Selected Poems
Lessing, Gotthold Ephraim, 1729-1781Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019
Rating 3.5- Word count
- 3.2K words
- Chapters
- 1
Tags
Foreign Literature Literary GiantsPhilosophical PoetryIntellectual EnlightenmentEnlightenment PoeticsGerman PoetryLyric PoetryGerman AnthologyMetrical BeautyMusical RhythmSummary
Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Ausgewählte Gedichte by Gotthold Ephraim LessingAuthor: Lessing, Gotthold Ephraim, 1729-1781,Language: German, Class: PT: Language and Literatures: Germanic, Scandinavian, and Icelandic literatures, Release Date: Nov 1, 2004Editor's review
This selection of Lessing's poems gathers his German verse and offers a direct entry into the poetic landscape of eighteenth-century German Enlightenment literature. Lessing is best known for his drama theory and fables, yet his poems likewise display a clear, restrained style in which reason governs feeling; the language avoids display, yet short pieces often carry epigrams and reflection. For Chinese readers, the value of this book lies not only in literary appreciation but in the sample it offers of how Enlightenment intellectuals used verse to express moral concern and observations on life. The electronic edition comes from Project Gutenberg, making it easy to search and read alongside other texts; it is suitable as supplementary material for courses in German literature and for casual reading by anyone interested in the Enlightenment. One caveat: a poetry selection is not an introductory survey, and readers without background knowledge may find the connections between poems loose; reading it together with Lessing's plays or fables is recommended to see how his thought echoes across different genres.Who it's for
A good fit for
- German majors who need exposure to original eighteenth-century German poetry
- Readers studying German Enlightenment literature who want to add poetry to their materials
- Readers interested in Lessing's thought who want to know his non-dramatic works
- Literature lovers with German who enjoy short poems and epigrams
Not a good fit for
- General readers with no German who hope to read a Chinese translation
- Beginners expecting a systematic literary history or detailed annotations
- Readers who prefer long narrative or strongly lyrical styles
Reading tips
- Read through once for the rhythm of the language, then pick short poems to look up word by word; there is no need to proceed in order.
- Read alongside Lessing's fables or selections from the Hamburg Dramaturgy to observe changes in his argumentative manner.
- Keep a notebook of recurring moral themes and rhetorical devices to help sum up the style.
About the publisher
Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.
Contents
- 1
FAQ
Is this book a Chinese translation or the German original?
According to the information, the book's language is German; it is an electronic edition of Lessing's poems in the original German, with no Chinese translation. Chinese readers need some German reading ability, or should use it with a translation and a dictionary.Can I read it without a background in German literature?
Yes, but it is advisable first to learn the basic background of the eighteenth-century Enlightenment and Lessing's main works. The poems are short; beyond the language barrier, the difficulties lie mainly in allusions and period context, and reading with introductory materials will make it much smoother.What kind of reading is the electronic edition suited to?
The book comes from Project Gutenberg and is a public-domain electronic text, suited to searching keywords, taking excerpts, and reading alongside other texts on a computer or e-reader. Since it is poetry, enlarge the font and read slowly rather than skimming in spare moments.This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.
About the author
Lessing, Gotthold Ephraim, 1729-1781 AuthorLessing, Gotthold Ephraim (1729–1781) was a major writer and critic of the German Enlightenment, whose work spanned drama, aesthetic theory, and literary criticism. The library holds 24 of his works, including the aesthetic treatise Laokoon: Or, On the Boundaries of Painting and Poetry, which examines the differences between the media of the visual arts and poetry; the plays Minna von Barnhelm and Emilia Galotti; and the verse drama Nathan the Wise, whose subjects range from bourgeois life and moral conflict to religious tolerance. His style is clear and incisive, and he advances ideas through dialogue and argument; his influence on German drama and aesthetics has been profound. Public information is limited, so biographical details are not elaborated here.