come closest to the original of Gogol? Or Chekhov? To a great extent, I have to rely on the expertise of others.
In my opinion, the translator of this volume, John Whaley, is not just exceptional at translating, he is a masterful poet, as well. His scansion and rhymes are perfect and he manages to catch the essence of every poem he tackles. While I am no scholar, and cannot converse in German, my skills are good enough that, with the aid of a dictionary, I can tell how clever he is. In this volume, we are presented with both English and German versions, and both are always a delight to behold.
This book deserves far greater recognition than it has. My favourite is “Was auch als warheit oder fabel” (Whether it is truth or fable). I hope that no one will feel intimidated looking at the exquisite original German verse followed by the beautiful English translations.
In my opinion, the translator of this volume, John Whaley, is not just exceptional at translating, he is a masterful poet, as well. His scansion and rhymes are perfect and he manages to catch the essence of every poem he tackles. While I am no scholar, and cannot converse in German, my skills are good enough that, with the aid of a dictionary, I can tell how clever he is. In this volume, we are presented with both English and German versions, and both are always a delight to behold.
This book deserves far greater recognition than it has. My favourite is “Was auch als warheit oder fabel” (Whether it is truth or fable). I hope that no one will feel intimidated looking at the exquisite original German verse followed by the beautiful English translations.
May 2, 2017
HAPPINESS AND VISION
Together at the altar we
In vision oft were seen by thee,
Thyself as bride, as bridegroom I.
Oft from thy mouth full many a kiss
In an unguarded hour of bliss
I then would steal, while none were by.
The purest rapture we then knew,
The joy those happy hours gave too,
When tasted, fled, as time fleets on.
What now avails my joy to me?
Like dreams the warmest kisses flee,
Like kisses, soon all joys are gone.
1767-8.
Together at the altar we
In vision oft were seen by thee,
Thyself as bride, as bridegroom I.
Oft from thy mouth full many a kiss
In an unguarded hour of bliss
I then would steal, while none were by.
The purest rapture we then knew,
The joy those happy hours gave too,
When tasted, fled, as time fleets on.
What now avails my joy to me?
Like dreams the warmest kisses flee,
Like kisses, soon all joys are gone.
1767-8.
July 19, 2013
amazon.com
October 10, 2014
A collection of poems listed chronologically to show how Goethe grew as a poet. Although enjoyable, I would've preferred a collection of his best poems.
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October 24, 2021
Amazing poetry, but really outdated translation. I don’t care to read translations that try and match rhyme scheme, only to complicate the meaning.
February 19, 2022
Roman Elegies -- You can see my review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews