Goethe's Römische Elegien

We can't hang about with scene-setting; we have twenty-four poems of Goethe's Römische Elegien to get through. Best plunge straight in, as Goethe himself would have done.

These elegies are not obscene or vulgar – in two minutes on social media you will encounter much worse; their occasional mild eroticism will drive no one to deeds they will regret nor confront the modern child with anything he or she didn't already know.

Text sources

The poems reproduced here are the complete set of the elegies in their original order. Four of these were thought unfit for publication, meaning that only twenty elegies were printed during Goethe's lifetime. This is the subset most editions present as the Römische Elegien. The texts of these twenty are taken from Die Horen (1.6 1793 with corrections 1.12 1795).

The position of each poem in this traditional subset is shown by the number in square brackets appended to the title. Numbers beginning with 'n' relate to the four censored poems, which first appeared in print in 1914, buried safely among the 143 volumes of the Weimarer Ausgabe (1887-1919).

Structure

Each poem has an English prose translation (with no claim to artistry, only to accuracy), some textual annotations and a commentary which glosses and interprets the text. Additional commentaries on particular themes have been consigned to Chapter 7, Paralipomena.

Chapters

Index to the elegies

• I Prolog [n3]
  The well-tended garden of erotic poems, guarded by Priapus.
• II Saget, Steine, mir an, o sprecht, ihr hohen Paläste [1]
  The search for sex among the ruins of Rome.
• III Mehr als ich ahndete schön, das Glück, es ist mir geworden [n1]
  Avoiding Roman society in the search for the unpretentious lover.
• IV Ehret, wen ihr auch wollt! Nun bin ich endlich geborgen! [2]
  The incognito escape from his notoriety into the safe harbour of love.
• V Laß dich, Geliebte, nicht reun, daß du mir so schnell dich ergeben [3]
  Sight arouses desire, desire requires immediate satisfaction.
• VI Fromm sind wir Liebende, still verehren wir alle Dämonen [4]
  Carpe diem: seizing the passing goddess Opportunity's hair.
• VII Froh empfind ich mich nun auf klassischem Boden begeistert [5]
  The study of Roman antiquities and the the living marble.
• VIII Kannst du, o Grausamer, mich mit solchen Worten betrüben [6]
  Jealousy, gossip, discretion and reconciliation.
• IX O wie fühl ich in Rom mich so froh, gedenk ich der Zeiten [7]
  The joys of Rome and the second Olympus of the Capitoline Hill.
• X Wenn du mir sagst, du habest als Kind, Geliebte, den Menschen [8]
  The girl and the woman, the blossom and the grape.
• XI Herbstlich leuchtet die Flamme vom ländlich geselligen Herde [9]
  Before the hearth in the autumn night.
• XII Alexander und Cäsar und Heinrich und Friedrich, die Großen [10]
  The great ones of history far away from corporeal love.
• XIII Euch, o Grazien, legt die wenigen Blätter ein Dichter [11]
  The pantheon and the missing Priapus.
• XIV Hörest du, Liebchen, das muntre Geschrei den Flaminischen Weg her [12]
  The cult of Ceres and the Eleusinian Mysteries.
• XV Amor bleibet ein Schalk, und wer ihm vertraut, ist betrogen [13]
  Education, poetry and love: so much to do, so little time to do it.
• XVI Zünde mir Licht an, Knabe! [14]
  Impatient waiting for the arrival of the beloved.
• XVII Zwei gefährliche Schlangen, vom Chore der Dichter gescholten [n2]
  The pure classical times and the syphilitic serpent of the modern age.
• XVIII Cäsarn wär ich wohl nie zum fernen Britannien gefolget [15]
  The assignation in the osteria and the message in wine on the table.
• XIX Warum bist du, Geliebter, nicht heute zur Vigne gekommen [16]
  Overcaution leading to a missed assignation.
• XX Manche Töne sind mir Verdruß, doch bleibet am meisten [17]
  The barking announcing the arrival of the beloved.
• XXI Eines ist mir verdrießlich vor allen Dingen, ein andres [18]
  The dislike of the lonely bed, the fear of syphilis; the safe relationship.
• XXII Schwer erhalten wir uns den guten Namen, denn Fama [19]
  The feud between Cupid and the goddess Fama; reputation will always lose.
• XXIII Zieret Stärke den Mann und freies mutiges Wesen [20]
  The need for silence; feelings poured into the poetry.
• XXIV Epilog [n4]
  The restoration of the priapic mood, the last god.