Article photo: Coffee enjoyment |© Pixabay
Since I am already procrastinating, I might as well write a poem. I have just read one of Stefan Zweig introduced volume of Goethe's poems, which Zweig first published in 1927. Of the more than 1 poems by Goethe, quite a few are included in it - procrastination at its best! [Any complaints about this word should be addressed directly to Detlef Stern, because he put this idea in my ear on Sunday].
But Zweig’s hymn to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe is worth reading. The poem can also be found under the name “Lynkeus the Tower Keeper”.
Lynceus
Born to see,
Ordered to watch,
Sworn to the tower,
I like the world.
I look into the distance,
I see nearby
The moon and the stars,
The forest and the deer.
So I see in all
The eternal adornment,
And as I like it,
I like it too.
You happy eyes,
Whatever you have ever seen,
Be that as it may,
It was so beautiful!
The poem can be found in “JWG – Gedichte – Eine Auswahl” (1948: 249). As Goethe’s “last” poem, Stefan Zweig — in the volume of poetry directly below — the poem “Chorus mysticus” appears. This can also be found at the end of the second part of Goethe’s Faust — where Margarethe is terrified of Heinrich.
Everything transient
It's just a parable!
The inadequacy,
This is where the event takes place;
The indescribable,
Here it is done;
The Eternal Feminine
Pull us up!
There is nothing more to add today — let’s see if it’s enough for a circular.
