[INDOLOGY] Goethe

[Madhav Deshpande]

Thanks, Klaus, for providing the second poem of Goethe in full, along with
the history of transmission and translations of these poems.  Best,

Madhav

On Thu, Jun 15, 2017 at 4:16 AM, Klaus Karttunen via INDOLOGY <
indology at list.indology.info> wrote:

> Dear all
> and specially Madhav, thanks for the nice rendering. As I have recently
> looked at these things (and also prepared a Finnish version of the poem) I
> would like to add a few notes. First, it is interesting to know that the
> poem originally made part of Goethe’s letter to F. H. Jacobi. According to
> my notes it was also published in the same year (1791) in *Deutsche
> Monatsschrift*.
>
> The second poem, from which two lines are quoted by Slaje, was indeed
> published in *Zahme Xenien*. What is sometimes confusing that it is often
> quoted in a longer form, adding two lines to the end and still referring to
> *ZX*, which was published in 1797. The whole is thus
>
> Kalidas und andere sind durchgedrungen,
>
> Sie haben mit Dichter-Zierlichkeit
>
> Von Pfaffen und Fratzen uns befreit.
>
> In Indien möcht ich selber leben,
>
> Hätt es nur keine Steinhauer gegeben.
>
> Was will man denn Vergnüglicheres wissen!
>
> Was will man denn Vergnüglicheres wissen!
>
> Sakontala, Nala, die muß man küssen;
>
> Und Meghaduta, den Wolkengesandten,
>
> Wer schickt ihn nicht gerne zu Seelenverwandten!
> Now, in 1797 such a reference to the Meghadūta was impossible, Wilson’s
> translation appeared only in 1812. After some search I found the answer.
> The first eight lines were published in 1797 and the two were added in
> 1817, when Goethe used the poem in a letter to a friend, sending him
> Wilson’s translation.
>
> A less known testimony of Goethe’s interest in the Śakuntalā: When Chézy
> published his edition-cum-translation in 1830, he sent a copy to Goethe,
> whom he much admired. Goethe appreciated it and send a letter of thanks,
> which was published in *Journal Asiatique* 2:11, 1833, 470–473 in French
> translation. At that time both Chézy and Goethe were already dead.
>
> Best,
> Klaus
>
>
> Klaus Karttunen
> South Asian and Indoeuropean Studies
> Asian and African Studies, Department of World Cultures
> PL 59 (Unioninkatu 38 B)
> 00014 University of Helsinki, FINLAND
> Tel +358-(0)2941 4482418
> Fax +358-(0)2941 22094
> Klaus.Karttunen at helsinki.fi
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> INDOLOGY mailing list
> INDOLOGY at list.indology.info
> indology-owner at list.indology.info (messages to the list's managing
> committee)
> http://listinfo.indology.info (where you can change your list options or
> unsubscribe)
>


-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://list.indology.info/pipermail/indology/attachments/20170615/e18d25db/attachment.htm>