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The Lyrical Poems of Hugo Von Hofmannsthal
Excerpt from The Lyrical Poems of Hugo Von Hofmannsthal
The entire volume is brought out by the kind permission of Herr von Hofmannsthal through his publishers, the Insel Verlag, Leipsic.
These translations aim at being as true to the spirit, more particularly the mood, of the originals as possible. They are fairly literal, the changes being mainly in the order of words in a phrase. Very occasionally whole lines have been transposed. The metres and rhyme-schemes are, with slight exceptions, as nearly identical as possible. As Hofmannsthal's poetry is so notably compressed and full of meaning, it is hoped that these translations, together with the Introduction, may enable some of those who already know him in the original to see even more in his work than they have already done.
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
The entire volume is brought out by the kind permission of Herr von Hofmannsthal through his publishers, the Insel Verlag, Leipsic.
These translations aim at being as true to the spirit, more particularly the mood, of the originals as possible. They are fairly literal, the changes being mainly in the order of words in a phrase. Very occasionally whole lines have been transposed. The metres and rhyme-schemes are, with slight exceptions, as nearly identical as possible. As Hofmannsthal's poetry is so notably compressed and full of meaning, it is hoped that these translations, together with the Introduction, may enable some of those who already know him in the original to see even more in his work than they have already done.
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
- GenresPoetry
98 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1907
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284 people want to read
About the author
Hugo von Hofmannsthal
459 books132 followersAustrian writer Hugo von Hofmannsthal established his reputation with lyric poems and a number of plays, including
Yesterday
(1891) and
Death and the Fool
(1893).
This Austrian novelist, librettist, poet, dramatist, narrator, and essayist flourished.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_vo...
This Austrian novelist, librettist, poet, dramatist, narrator, and essayist flourished.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_vo...
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
May 11, 2018
On peacock, lamb and eagle
His youthful lordship brave
May waste the ointment regal
An old dead woman gave.
The dead, whose flight upstreameth
And o'er the tree-tops gleameth, —
Naught more are these, he deemeth,
Than dancers' robes that wave.
He goes as if no justling
Behind e'er threateneth.
He smiles whene'er the rustling
Of Life's robe whispers: Death!
For every place delights him
And every door invites him,
Each passion-wave incites him
As lone he wandereth.
When wild-bee swarms are winging,
His soul pursues in play;
The dolphins with their singing
Upbear him on his way.
All countries are his dwelling,
But soon with hand compelling
A dark stream, ever swelling.
Will bound his shepherd's-day.
On peacock, lamb and eagle
My lord with laughter brave
Life-Song May waste the ointment regal
An old dead woman gave,
On friends a smile bestowing,
Through Life's fair garden going
Toward dim gulfs, all unknowing,
From which no skill can save.
His youthful lordship brave
May waste the ointment regal
An old dead woman gave.
The dead, whose flight upstreameth
And o'er the tree-tops gleameth, —
Naught more are these, he deemeth,
Than dancers' robes that wave.
He goes as if no justling
Behind e'er threateneth.
He smiles whene'er the rustling
Of Life's robe whispers: Death!
For every place delights him
And every door invites him,
Each passion-wave incites him
As lone he wandereth.
When wild-bee swarms are winging,
His soul pursues in play;
The dolphins with their singing
Upbear him on his way.
All countries are his dwelling,
But soon with hand compelling
A dark stream, ever swelling.
Will bound his shepherd's-day.
On peacock, lamb and eagle
My lord with laughter brave
Life-Song May waste the ointment regal
An old dead woman gave,
On friends a smile bestowing,
Through Life's fair garden going
Toward dim gulfs, all unknowing,
From which no skill can save.
May 17, 2021
3.5 stars. I’m surprised I wasn’t more drawn to Hofmannstahl’s poetry, since I enjoy what I’ve read of his prose and dramatic verse. But these early poems lack the psychological insight of the former and the narrative tension of the latter. Not surprisingly, my favorite poem was the Dramatic Idyll, which seems to be a transition into his early verse dramas. (Those dramas are included in the Bollingen Series volume edited by Michael Hamburger. I preferred the translations of the lyrical poems in this volume to those by Charles Wharton Stork in the volume I am reviewing, although I read both books since the number of poems is so small. Hamburger’s critical Introduction was also much more comprehensive than Stork’s.) I admire Hofmannstahl’s lyric poetry more for what it represented -- a resistance to the mysticism inherent in the cult of Stefan George and the poetry of Rilke -- than for the verse itself.
September 27, 2025
kleine Blumen, kleine Lieder,
heller Klang und bunte Pracht,
Blume, die ich nicht gezogen,
Lieder, die ich nicht gedacht:
Und ich selber hätte nichts,
dir zu bringen, dir zu danken,
sollte heute, heute schweigen?
Ach, was mein war, die Gedanken,
sind ja längst, schon längst dein Eigen.
heller Klang und bunte Pracht,
Blume, die ich nicht gezogen,
Lieder, die ich nicht gedacht:
Und ich selber hätte nichts,
dir zu bringen, dir zu danken,
sollte heute, heute schweigen?
Ach, was mein war, die Gedanken,
sind ja längst, schon längst dein Eigen.
May 2, 2018
Hmm when Amazon actually charges money for the kindle version it would be nice with just a little editing/removing of typos etc....
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews