Selected Poems

Authoritative English translations of Goethe’s major poetic works

Goethe created a body of poetry that is unsurpassed in lucidity of speech and imagery and in instinct for melody and rhythm. The founder of the poetry of experience, he reintroduced intimacy to the public world, and his poems have something for everyone. Nonetheless, Goethe the poet remains relatively unknown to contemporary English-speaking audiences, partly because of the difficulties his poetry has posed to translators. This volume contains translations, side by side with the German originals, of Goethe’s major works—all prepared by eminent American and English writers and all testifying to the poet’s genius.

The Collected Works of Goethe presents modern translations of a representative portion of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s vast body of work. Selected from more than 140 volumes in German, this twelve-volume series remains the standard collection in English and features poetry, drama, fiction, memoir, criticism, and scientific writing.

Edited by Christopher Middleton
With translations by Michael Hamburger, David Luke, Christopher Middleton, John Frederick Nims, and Vernon Watkins