The Poems of Goethe - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (readera ebook reader .txt) 📗

to make whatever improvements have suggested themselves to me in my original version of these Poems.

E. A. B. London, 1874.

CONTENTS.

Original Dedication Original Preface Preface to the Second Edition List of the principal Works of Goethe Author's Dedication

SONGS Sound, sweet Song, from some far Land To the kind Reader The New Amadis When the Fox dies, his Skin counts The Heathrose Blindman's Buff Christel The Coy One The Convert Preservation The Muses' Son Found Like and Like Reciprocal Invitation to the Dance Self-Deceit Declaration of War Lover in all Shapes The Goldsmith's Apprentice Answers in a Game of Questions Different Emotions on the same Spot Who'll buy Gods of love? The Misanthrope Different Threats Maiden Wishes Motives True Enjoyment The Farewell The Beautiful Night. Happiness and Vision Living Remembrance The Bliss of Absence To Luna The Wedding Night Mischievous Joy Apparent Death November Song To the Chosen One First Loss After Sensations Proximity of the Beloved One Presence To the Distant One By the River Farewell The Exchange Welcome and Farewell New Love, New Life To Belinda May Song With a painted Ribbon With a golden Necklace On the Lake From the Mountain Flower-Salute In Summer May Song Premature Spring Autumn Feelings Restless Love The Shepherd's Lament Comfort in Tears Night Song Longing To Mignon The Mountain Castle The Spirit's Salute To a Golden Heart that he wore round his neck The Bliss of Sorrow The Wanderer's Night-song The Same The Hunter's Even-Song To the Moon To Lina Ever and Everywhere Petition To his Coy One Night Thoughts To Lida Proximity Reciprocal Rollicking Hans The Freebooter Joy and Sorrow March April May June Next Year's Spring At Midnight Hour To the rising full Moon The Bridegroom Such, such is he who pleaseth me Sicilian Song Swiss Song Finnish Song Gipsy Song The Destruction of Magdeburg

FAMILIAR SONGS. On the New Year Anniversary Song The Spring Oracle The Happy Couple Song of Fellowship Constancy in Change Table Song Wont and Done General Confession Coptic Song Another Vanitas! vanitatum vanitas! Fortune of War Open Table The Reckoning Ergo Bibamus! Epiphanias

BALLADS. Mignon The Minstrel Ballad of the banished and returning Count The Violet The Faithless Boy The Erl-King Johanna Sebus The Fisherman The King of Thule The Beauteous Flower.. Sir Curt's Wedding Journey Wedding Song The Treasure-digger The Rat-catcher The Spinner Before a Court of Justice The Page and the Miller's Daughter The Youth and the Millstream The Maid of the Mill's Treachery The Maid of the Mill's Repentance The Traveller and the Farm-Maiden Effects at a distance The Walking Bell Faithful Eckart The Dance of Death The Pupil in Magic The Bride of Corinth The God and the Bayadere

The Pariah

I. The Pariah's Prayer. II. Legend III. The Pariah's Thanks Death--lament of the noble Wife of Asan Aga

CANTATAS. Idyll Rinaldo The First Walpurgis-Night

ODES. Three Odes to my Friend Mahomet's Song Spirit Song over the Waters My Goddess Winter Journey over the Hartz Mountains To Father Kronos. Written in a Post-chaise The Wanderer's Storm Song The Sea-Voyage The Eagle and Dove Prometheus Ganymede The Boundaries of Humanity The Godlike

MISCELLANEOUS POEMS. The German Parnassus. Lily's Menagerie To Charlotte Love's Distresses The Musagetes Morning Lament The Visit The Magic Net The Goblet To the Grasshopper. After Anacreon From the Sorrows of Young Werther Trilogy of Passion :�

I. To Werther

II. Elegy III. Atonement The Remembrance of the Good When I was still a youthful Wight For Ever From an Album of 1604 Lines on seeing Schiller's Skull Royal Prayer Human Feelings On the Divan Hans Sachs' Poetical Mission

SONNETS. The Friendly Meeting In a Word The Maiden Speaks Growth Food in Travel Departure The Loving One Writes. The Loving One once more She Cannot End Nemesis The Christmas Box The Warning The Epochs The Doubters and the Lovers Charade

EPIGRAMS. To Originals The Soldier's Consolation Genial Impulse Neither this nor that The way to behave The best As broad as it's long The Rule of Life The same, expanded Calm at Sea The Prosperous Voyage Courage My only Property Admonition Old Age Epitaph Rules for Monarchs Paulo post futuri The Fool's Epilogue

PARABLES. Joy Explanation of an antique Gem Cat-Pie Legend Authors The Critic The Dilettante and the Critic The Wrangler The Yelpers The Stork's Vocation Celebrity Playing at Priests Songs Poetry A Parable Should e'er the loveless day remain A Plan the Muses entertained The Death of the Fly By the River The Fox and Crane The Fox and Huntsman The Frogs The Wedding Burial Threatening Signs The Buyers The Mountain Village Symbols Three Palinodias :--

I. The Smoke that from thine Altar blows.

II. Conflict of Wit and Beauty III. Rain and Rainbow. Valediction The Country Schoolmaster The Legend of the Horseshoe A Symbol

ART. The Drops of Nectar The Wanderer I Love as a Landscape Painter

GOD, SOUL, AND WORLD. Rhymed Distichs Prooemion The Metamorphosis of Plants

PROVERBS TAME XENIA

RELIGION AND CHURCH. Thoughts on Jesus Christ's descent into Hell

ANTIQUES. Leopold, Duke of Brunswick To the Husbandman Anacreon's Grave The Brethren Measure of Time Warning Solitude The Chosen Cliff The Consecrated Spot The Instructors The Unequal Marriage. Excuse Sakontala The Muse's Mirror Phoebus and Hermes The New Amor The Garlands The Swiss Alps Distichs

VENETIAN EPIGRAMS.

ELEGIES. Roman Elegies Alexis and Dora Hermann and Dorothea

WEST-EASTERN DIVAN.

I. Minstrel's Book :--

Talismans The Four Favours Discord Song and Structure

II. Book of Hafis :-- The Unlimited To Hafis

III. Book of Love :--

The Types One Pair More Love's Torments

IV. Book of Contemplation :--

Five Things For Woman Firdusi Suleika

V. Book of Gloom :-- It is a Fault

VI. Book of Proverbs

VII. Book of Timur :--

The Winter and Timur To Suleika

VIII. Book of Suleika :--

Suleika's Love Hatem Suleika Love for Love Hatem The Loving One speaks The Loving One again These tufted Branches fair Suleika The Sublime Type Suleika The Reunion Suleika In thousand forms

IX. The Convivial Book :--

Can the Koran from Eternity be? Ye've often for our Drunkenness

X. Book of Parables :--

From Heaven there fell upon the foaming wave Bulbul's Song In the Koran with strange delight. All kinds of Men. It is good

XI. Book of the Parsees :--

The Bequest of the ancient Persian faith

XII. Book of Paradise: The Privileged Men The favoured Beasts The Seven Sleepers

SONGS FROM VARIOUS PLAYS, ETC. From Faust :--

Dedication

Prologue in Heaven

Chorus of Angels

Chorus of Spirits

Margaret at her Spinning Wheel

Garden Scene

Margaret's Song From Faust�Part II.:--

Ariel's Song and Chorus of Spirits

Scene the last From Iphigenia in Tauris :--

Song of the Fates From Gotz von Berlichingen :--

Liebetraut's Song From Egmont :--

Clara and Brackenburg's Song

Clara's Song From Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship :--

Who never eat with tears his bread

Who gives himself to Solitude

My Grief no Mortals know

Sing no more in mournful tones

Epilogue to Schiller's Song of the Bell

L'ENVOI

LIST OF THE PRINCIPAL WORKS OF GOETHE, WITH THE DATES OF THEIR COMPOSITION.

I. DRAMATIC WORKS.

TITLE AND DESCRIPTION. DATE, The Lover's Whim, Pastoral Drama.................. 1767�8 The Accomplices, Comedy........................... 1769 Satyros, or the Deified Satyr, Drama.............. 1774 Plundersweilern Fair, Puppet-show................. 1774 Prometheus, Dramatic fragment..................... 1773 Faust. Part I. Tragedy............................ 1773�1806

Part II. Tragedy completed in.............. 1831 Elpenor, a Fragment, Tragedy...................... 1781�3 Iphigenia auf Tauris, Classical drama............. 1786�7 Torquato Tasso, Classical drama................... 1787�9 The Natural Daughter, Tragedy..................... 1799�1803 Gotz von Berlichingen, Prose drama................ 1773 Egmont, Tragedy................................... 1775�87 Clavigo, Tragedy.................................. 1774 Stella, Tragedy................................... 1774 The Brother and Sister, Prose drama............... 1776 The Wager, Comedy................................. 1812 The Gross-Cophta, Comedy.......................... 1789 The Burgher-General, Comedy....................... 1793 The Rebels, Political drama....................... 1793 The Triumph of Sensibility, Dramatic whim......... 1777 The Birds, after Aristophanes, Comedy............. 1780 Erwin and Elmire, Melodrama....................... 1775�88 Claudine von Villa Bella, Melodrama............... 1775�88 Jery and Bately, Melodrama........................ 1779 Lila, Melodrama................................... 1777�8 The Fisher-Girl, Melodrama........................ 1782 Sport. Cunning, and Revenge, Opera Buffa.......... 1785 What we're bringing, Prelude...................... 1802 Pandora, Drama.................................... 1807�8

In addition to the above, there are nearly 20 minor dramatic pieces.

II. PROSE WORKS.

TITLE DATE,

ROMANCES AND NOVELS:--

Sorrows of Werther............................. 1774

The Elective Affinities........................ 1809

Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship............... 1777�96

Wilhelm Meister's Wanderings................... 1807�29

Conversations of German Emigrants.............. 1793�5 Notes on Winckelmann.............................. 1805 Life of Philip Hackert............................ 1810-11 Life of Benvenuto Cellini (Translation)........... 1796�1803 Autobiography..................................... 1811�31 Letters from Switzerland.......................... 1775�1808 Tour in Italy..................................... 1786-1817 French Campaign................................... 1792�1822 Annals............................................ 1819-25 Art and Antiquity................................. 1815�28 Theory of Colours................................. 1790-1810

In addition to the above, Goethe produced an almost endless number of translations, criticisms, essays, &c.

III. POETICAL WORKS.

Other than those embraced in the plan of the present volume.

TITLE DATE, Masonic Songs (7)................................. 1815�30 Poems on Pictures (21)............................ 1819, &c. Invectives (44)................................... 1802�24 Political poems (54).............................. 1814, &c. Masques (14)...................................... 1776-1818 Poems in the name of the citizens of Carlsbad (7). 1810�12 Poems on Individuals, &c. (209)................... 1778�1831 Chinese-German Poems (14)......................... 1827 Prophecies of Bakis (33).......................... 1798 The Four Seasons (99)............................. 1796 Epistles (3)...................................... 1794 Achilleis--Canto I................................ 1798�9 Reineke Fuchs..................................... 1793

Theatrical Prologues and Epilogues (12, including

the Epilogue to the Song of the Bell, given in

this volume)................................... 1782�1821

THE POEMS OF GOETHE.

DEDICATION.

The morn arrived; his footstep quickly scared

The gentle sleep that round my senses clung, And I, awak'ning, from my cottage fared,

And up the mountain side with light heart sprung; At every step I felt my gaze ensnared

By new-born flow'rs that full of dew-drops hung; The youthful day awoke with ecstacy, And all things quicken'd were, to quicken me.

And as I mounted, from the valley rose

A streaky mist, that upward slowly spread, Then bent, as though my form it would enclose,

Then, as on pinions, soar'd above my head: My gaze could now on no fair view repose,

in mournful veil conceal'd, the world seem'd dead; The clouds soon closed around me, as a tomb, And I was left alone in twilight gloom.

At once the sun his lustre seem'd to pour,

And through the mist was seen a radiant light; Here sank it gently to the ground once more,

There parted it, and climb'd o'er wood and height. How did I yearn to greet him as of yore,

After the darkness waxing doubly bright! The airy conflict ofttimes was renew'd, Then blinded by a dazzling glow I stood.

Ere long an inward impulse prompted me

A hasty glance with boldness round to throw; At first mine eyes had scarcely strength to see,

For all around appear'd to burn and glow. Then saw I, on the clouds borne gracefully,

A godlike woman hov'ring to and fro. In life I ne'er had seen a form so fair-- She gazed at me, and still she hover'd there.

"Dost thou not know me?" were the words she said

In tones where love and faith were sweetly bound; "Knowest thou not Her who oftentimes hath shed

The purest balsam in each earthly wound? Thou knows't me well; thy panting heart I led

To join me in a bond with rapture crown'd. Did I not see thee, when a stripling, yearning To welcome me with tears, heartfelt and burning?"

"Yes!" I exclaim'd, whilst, overcome with joy,

I sank to earth; "I