The Cambridge Introduction To German Poetry

Exploring traditional poems alongside new examples, this Introduction conveys the rich rewards that come with reading German poetry.

Originally published in 1965, this book was written to provide 'a not too obtrusive guide' to German poetry from Luther's time up until Brecht's. For the most part, the text consists of poems followed by questions, whose purpose is not to provoke an interpretation or to test knowledge so much as to suggest possible starting-points from which lines of thought or of imagination may run. On the whole, the questions are not meant to be answered one by one, but rather to arouse a certain kind of interest and appreciation. A glossary and a guide for further reading are also included. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in poetry and German literature.

Dr Gray aims to encourage in students beginning to read and write about German poetry the skills which will help them to read and write with more insight. After outlining this aim in its introduction, this 1976 book takes the form of a selection of German poems from Luther to Brecht, carefully grouped for purposes of comparison, and with graded questions. Most of the poems are from the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries, but there are also translations from and into German for comparison with the originals, groups of poems on common themes, and different versions of the same poem. It is possible to trace in outline some of the main historical trends of German poetry, and to acquire basic technical knowledge within the book, but its main aim is to guide the reader towards a closer feeling for the words on the page.

Over 40 poems by Goethe, Schiller, Heine, Hölderlin, Brecht, and other masters. Full German text plus literal English translations on facing pages. Biographical and critical commentary on each poet. 34 portraits. Introduction.

The works of seventeen German poets from the mid-eighteenth century to the present are supplemented by brief notes and an introductory essay on the history and nature of lyric poetry.

One of the most intriguing questions of our time is how some of the masterpieces of modernity originated in a country in which personal liberty and democracy were slow to emerge. This Companion provides an authoritative account of modern German culture since the onset of industrialisation, the rise of mass society and the nation state. Newly written and researched by experts in their respective fields, individual chapters trace developments in German culture - including national identity, class, Jews in German society, minorities and women, the functions of folk and mass culture, poetry, drama, theatre, dance, music, art, architecture, cinema and mass media - from the nineteenth century to the present. Guidance is given for further reading and a chronology is provided. In its totality the Companion shows how the political and social processes that shaped modern Germany are intertwined with cultural genres and their agendas of creative expression.

An engaging guide to reading, understanding and enjoying Romantic verse, designed for students approaching the period for the first time.