Twenty-five German Poets: A Bilingual Collection

by Walter Kaufmann

The book spans three centuries--opening with Angelus Silesius, Klopstock, Claudius, Goethe, and Schiller, and ending with Brecht and Böll--but it has considerable continuity. The prefaces for each of the twenty-five poets integrate the selections into a story, and often poems by different writers invite comparison. For example, almost all of the poets express an attitude toward death. Not only would many discussions of death be better if the authors had some inkling of the great variety of attitudes illustrated here, but one can also gain a better understanding of a poet's experience of life by comparing his attitude toward death with that of some other poets. The book should contribute to a better understanding of some of these twenty-five poets, of German literature, of intellectual history, and of some of the themes with which these poets deal.


The sequence of the poets, and the poems of each poet, is roughly chronological. Walter Kaufmann has made all the translations and have endeavored to capture the distinctive tone of each of the poets. The original German texts are printed on facing pages.

Genres: Poetry, German Literature

348 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1962

About the author

Walter Arnold Kaufmann was a German-American philosopher, translator, and poet. A prolific author, he wrote extensively on a broad range of subjects, such as authenticity and death, moral philosophy and existentialism, theism and atheism, Christianity and Judaism, as well as philosophy and literature. He served for over 30 years as a Professor at Princeton University.

He is renowned as a scholar and translator of Nietzsche. He also wrote a 1965 book on Hegel, and a translation of most of Goethe's Faust.

Reviews

[Steven R. Kraaijeveld · Rating 4 out of 5]

"And when man in his agony grows mute,
a god gave me to utter what I suffer." (47)

You cannot really go wrong with Walter Kaufman. When I came across this edition of Twenty-five German Poets, the selection and translations of which he put together himself, I had to get it - both because of my interest in German poetry, as well as to see what Kaufmann would consider worthy of being included in a (highly) personal selection of poetry. The collection begins with the 17th century Silesius, and continues all the way up to Brecht and Böll. Kaufmann, of course, included some poetry by Nietzsche - his long-time favorite thinker and writer - which was interesting to read (you cannot be a genius in all realms, Freddy). All in all, the poetry that was covered, the translations by Kaufmann (which are portrayed side-by-side with the original German text), and his engaging if somewhat idiosyncratic introductions to each poet, were well worth reading. The collection as a whole introduced me to, and enamored me of, several of Germany's finest poets.

[Caroline · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kaufmann's accurate, I think, and if the original rhymes he rhymes, but it’s scarcely poetry. It mimics the syntax of the German; that yields a pretty awkward English version. I have other versions of several of these poets, with the translators taking more liberties but producing readable poems. So you have to decide what’s more important to you.

Kaufman offers brief introductions to each poet, and a selection of their poems, with the original en face. Unfortunately he indulges in a lot of invective aimed at translations and exegesis he considers wrong-headed or plain inept. Heidigger comes in for particular scorn, with Lowell not far behind. He has some respect for Michael Hamburger, but by and large runs down his work.

Kaufmann has a big four (Goethe, Holderlin, Heine, Nietzche) with Rilke definitely in a second tier. But then he provdes the longest introduction and biggest selection to Rilke. Maybe his publisher convinced him no one would buy a book with a big chunk of Holderlin and limited attention to the darling of the moment. There are some pretty startling translations of Benn--very graphic and gory images.

[zunggg · Rating 4 out of 5]

This wasn't exactly what I'd had in mind when I asked my wife for a bilingual anthology of German poetry for Christmas. I had imagined something more modern and dashing, dotted with obscure works of genius. Kaufmann turns out to be an idiosyncratic editor-translator, sometimes swashbuckling and never neutral in his short introductions to each poet. His selection runs from 17th-century Silesius through to about the mid-20th, stopping short of Celan. The translation, which might be expected to be workaday in a parallel text edition, is actually quite characterful and often inspired, not shying away from englishing the rhyme and metre while remaining quite faithful to the feel of the original.

The diversity of Goethe's work was the first revelation for me, and I loved his rowdy Venetian Epigrams. There is a lot by Schiller and only three by Hölderlin, which I found odd. I liked the Heine very much. The selection of Rilke is broad and deep. I was very impressed by the expressionists Trakl and Benn, both of whom I will read more of. I was surprised at the omission of Georg Heym, who I was reading separately at the same time.

The editor is an immense fan of Nietzsche, referencing him in his introductions whenever appropriate and often when not, and including a baker's dozen of FN's frankly second-rate poems, as well as verses dedicated to him by George and Morgenstern. Other than the Nietzsche fetish, this is a really good introduction to German poetry and overview of its development.

[Erik Graff · Rating 4 out of 5]

I met Janny while bartending at Grinnell's Pub Club. She was an evening regular, the friend of a friend. We became a couple in rather short order in the second half of the last semester in college. Then, after I'd moved to go to seminary in Manhattan, she transferred to Barnard and moved into my one-room single.

Janny is one of the most intellectually and creatively impressive persons I have ever met. Raised in a civil service family, her father being a mathematician, she had grown up in Germany, the Netherlands and in various parts of the USA and had retained some of the Dutch and most of the German. During the almost four years of our relationship I endeavored to catch up with her, reading many books she had read. During that period I was effectively married...indeed, for some while thereafter as well.

I read this book, like most poetry read privately, too quickly. I did, however, read much of it aloud in the German original, liking the sound of the language.

[Leepy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this style of book for poetry - being able to read the words in the original language and look up literal translations and on my phone for words, and then read the translations which match the syllables, rhythm, or style of words that capture the meaning and feeling of the poem. I have an old hard cover copy as well, a beautiful reading experience. I'm sure there are better samplers and translations of German poetry now - but I adored this one.

[James Violand · Rating 3 out of 5]

There will always be a disconnect when poetry depends upon a translation. I'm sure in the original German these poets were excellent. But, alas, I don't speak German and suffer accordingly. Just think of Shakespeare in Japanese.

[Chad · Rating 5 out of 5]

I greatly enjoyed this collection of poetry and the brief history of each of the poets covered.

[Vojtěch Tyrš · Rating 1 out of 5]

I disliked the editor.