Introduction to German Poetry: A Dual-Language Book

by Gustave Bording Mathieu (Editor), Guy Stern (Editor)

The poems in this anthology represent a panorama of the main trends in the development of the poetry of the German-speaking people. Beginning with a minnesong of the early Middle Ages and a poem of the seventeenth century, the book then focuses on the Age of Goethe (1749–1832). Inspired by Goethe and his contemporaries, German poetry was able to develop according to its own genius and to advance along new lines that eventually led to the period of Expressionism and Post-Expressionism with which this anthology ends.
Included here are the full German texts of 39 poems-lyrics, ballads, philosophical verse, humor, student songs-and three selections from longer works by Goethe, Novalis and Lenau. Some of the other poets represented are Walther von der Vogelweide, Schiller, Hölderlin, Heine, Rilke, Brecht, Hermann Hesse, Stefan George, Gryphius, Platen, Scheffel, Conrad Ferdinand Meyer and Albrecht Haushofer.
For each poem, this book includes an expert literal English translation on the facing page. You'll also find a biographical and critical discussion of each poet, textual information and a portrait of the poet. Here is a wonderful opportunity to discover the depth and richness of the German poetic tradition, and learn the language at the same time.

Genres: Poetry, German Literature, Language, Biography, Germany, Classics, Nonfiction

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1959

About the author

Gustave Bording Mathieu was emeritus professor of foreign languages and literatures at the California State University, Fullerton.

Reviews

[Mir · Rating 3 out of 5]

I assume from the price and range of content that this collection is intended for students. It's suitable enough for that -- it presents a selection of most influential and well-known German poets, along with a brief, lucid description of each poet's major themes and circles. There is also an introduction to the subject of German poetry in general, which is about as adequate as you could expect in under three pages.

The shortcoming of this book is the quality of the translation itself. I don't know if it is all done by the same translator -- that information is, oddly, not provided -- but it is a strictly literal translation with very rarely any attempt to reproduce the rhythm, rhyme-scheme, or even mood of the originals. This is fine if you are a German language student and just want the translations in case you get stuck, or if you only want to be generally familiar with the subject, but I can't imagine this volume would inspire anyone with a passion to read further, and that's a pity.

[Ross Blocher · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this volume! As I'm studying German, it's been really helpful to read side-by-side translations of poetry and see how words and phrases are used artistically. This compilation includes poems ranging from the middle ages (well, just one... and then we shoot forward to the 1600s) through the mid-1900s (this book originally was published in 1959), highlighting popular and influential poets and presenting their biographies as well as poems. Most of the 34 poets are represented by a single poem, though Matthias Claudius, Nikolas Lenau, Detlev von Liliencron and Bertold Brecht get two. The great Johann Wolfgang von Goethe gets three (as does Heinrich Heine, who was new to me). Other familiar names include Friedrich Schiller, Friedrich Nietzsche and Rainer Maria Rilke. There is only one woman in the mix: Anette von Droste-Hülshoff.

There's a fun and interesting mixture of poems about nature, war, love, longing, the future, the past, and everything in between. Most were rhyming, but not all. I particularly appreciated Christian Morgenstern, whose wordplay in Der Werwolf (in which a werewolf summons the ghost of a schoolteacher and is declined as a Weswolf ("whosewolf"), Wemwolf ("to-whom-wolf") and Wenwolf ("whatwolf")) made me laugh out loud.

This is a great introduction to German poetry, true to its title!

[Jon Nakapalau · Rating 5 out of 5]

So many German poets that I have never heard of - discovered Albrecht Haushofer and Christian Morgenstern - and many others who have been neglected outside of German speaking countries for years. Excellent introduction.

[Atri · Rating 3 out of 5]

The moon, you see it stand there?
You can see but half of it
and yet it's round and beautiful.
So are so many things,
which we presume to laugh at,
because our eyes don't see them.

***

Let's strew roses upon our path,
let's forget our sorrow!
Just a little span of time
has been measured to us.

***

This canopy of my eyes
From your lustre
Alone lights up.
Oh, fill it completely.

***

And we lack just a trifle
to be as free as the birds:
Only time.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading poetry in the original language is one of the great benefits of studying German (or any language). It is a particularly good way of gaining insight to the way native-speakers expect the language to flow, and will help you understand the beauty of the language. It also opens you up to new ways of thinking in your own language. The nice thing about a dual-language reader like this is that you can come back to it at various stages in your language progress and see how much more you understand from the German-side of the book, but still get the gist at early stages in your study (the disadvantage is that lazy people will just read the English and miss the entire point).

As a collection of poetry in German, this book has some problems. It is really too short to cover everything, and so biases itself towards well-known and less challenging work. It is very strong on poets from Germany, but not on Austrians or Swiss writing in German. It emphasizes the romantic period very heavily, which is understandable as there was much great German romantic poetry, but it does so to the severe disadvantage of realism, naturalism, and expressionism. By far the vast majority of the poets here were contemporaneous with Goethe (or at least were born before he died), and only a very few at the back lived to see the twentieth century. Only one or two were active after 1945 (and I believe all of the poems are older than that). Each poet gets only one or occasionally two poems to represent their work, so this is more of a sampler than an overview.

Still, it could have definite advantages for teaching purposes. Because the poems are short, students will not get lost or feel overwhelmed. Because there are many different poets, it is less likely that students will get bored with one style. Because these are the poets that most students will have heard of, their interest may be stimulated. It isn't a great literary experience, but it is useful for German students and also could be of interest in introducing a literature student to the names they should know from Germany.

[Benjamin Fasching-Gray · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's just the tiniest taste of German poetry but that is what makes such a good place to start. The point here is to read the German and only check the English translation when there is something you don't get... the English translations are just there for convenience, I think. This ends kind of abruptly with Brecht. I think it is time for a new edition with some more recent voices.

[Vicky Hunt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Im Frühlingsschatten fand ich Sie/ In the Shade of Spring I found Her

A beautiful collection of German poetry on various topics, with Dual German and English translations. Each poet is introduced with a few pages about his life and work. A poem or two follows in both languages.

This is an excellent collection of old favorites and new discoveries.

[Daizee101 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good selection of poems. Biography on each poet helps to place their work in the literary canon and to learn more about the poets themselves. Really helpful for someone who has not engaged with German poetry before. However, there is too much emphasis placed upon Romanticism; I'd rather have encountered a more even spread of poetry, including poets of the present day.

[Amelia · Rating 5 out of 5]

A collection of German poems (auf Deutsch and also translated into English) from across time. it includes both comic and tragic, delicate and disturbing. It's an enjoyable introduction to German poetry and poets.

The paperback version (which I read) has the translations on the opposite page, which is convenient for reading. I don't know how the Kindle version is laid out.

[Sarah Evans · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice book for students of the German language. Includes a good selection of classic poetry.

[Prayerpilgrim · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really (for once) appreciated the biographical information on each poet and learned a lot from reading them, despite the occasional temptation to skip them. I’m glad I did not. There were certainly poets that I wanted to read more poems from and others I was less drawn to, but I felt that overall, the book gave a really good overview of German poetry. I also appreciated the literal translations of each poem when my German vocabulary was not as broad as the poem’s.

[Chelsee BreAnn BreAnn · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is exactly as expected. There is a short summary about the poet a one or two of their poems in German and English.
I enjoyed this book as an English speaker. I really love the German language, though I only know a handful of words and can recognize a handful more. Though the poems change a bit through translation, you can still understand what the poem is about, and it isn’t difficult to compare it to the German for form and rhyme.

[Bernie4444 · Rating 5 out of 5]

German on the left English on the right

39 full-text poems focusing on the Age of Goeth (1749-18320. There are pictures of the poets and they do not lose anything in the translation. You can go back and forth from left to right and see what German is in small bites to start to think about both languages instead of translating. Just don't go around talking like that.

Next look for ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0486276199
Five Great German Short Stories: A Dual-Language Book

[Kristyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book of German poems accompanied by English translations succeeded in its intent, which was to introduce English speakers to poets, poems, and their merit. As a poet and an intermediate German reader, it was a fascinating challenge to read the original aloud and see what I could understand, then read the English translation to determine my success. The editors also included interesting mini-biographies of the poets. The biographies of the more recent poets were written with some passion! All of these were its intent, which it succeeded. However, this book was originally published in 1959, with a new edition in 1987. I'd encourage people (and myself) to find newer anthologies which also seek to include more women poets. Only Annette von Droste-Hülshoff (1797-1848) is included here.