Classic Literature Writer

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was born at Frankfort-on-Main on August 28, 1749. At 16, he began his studies at the University of Leipzig, where he wrote his earliest poems and plays.

In 1770, while Goethe was at the University in Strasbourg, Johann Gottfried von Herder introduced him to Shakespeare's works.

In 1773, Goethe published his first notable work: Götz von Berlichingen. The Sorrows of Werther came soon after (1774). Other works include Faust, Egmont, Iphigenie auf Tauris, Torquato Tasso, Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship, Poetry and Truth from my Life (an idealized autobiography), etc.

• For Ever
  "The happiness that man, whilst prison'd here, / Is wont with heavenly rapture to compare,--"
  
• German Parnassus, The
  "'Neath the shadow / Of these bushes, / On the meadow..."
  
• Goblet, The
  "Once I held a well-carved brimming goblet,-- / In my two hands tightly clasp'd I held it..."
  
• Human Feelings
  "Ah, ye gods! ye great immortals / In the spacious heavens above us!"
  
• In a Word
  Thus to be chain'd for ever, can I bear? / A very torment that, in truth, would be.
  
• Love's Distress
  "Who will hear me? Whom shall I lament to?"
  
• Magic Net, The
  "Do I see a contest yonder? / See I miracles or pastimes?"
  
• Masagetes, The
  "In the deepest nights of Winter / To the Muses kind oft cried I..."
  
• Mourning Lament
  "Oh thou cruel deadly-lovely maiden, / Tell me what great sin have I committed..."
  
• New Amadis, The
  "In my boyhood's days so drear / I was kept confined..."
  
• To the Kind Reader
  "No one talks more than a Poet; / Fain he'd have the people know it..."
  
• Visit, The
  "Fain had I to-day surprised my mistress..."