The Works of Stefan George COLLEGE of ARTS and SCIENCES Imunci Germanic and Slavic Languages and Literatures
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The Works of Stefan George COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES ImUNCI Germanic and Slavic Languages and Literatures From 1949 to 2004, UNC Press and the UNC Department of Germanic & Slavic Languages and Literatures published the UNC Studies in the Germanic Languages and Literatures series. Monographs, anthologies, and critical editions in the series covered an array of topics including medieval and modern literature, theater, linguistics, philology, onomastics, and the history of ideas. Through the generous support of the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, books in the series have been reissued in new paperback and open access digital editions. For a complete list of books visit www.uncpress.org. The Works of Stefan George Second Edition translated by olga marx and ernst morwitz UNC Studies in the Germanic Languages and Literatures Number 78 Copyright © 1974 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons cc by-nc-nd license. To view a copy of the license, visit http://creativecommons. org/licenses. Suggested citation: Marx, Olga, and Ernst Morwitz. The Works of Ste- fan George: Second Edition. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1974. doi: https://doi.org/10.5149/9781469657875_Marx Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Marx, Olga and Morwitz, Ernst. Title: The works of Stefan George / by Olga Marx and Ernst Morwitz. Other titles: University of North Carolina Studies in the Germanic Languages and Literatures ; no. 78. Description: Chapel Hill : University of North Carolina Press, [1974] Series: University of North Carolina Studies in the Germanic Languages and Literatures. Identifiers: lccn 73-16133 | isbn 978-1-4696-5786-8 (pbk: alk. paper) | isbn 978-1-4696-5787-5 (ebook) Classification: lcc pt2613 .e47a25 1974 | dcc 831/ .8 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Appreciation and thanks are due to the North Carolina Center of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching at the University of North Carolina for a grant to subsidize this publication. The translators are greatly indebted to Dietrich von Bothmer and Renata von Scheliha for their careful reading of the manuscript, and to Bernard V. Bothmer for reading the proofs and offering many helpful suggestions. NOTE This book contains a complete translation of the seven volumes of verse which constitute the main work -of Stefan George. Not included are the juvenilia, early dramatic .sketches, and the volume of prose pieces. The translation, based on the final edition of Stefan George's poems (1927-34), is an attempt to convey the language and rhythm of the original and to facilitate the under.standing of the diflkult German text. Thus the rendering is, in itself, a syn thetic commentary, such as Goethe recommends in the last para graph of the chapter on translation in his notes to the WEST OESTLlCHER DIVAN. An analytic commentary to the works of Stefan George is in preparation. CONTENTS Page ODES (1890) INSCRIPTION AND DEDICATION ...................................................................................................... 2 INITIATION .............................................................................................................................................................. 3 IN THE PARK ............ .. 4 INVITATION 4 AFTERNOON .. 5 ENCOUNTER ........................................................................................................................................................ 6 LOVE FEASTS IN NEW TERRAINS I The coals are glowing. Let the incense ooze ............................................... 6 II The sky-blue satin of the tent is traced ............................................................... .. 7 TRANSFORMATION ........................................................................................................................................ 7 PARTING ....................................................................... 8 SERENADE ......................... 8 SHORE .................................................................................................................................................................... 9 LATE SUMMER ................................................................................................................................................. 9 IN RETROSPECT ............................................................................................................................ 10 ON THE TERRACE ............................................................................................................................................ 11 ADDRESS ................. 11 PICTURES THE INFANTE ·····················································"·"·································"······························· .. ······ ................ 12 FRA ANGELICO .................... 12 THE GARDENS CLOSE ..... 13 PILGRIMAGES (1891) INSCRIPTION AND DEDICATION 15 THE RECLUSE GOES FORTH 16 Stop, 0 mill, your even sweep ............................................................................................... 17 While you listen to whispering flames ......................................... 17 Why do you squander .... ................................................................... ............................ 17 All youth ( or .. ................... ..... ................... .................................................................. 18 To ancient lands the vaulted passage calls ................................................................ .. 18 VISIONS I When from the gondola she mounts the stair ... 19 II Too long I lean against the gate an<l gaze ..... 19 WARNING .............................................................................................................. 20 The squares are forsaken, and silent the song and the lute ................................. 21 Sovereign dream I trusted at heart....... .... ..................... ... ................................. 21 Silence despair ..................... .. ............................ ................................ ................................... 22 Doff your mourning mien an<l vesture ........................... ....................................................... 22 l\Iy early visio:is! With the <lead you vanished .... .................................. .......... 23 BLESSING FOR NEW QUESTS ..... .. ..... .................. .... .. ................. .... .......................... 23 Would that on mountain trails, alone ................... ... ............................ ........................... 24 Page The gravel slowly dries in morning rays ....... .. 24 JOURNEYS OF LONG AGO I Through the wood, across the valley .......................................... 25 II The island garden sleeps. No step, no sound ......... 25 III Across a plain of snow we sped 25 What balms on brittle bark ........................ 26 THE CLASP 26 ALGABAL (1892) INSCRIPTION AND DEDICATION 27 A .REALM BELOW O halls that boast of such fabulous treasure 28 The hall of yellow glitter and of sun 28 The room of pale resplendence lay beside 29 My garden requires no air and no sun 29 DAYS When ramparts, tipped with copper, seem to swim ................................................... 30 Towar-d the east the walls are massed .... ..................... 31 0 mother of my mother, long revered .............................. ................... 31 Cups on the ground ..................... ....... ..................... ................................................ .............................. 32 When envious sleep turns to leave me .......... ................ ....................................................... 33 These words were said when living was a loss .............. .. ..................... 33 I must saddle ashen horses ... .... ............................... ...................... ........................... 34 Agathon, close to my pillow bowe-d ....... ... ............................................................................ 34 Somnolent peace! But through it I guessed ... ............. ... .. ................. 3,1 Music sifted ...................... ....... ................. ........................ ... .................. 35 MEMORIES Days of grandeur when in fancy, worlds awaited my command 35 I have lost the days of bloom ........................... ............................................. 35 Chil-d, elected by the Graces ....................................................... .. ................................................... 36 Against the square I saw her first, among .. .. .. ................... ............................. ............ 36 And now I shall evoke those hours: Under....................................................................... 37 I can still relive my first distress ............. .......................... ....................................................... 37 Have victims gulled me, or an eagle's glide ................. ...................................................... 38 AUGURY ....................................... ........................ ........................... .................................................................... 38 THE BOOKS OF ECLOGUES AND EULOGIES {1894) DEDICATION ........................................................................................................................................ 40 ANNIVERSARY ....................................................................................................................................................... 41