Marienbad Elegy
The "Marienbad Elegy" is a poem by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
Analysis
This poem, considered one of Goethe's finest and most personal,[1][2] reflects the devastating sadness the poet felt when Baroness Ulrike von Levetzow declined his proposal (Goethe did not propose to her personally, but via a friend, Carl August, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach). Goethe was 73 years old, she was 18. He started writing the poem on 5 September 1823 in a coach which carried him from Cheb to Weimar and by his arrival on 12 September, it was finished. He showed it only to his closest friends.[3]
- To me is all, I to myself am lost,
- Who the immortals' fav'rite erst was thought;
- They, tempting, sent Pandoras to my cost,
- So rich in wealth, with danger far more fraught;
- They urged me to those lips, with rapture crown'd,
- Deserted me, and hurl'd me to the ground.
Goethe never returned to Bohemia again. He died in Weimar in 1832.
References
- ^ Liukkonen, Petri. "Goethe". Books and Writers (kirjasto.sci.fi). Finland: Kuusankoski Public Library. Archived from the original on 10 February 2015.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|website=(help); Unknown parameter|dead-url=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ Goethe
- ^ Goethe's third summer, in Czech
External links
Wikisource has original text related to this article:
| Authority control databases: National |
|---|
 | This poetry-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |