103 Great Poems: A Dual-Language Book (Dover Dual Language German) (German and English Edition)

I bought this book to help me learn German but I realized that I wasn't a huge fan of poetry. Goethe has a great writing style but I, being a philistine, could not appreciate his works. The english and german translations were placed conveniently next to each other for easy translation. I would recommend this book to someone who actually enjoys poetry.

The poems, of course, are beautiful. The translations are often interspersed with the German poems, often of a different poem that was being translated.

I bought this for my eight year old son because he enjoys Faust. He also likes the Pokemon Hypno and some creepy pasta. The poem Elf King reminds me of Hypno's Lullaby so I hope when my son opens it for Christmas he will enjoy it as much as I did.

In my only one-day visit to Germany I saw his house in Frankfurt. Then I didn't know this book, but particularly knew his admiration for Italian art and literature and for our environment. Maybe his poetry is a work of "genius" (Einzelheiten. Maximen und reflexionen, 1833; Maxims and reflections, Penguin, 1998, p. 103), but as a scholar of comparison and comparative method in the humanities who is in touch with the natural sciences, I am in disagreement with him, as I show with these passages.Steht er mit festen,markigen knochenauf der wohlgergründetendauernden erdereicht er nicht auf,nur mit der eicheoder der rebezich zu vergleichen.If he stands with firmvigorous bonesupon the securely established,enduring earth,he is unableto compare himselfwith even the oakor the grapevine(J. W. von Goethe, Grenzen der menschleit, Limitations of humanity, pp. 60-61)"Prüfe, vergleiche und nimm vor munde der musedass du schauest , nicht schwärmst, die liebliche, volle gewissheit"."test, compare and accept from the lips of the Museso that you can really see and not idly imagine -- precious, complete, certainty"(J. W. von Goethe, Metamorphose der tiere, Metamorphosis of animals)Comparison is not metaphor or simile. In comparison you have to tell which are the particular similarities or differences between two or more objects ("X is male; Y is female"; "X is taller than Y"; "both my sisters are tall", etc.). Besides, description ("X is male"), comparison (see above), association ("the more you are tall the more you weight") aim at empirical truth not at certainty ("2 + 2 is always 4"). Empirical humanities (as philology and history) and science are not mathematics, which is a formal discipline and a method.Before studying German any Italian who is not there for a paid job shall think about their culture and his (or her) Self. When I was young I liked Hesse's novels. But now I don't share his esoticism and mysticism. As a humanist, according to my taste, I don't find anything really interesting coming now from German-speaking countries. Of course, I recognize their contribution to science. English is the international language both of the scientific community and of the humanists.Roberto FideliTranslator and writer (www.robertofideli.com)

Poetry can be difficult to translate into another language and still be poetic. While I am familiar with Goethe's poems in German, with this translation I have a better understanding and deeper appreciation for the poets as well as the poems. I'd definitely recommend this book to students and all lovers of poetry.

I just received this book and immediately I see a spelling error on the cover of the book, it states "van Goethe" instead of the correct "von Goethe"!!! This is annoying and unacceptable.See the picture!

This translation is well done and very easy to read.

My kindle doesn't like the bilingual lay-out, cutting up the English and German stanzas, turning it into an unreadable puzzle-book for me.Maybe the non-kindle version is good, but I cannot recommend this kindle-one.

In the Kindle edition the German and English are jumbled up which makes it unusable.

Well worth reading. I am glad I bought it.