Literature Network » Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

The Tower of Babel: the wanderer and the ruins of history.

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From: Studies in the Literary Imagination
Date: 20030322
Author:Liuzza, R.M.

   Amerika, du hast es besser 
   Als unser Kontinent, das alte, 
   Hast keine verfallene Schloesser 
   Und keine Basalte. 
   Dich stoert nicht im Innern 
   Zu lebendiger Zeit 
   Unnuetzes Erinnern 
   Und vergeblicher Streit. 

America, you are better off than our old continent: You have no ruined castles and no primordial basalt. Your inner life remains untroubled within by useless memory and idle strife.--Johann Wolfgang von Goethe ("Den Vereinigten Staaten")

Among the many under-appreciated charms of the Old English Genesis A, the long poetic paraphrase of the first ...

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