Byron and Goethe
Assigned by 1 of the 9 reading lists, catalogue entry only
- Written
- 1839
- Form
- Essay
- Language
- English
- Length
- Short · 25 ppunder 120 pages
- Difficulty
- Moderate2 of 5 for a first-year reader
We recommendHarvard Classics, Volume 32P. F. Collier, 1910The essay is rarely reprinted elsewhere; this volume of literary and philosophical essays is freely available online.
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An essay the Italian revolutionary wrote in London exile, published in the Monthly Chronicle in 1839. Mazzini takes the two poets as the twin summits of the age just ended, Byron the poet of the individual, of subjective will and rebellion, and Goethe the poet of objective contemplation and serene detachment. He argues that each is incomplete, that the age of individualism they represent is over, and that the poetry of the future must serve humanity and the collective progress of peoples.
No reading guide yet
The catalogue entry above is complete: the dates, the form, the themes and every program that assigns Byron and Goethe are verified against each program's published list.
What is missing is the part that takes real work: the summary, the key passages, and a recommended translation. The edition named below is the one most programs assign, so the buy links are useful already.
