103 Great Poems: A Dual-Language Book (Dover Dual Language German)

by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, ? (Translator)

Generally considered Germany's greatest literary figure, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) produced a large body of fine literary work that includes novels, plays, stories, scientific treatises, travel accounts, and much other prose. Perhaps at his greatest as a poet, he was the author of numerous exceptionally fine lyric poems, ballads, and elegies.
This convenient dual-language edition, spanning a wide range of styles, forms, and moods, allows readers to savor a rich selection of the poet's verse in the original German — from "An den Sclaf" ("To Sleep"), written when he was 18, to his last great poem, "Vermächtnis" ("Legacy"), written when he was 80. Several poems from the 1819 volume West-östlicher Divan (Occidental-Oriental Divan) are presented. Excellent line-for-line English translations on facing pages accompany such masterworks as "Prometheus," typical of the Sturm and Drang (storm and stress) period; "Rastlose Liebe" ("Restless Love") and "An den Mond" ("To the Moon"), lyric pieces of intense beauty; and the narrative ballads "Der Fischer" ("The Fisherman") and "Erlkönig" ("Elf King"). Included among the 96 other works are these "Auf dem See" ("On the Lake"); "Zigeunerlied" ("Gypsy Song"); "Jägers Abendlied" ("Huntsman's Evening Song"); "Grenzen der Menschheit" ("Limitations of Humanity"); "Der Zauberiehrling" ("The Sorcerer's Apprentice"); and "An Werther" ("To Werther").
For this edition, translator Stanley Appelbaum has provided an informative introduction and a commentary on each poem, which will prove invaluable to students, teachers, and general readers.

Genres: German Literature, Poetry, Germany

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

A 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.

Reviews

[Ron Cohen · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is a mess on a kindle or kindle app

The German and English are all messed up appearing on different pages mixing different poems together. This is awful. It should be taken off the market and fixed.

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

My rating is based on the poems. I do not recommend this book, at least in the e-version. Rather than printing the German on one page and the translation on the facing page, there appears to be no logical explanation of how it is laid out. Often, poems start in German, switch to English, at times in mid stanza, only to switch back to German. Rarely are the same number of stanzas present in each language. A few times, there were back to back poems in the German without translation. My German is more than rusty, so I was unable to figure this out.

[Jose Araguz · Rating 2 out of 5]

First off: the two stars are more for the translation than Goethe's actual writing. And I'm not a translation snob: Mr Applebaum did a fine job for his purposes. I enjoyed reading his Goethe and getting a glimpse at the great writer. It is just not a translation that I will pick up again to reread, hence two stars. That said, the book is great for what it is. It gives a running commentary on each piece which sometimes contain neat stories on the poems. Goethe still shines through.

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Goethe's poem "Found" is my favorite poem ever.

[Mckinley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great to read side by side translations. Goethe is the German literary hero.