
West-Eastern Divan
Complete, Annotated New Translation (bilingual edition)
Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe(Author)
Gingko Library (Publisher)
Published on 15. April 2021
Book
Paperback/Softback
608 pages
978-1-909942-55-4 (ISBN)
Description
In 1814, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe read the poems of the great fourteenth-century Persian poet Hafiz in a newly published translation by Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall. For Goethe, the book was a revelation. He felt a deep connection with Hafiz and Persian poetic traditions, and was immediately inspired to create his own West-Eastern Divan as a lyrical conversation between the poetry and history of his native Germany and that of Persia. The resulting collection engages with the idea of the other and unearths lyrical connections between cultures. The West-Eastern Divan is one of the world's great works of literature, an inspired masterpiece, and a poetic linking of European and Persian traditions. This new bilingual edition expertly presents the wit, intelligence, humor, and technical mastery of the poetry in Goethe's Divan. In order to preserve the work's original power, Eric Ormsby has created this translation in clear contemporary prose rather than in rhymed verse, which tends to obscure the works sharpness. This edition is also accompanied by explanatory notes of the verse in German and in English and a translation of Goethe's own commentary, the "Notes and Essays for a Better Understanding of the West-Eastern Divan." This edition not only bring this classic collection to English-language readers, but also, at a time of renewed Western unease about the other, to open up the rich cultural world of Islam.
Reviews / Votes
"...what I really want to say is how exhilarating and enjoyable it is to read a book that combines such strikingly different kinds of artistic excellence and such diverse perspectives with the underlying coherence that comes from the shared reference to Goethe's original cycle."--Marjorie Perloff "Polyphonic Voices" "Ormsby wisely makes no attempt to simulate Goethe's elaborate rhyming stanzas; rather, he provides en face literal prose translations, with helpful explanatory notes at the bottom of each page. Goethe's polyphonic sequence folds lines and phrases from his Persian and Arabic sources into German lyric so as to create an East-West complex at once intimate and theatrical."--Marjorie Perloff "Times Literary Supplement - Books of the Year 2019" "This fine volume -- which also contains a translation of the essays on Eastern culture that Goethe added to make the poems more intelligible -- should make the Divan accessible to many more readers."-- "Times Literary Supplement" "Ormsby's book has the whole Divan + all the short, eccentric, extremely interesting essays that Goethe originally included--more than a hundred pages' worth."--Marjorie Perloff "Rhino Poetry"More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
GINGKO
Target group
College/higher education
Reading Age: From 18 years
Dimensions
Height: 197 mm
Width: 130 mm
Thickness: 52 mm
Weight
550 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-909942-55-4 (9781909942554)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

von Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
West-Eastern Divan
Complete, annotated new translation, including Goethe's `Notes and Essays' & the unpublished poems
E-Book
10/2019
Gingko Library
€30.99
Available for download

Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
West-Eastern Divan
Complete, Annotated New Translation (bilingual edition)
Book
09/2019
GINGKO
€57.20
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Persons
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) was a German poet, novelist, playwright, courtier, and natural philosopher. He is the author of many works, most famously the poetic drama, Faust. Eric Ormsby is a translator, scholar of Islamic thought, and senior research associate at the Institute of Ismaili Studies. He has published seven poetry collections and two critical works on poetry and translation.
Content
Introduction by Eric Ormsby
Acknowledgements
WEST-EASTREN divan
The Book of the Singer
The Book of Hafiz
The Book of Love
The Book of Reflections
The Book of Ill-Humor
The Book of Wisdom
The Book of Timur
The Book of Suleika
The Book of the Cup-Bearer
The Book of Parables
The Book of the Parsi
The Book of Paradise
NOTES AND ESSAYS: FOR A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE WEST-EASTERN DIVAN
Introduction
Hebrews
Arabs
Transition
Ancient Persians
Governance
History
Muhammad
Caliphs
Further Observation
Mahmud of Ghazna
Poet-Kings
Traditions
Firdowsi
Anwari
Nizami
Jalal al-Din Rumi
Sa ?di
Hafiz
Jami
Overview
Miscellaneous
Very Miscellaneous
Newer, Newest
Doubt
Despotism
Objection
Addendum
Counter-Action
Interpolated
Primal Elements of Oriental Poetry
Transition from Tropes to Similes
Admonition 413 Comparison
Protest
Genres
Natural Forms of Poetry
Addendum
The Book-Oracle
The Exchange of Flowers and Signs
Ciphers
Prospective Divan
Old Testament Matters
Israel in the Desert
The Stopping-Places of the Children of Israel in the Wilderness Aids Closer to Hand
Pilgrimages and Crusades
Marco Polo
Johannes von Montevilla
Pietro della Valle
Apology
Olearius
Tavernier and Chardin
Recent and Most Recent Travellers
Teachers: Departed or Still Living
Jones
Eichhorn
Lorsbach
Von Diez
Von Hammer
Translations
Final Conclusion!
Letter
Review
[Dedicatory Poems]
Appendix: Poems Collected Posthumously
Index of German titles and first lines
Index of English titles and first lines
Acknowledgements
WEST-EASTREN divan
The Book of the Singer
The Book of Hafiz
The Book of Love
The Book of Reflections
The Book of Ill-Humor
The Book of Wisdom
The Book of Timur
The Book of Suleika
The Book of the Cup-Bearer
The Book of Parables
The Book of the Parsi
The Book of Paradise
NOTES AND ESSAYS: FOR A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE WEST-EASTERN DIVAN
Introduction
Hebrews
Arabs
Transition
Ancient Persians
Governance
History
Muhammad
Caliphs
Further Observation
Mahmud of Ghazna
Poet-Kings
Traditions
Firdowsi
Anwari
Nizami
Jalal al-Din Rumi
Sa ?di
Hafiz
Jami
Overview
Miscellaneous
Very Miscellaneous
Newer, Newest
Doubt
Despotism
Objection
Addendum
Counter-Action
Interpolated
Primal Elements of Oriental Poetry
Transition from Tropes to Similes
Admonition 413 Comparison
Protest
Genres
Natural Forms of Poetry
Addendum
The Book-Oracle
The Exchange of Flowers and Signs
Ciphers
Prospective Divan
Old Testament Matters
Israel in the Desert
The Stopping-Places of the Children of Israel in the Wilderness Aids Closer to Hand
Pilgrimages and Crusades
Marco Polo
Johannes von Montevilla
Pietro della Valle
Apology
Olearius
Tavernier and Chardin
Recent and Most Recent Travellers
Teachers: Departed or Still Living
Jones
Eichhorn
Lorsbach
Von Diez
Von Hammer
Translations
Final Conclusion!
Letter
Review
[Dedicatory Poems]
Appendix: Poems Collected Posthumously
Index of German titles and first lines
Index of English titles and first lines