The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Poetry and Truth
POETRY AND TRUTH. (‘Aus meinen
Leben: Dichtung und Wahrheit’). Goethe's
‘Poetry and Truth’ is one of the great
autobiographies of the world's literature. It is
divided into four parts, the first three of
which were written and published between
1811-14, while the fourth was written mainly
in 1830-31 and published in 1833. Each part
contains five books; in style, composition and
interpretation of life, the fourth part is
inferior to the other three. The whole treats
only of the first 26 years of its author's
life, but Goethe held that “the most important
period of an individual is that of his
development.” The material is distributed in
such a way that Goethe's childhood is
narrated from book one to the middle of book
six; the account of his student-days begins
with the latter half of the sixth book and
continues through the 11th; books 12-15 are given
to the consideration of his early manhood,
when his first great successes as an author
were realized. In spite of important experiences,
part four does not open a new phase in Goethe's
development, but it does bring the outer course
of his life to its most decisive turning-point —
his departure from Weimear. Goethe wrote
‘Poetry and Truth’ from the point of view
of the scientist, the historian and the artist.
As a scientist he desired to picture his life as
developing stage by stage “according to those
laws which we observe in the metamorphosis
of the plants.” As a historian he portrayed the
general conditions of the times and revealed
the relations between them and the individual.
As an artist he did not feel tied down to facts
for their own sake, but selects those that were
of significance and moulded them so that they
might become parts of a work of art. In the
much-discussed title the word 'Poetry' refers
primarily to the artistic form of the work. One
of the chief objects of Goethe's autobiography
is to furnish a commentary for the understanding
of his works. The leading topics of the
different books are as follows: Book 1,
Goethe's birth (1749), family and native city,
Frankfort-on-the-Main; book 2, first inclinations
toward poetry, fairy tale, ‘The New
Paris’; book 3, the French in Frankfort in
consequence of the Seven Years' War, Count
Thorane quartered with the Goethes; book 4,
the boy's many-sided education, study of the
Old Testament; book 5, youthful love, coronation
of a German emperor in Frankfort. Book
6, Frankfort period concluded (1765), Goethe a
student of law and literature at the University
of Leipzig; book 7, German literature in the
middle of the 18th century, fundamentals of
Goethe's poetic talent; book 8, studies in art,
return to Frankfort (1768), experiments in
chemistry, religious convictions; book 9, Goethe
a student of law and medicine in Strassburg
(1770), German and French civilization, the
cathedral, self-education and passion; book 10,
mentor Herder, a trip through Alsace-Lorraine,
love for Friedrike Brion of Sesenheim. Book
11, love-story continued, graduation as a
student of law, alienation from French literature,
admiration for Shakespeare, departure from
Friedrike and from Alsace (1771); book 12,
back in Frankfort, the Storm and Stress period,
in Wetzlar, conditions leading to the conception
of ‘Goetz’ and ‘Werther’; book 13, trip from
Wetzlar to Frankfort, comments on ‘Werther’
continued, publication and effect of both
‘Goetz’ and ‘Werther’; book 14, Storm and
Stress again, trip down the Rhine with Lavater
and Basedow, influence of Spinoza, plan for a
drama, ‘Mahomet’; book 15, plans for an epic,
‘The Wandering Jew’ and a drama, ‘Prometheus,’
first meeting with the princes of
Weimar, idea of settling permanently in Frankfort
(winter 1774). Book 16, Spinoza again,
poetry and profession, first meeting with Lili
Schœnemann, Jung-Stilling; book 17, engagement
with Lili, social and political conditions
of the time; book 18, problems in prosody,
journey to Switzerland as far as Saint Gothard;
book 19, return to Frankfort, Lavater and his
‘Physiognomy,’ engagement with Lili broken,
‘Egmont’ begun; book 20, invitations from
Weimar, the demonic influence in life,
‘Egmont’ continued, journey to Weimar (November
1775). Consult edition of Goethe's works
in ‘Deutsche National-Literatur’ (Vols. XVII-XX,
1882-98); English translation by J. Oxenford,
‘The Autobiography of Goethe,’ “Truth
and Poetry: From my own Life” (London
1846-48; new ed, rev., ib. 1881-84); Alt, C.,
‘Studien zur Entstehungsgeschichte von Goethes
Dichtung und Wahrheit’ (1898); Roethe, G.,
‘Dichtung und Wahrheit’ (in Berichte des
Freien Deutschen Hochstiftes, Jahrgang 1901,
Frankfort am Main).