There are many Goethes – the scientist, critic, autobiographer, letter-writer, sage, statesman, conversationalist – but his poems embody, with Faust, the quintessence of his genius.

This volume contains selections from the lyrics, episodes from the monologues and dialogues in Faust, as well as some of the less familiar poems and epigrams. English translations accompany the German originals, and there is an excellent introduction by the editor, David Luke.


‘The difficult problem of selection has been solved with a thoroughness and ingenuity that are especially commendable and make this collection more representative of Goethe’s full range than any single volume edition hitherto available’ – The Times Literary Supplement