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Mr. Brooks was the first to undertake the task, and the publication of his translation of the First Part (in 1856) induced me, for a time, to give up my own design. No previous English version exhibited such abnegation of the translator's own tastes and habits of thought, such reverent desire to present the original in its purest form. The care and conscience with which the work had been performed were so apparent, that I now state with reluctance what then seemed to me to be its only deficiencies,—a lack of the lyrical fire and fluency of the original in some passages, and an occasional lowering of the tone through the use of words which are literal, but not equivalent. The plan of translation adopted by Mr. Brooks was so entirely my own, that when further residence in Germany and a more careful study of both parts of Faust had satisfied me that the field was still open,—that the means furnished by the poetical affinity of the two languages had not yet been exhausted,—nothing remained for me but to follow him in all essential particulars. His example confirmed me in the belief that there were few difficulties in the way of a nearly literal yet thoroughly rhythmical version of Faust, which might not be overcome by loving labor. A comparison of seventeen English translations, in the arbitrary metres adopted by the translators, sufficiently showed the danger of allowing license in this respect: the white light of Goethe's thought was thereby passed through the tinted glass of other minds, and assumed the coloring of each. Moreover, the plea of selecting different metres in the hope of producing a similar effect is unreasonable, where the identical metres are possible.
The value of form, in a poetical work, is the first question to be considered. No poet ever understood this question more thoroughly than Goethe himself, or expressed a more positive opinion in regard to it. The alternative modes of translation which he presents (reported by Riemer, quoted by Mrs. Austin, in her "Characteristics of Goethe," and accepted by Mr. Hayward), are quite independent of his views concerning the value of form, which we find given elsewhere, in the clearest and most emphatic manner. Poetry is not simply a fashion of expression: it is the form of expression absolutely required by a certain class of ideas. Poetry, indeed, may be distinguished from Prose by the single circumstance, that it is the utterance of whatever in man cannot be perfectly uttered in any other than a rhythmical form: it is useless to say that the naked meaning is independent of the form: on the contrary, the form contributes essentially to the fullness of the meaning. In Poetry which endures through its own inherent vitality, there is no forced union of these two elements. They are as intimately blended, and with the same mysterious beauty, as the sexes in the ancient Hermaphroditus. To attempt to represent Poetry in Prose, is very much like attempting to translate music into speech.
Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1808












`My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:In Faust, the name of the game is passion. Passion for learning, passion for love, passion for life in all its forms and facets. The deprivation of passion by the slow grind of facts and figures and hypocrisy, the boons of inheritance providing shortcuts without granting the necessary experience of true effort, and excess. When the world is at one's feet, what is there left for passion to strive for?
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!'
-Percy Bysshe Shelley, 'Ozymandias'
Wer immer strebend sich bemüht,
Den können wir erlösen.
("Who ever strives with all his power,
We are allowed to save.")
-Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Faust
بخش اول :
واقعا زیبا ساخته و پرداخته شده بود. این بخش واقعا منو به خودش جذب کرد. فضاسازی، پیشروی داستان، نماد و داستان پردازی از نقاط فوق العاده این بخش بود. ادبیات و درام به کار رفته در این بخش نیز از قدرت بالایی برخوردار بود. سرعت پیشروی داستان کاملا مناسب بود و ارتباط بین شخصیت ها با جزئیات کامل به تصویر کشیده شده بود.
بخش دوم:
با توجه به سیستم به کار رفته در این بخش، فضا سازی نسبت به بخش اول متفاوت بود اما همچنان از قدرت بالایی برخوردار بود. پیشروی داستان مناسب و از درهم تنیدگی مناسبی بین شخصیت های داستان برخوردار بود. سرعت پیشروی داستان مناسب بود و پیام های فلسفی و قدرمندی در متن سرتاسر متن وجود داشت. با تمام این نکات، بخش اول رو بیشتر دوست داشتم.