Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Römische Elegien [Roman Elegies]

Ellis Dye (Macalester College)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.4.1: German-language Writing and Culture: Germany, 500-present.
Vol. editors: Gerhard P. Knapp (University of Utah), Jennifer Marston William (Purdue University), Herbert Rowland (Purdue University), Jill E. Twark (East Carolina University)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1791

Places

Germany (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Elegy
Poem collection

Resources

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Goethe’s

Roman Elegies

, originally titled

Erotica Romana

, were composed during the period between the autumn of 1788 and April 1790, following his two-year sojourn in Italy. Except for the “Thirteenth Elegy” (No. XIV in the manuscript), which had appeared separately in the

Deutsche Monatsschrift

, July 1791, the poems initially circulated only among friends and were first published in 1795 in Friedrich Schiller’s journal

Die Horen

[

The Horae

, goddesses of the seasons], which title, quipped Johann Gottfried Herder, deserved thereafter to be spelled with a “u” (“Huren” = whores).

After ten years of service to the Duke and Duchy of Weimar, in charge of road building, mining, state finances, and the Duke’s ceremonial, but expensive, small army (which Goethe beneficially

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2479 words

Citation: Dye, Ellis. "Römische Elegien". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 28 August 2007 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=2325, accessed 25 April 2024.]

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