Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von (1749 - 1832) | Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (Poem Date 1808)
JOHANN WOLFGANG VON GOETHE (POEM DATE 1808)
SOURCE: Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von. "Dedication." In Faust: Part One, translated by David Luke, p. 3. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1987.
The following poem serves as Goethe's dedication to his Faust I, first published in 1808.
Uncertain shapes, visitors from the past
At whom I darkly gazed so long ago,
My heart's mad fleeting visions—now at last
Shall I embrace you, must I let you go?
Again you haunt me: come then, hold me fast!
Out of the mist and murk you rise, who so
Besiege me, and with magic breath restore,
Stirring my soul, lost youth to me once more.
You bring back memories of happier days
And many a well-loved ghost again I greet;
As when some old half-faded legend plays
About our ears, lamenting strains repeat
My journey through life's labyrinthine maze,
Old griefs revive, old...
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