Erotic Poems (Oxford World's Classics) [ペーパーバック]

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe is widely considered to be one of the greatest writers ever. Apart from being a poet, play write and novelist, he also studied the natural sciences and served as privy councillor to duke Karl August of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach. Politically, Goethe was arch-conservative, opposed the French revolution and supported the Holy Alliance.

And then, there's the other Goethe...

The other Goethe, the Goethe with an uneducated mistress, the Goethe who spend years at a "sex clinic" in Rome, the Goethe who some people suspect was bisexual. And, of course, the Goethe who wrote pornographic poetry!

"Erotic Poems" is a translation of Goethe's sexually laden poetry, some of which was censored for almost a century after the great man's death. Reading it, I can see why. The selections from the "Venetian Epigrams" are particularly shocking, considering the fact that this man was a Paleo-Con pillar of Throne and Alter. Was Goethe an early Alan Bloom, I wonder, who preached conservatism outwardly, while following quite another law in private?

Probably.

Still, the fact that Goethe's pornographic and blasphemous statements might offend some prudish little conservative somewhere, does make me smile. The epigrams leave little to the imagination, and Amazon's filters would stop any attempt from my part to quote the most explicit contents. So I must rest contented with quoting the blasphemy: "I'm not surprised that our Lord Jesus Christ liked consorting with sinners and with whores, after all, that's just what I fancy too.".

Or what about the following: "'Show us the parts of the Lord!' shrieked, blind with hysterical frenzy, an unfortunate girl: `Show us the parts of our god!'. It was the evening of Holy Thursday, a priest was displaying (so the old charlatan claimed) relics of Christ in St. Mark's. Poor soul! Why do you cry out like this for the crucified god's parts? Cry for Priapus! That god's parts are the medicine you need."

In case you really don't know, Priapus was a Roman phallic god. What parts the old heathen is talking about, you might as well imagine.

I must say that reading Goethe's unholy alliance, was quite entertaining.

:D

PS. The book also contains a serious, scholarly introduction. Enjoy!

Is it me or is there a troubling, double-standard in the world of literature, especially when it comes to such greats as Shakespeare and Goethe? In Germany, Shakespeare is widely read and available in numerous translations. A German professor once told me it was a pleasure to read the great Bard's plays in German as opposed to English because of the delicate and beautiful work done by such translators as Schlegel and Tieck. ("Sein oder Nichtsein" I guess has a special way of rolling off the Germanic tongue).

So why is it in the English speaking world, we don't have the same love and respect for Goethe as the Germans for Shakespeare? W.H.Auden has tackled Goethe. We certainly don't lack for talented translators. Goethe just doesn't seem to have the same audience as "Deutsche-fied" Shakespeare.

Maybe because there is less mystery around Goethe, especially now and especially with this book. If you think Goethe is just the antiquated author of Faust and a series of near-forgotten novels, plays and autobiographies (in the Anglo-American world that is) then think again. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a man of multiple talents. His poems became the basis for many a German lieder by such composers as Schubert, Wolff and Schumann. He was deeply admired by contemporaries in his own time. His Werther was perhaps the greatest Continental bestseller of the late 18th century and the novel's influence wrecked havoc on the minds of romantic youths across Europe.

The Erotic Poems, one might say has the same passion and intensity as Werther though written later. Whereas Werther is young and immature, the narrator of the Roman Elegies (the major poems making up this volume) has a broader awareness of the world. Goethe composed these poems inspired by a sexually liberating journey to Italy. The German bard pays homage to Ovid and Catallus as the poems are similarly structured to the works of the Latin masters. And if your image of Goethe as stuffy, Faustian scientist and 'un-fun', this book will come as a pleasurably surprise.

"Lovers are pious: we worship all supernatural beings" Goethe notes in the sixth elegy, dedicating his writing to the fornicating, Roman god Priapus. And Priapus would be happy. There are allusions to rocking beds, to composing songs in a beautiful woman's arms. Balconies are the best place for love. So like Ovid, there is some advice going on here. But there's more. The elegies are vigorous and ribald. They make you smile. (Who isn't happy for someone that's getting laid?) In some ways the Roman Elegies reminded me a little of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam in that both poets give full disclosure, holding back nothing, reminding the reader that life is about pursuing pleasure.

I would have to say the best way to experience this book is in the company of his Italian Journey because the two books complement each other in such intricate ways. In the Italian Journey, we see the surface-Goethe, the man observing but in short being observed and equally inspected by his peers (the Italian Journey is a series of diary entries and letters he wrote to friends back in Weimar). Here in the Erotic Poems, we have the newly-awakened Goethe, sexually sanctified and full-blooded. In a sense you could say the former was the Apollonian side of Goethe and the latter, the Dionysian.

In addition to the Roman Elegies (which were censored when first published) the Erotic poems include the Venetian Epigrams (equally censored) and The Diary, a suppressed love story concerning a 60 year old man and his failed sexual adventure with a much younger woman.

Though Rilke and Celan have both had a wide influence on American poets, you'll never find writings of such erotic intensity in their collected poems. I think Goethe deserves more credit. He's in his own category - and isn't Shakespeare? - and these poems can only add dimension to an already fascinating individual.