/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.7950558]

hey /lit/, what is the best English translation of Faust? I've been told that David Luke's is the best, but i want to know your opinions.

[Anonymous No.7950560]

>>7950558
>translation

[Anonymous No.7950594]

>>7950558
>translation

[Anonymous No.7950659]

>>7950558
I guess you mean Goethe's?
I like Philip Wayne's.

Faust - A knock? Come in! Who troubles now my rest?
Mephistopheles - 'Tis I.
Faust - Come in!
Mephistopheles - I wait a third request.
Faust - Come in, then
Mephistopheles - That's the welcome I desire!
I hope our friendship ripens well:
I come, your megrims to dispel,
In likeness of a noble squire,
My coat embroidered, gold on red,
My cloak of heavy silk brocade,
A feathered cap upon my head,
And at my side a saucy blade.
I recommend for you, in short,
A outfit of a similar sort:
With freedom such as gods may give,
Discover what it means to live!
Faust - The pain of life, that haunts our narrow way,
I cannot shed with this or that attire.
Too old am I to be content with play,
Too young to live untroubled by desire.
What comfort can the shallow world bestow?
Renunciation! - Learn, man, to forgo!
This is the lasting theme of themes,
That soon or late will show its power,
The tune that lurks in all our dreams,
And the hoarse whisper of each hour.
Yet, each new day I shudder when I wake
With bitter tears to look upon the sun,
Knowing that in the journey he will make
None of my longings will come true, not one;
To see the tendrils of my joys that start,
Cankered with doubts, the mind's self-conscious tares,
To feel creation stir a generous heart,
Only to fail before life's mocking cares.
And when soft night has shrouded all the west,
My anxious soul will beg her peace supreme;
But still I lie forsaken, for my rest
Is shattered by the wildness that I dream.
The god who dwells enthroned within my breast
Can stir my inner vision's deepest springs,
But he who binds my strength to his behest
Brings no command to sway external things.
Thus life has taught me, with its weary weight,
To long for death, and the dear light to hate.
Mephistopheles - Yet death's no welcome stranger at the gate!
Faust - Happy the man, on whose heroic brow
He binds the blood-stained wreath, the victor's palms;
Or rapturous dancer, whom the fates allow
To meet the call within his loved one's arms.
Would I could know that lofty spirit's might,
To sink my soul, entranced, in endless night.
Mephistopheles - Yet, at a midnight hour, the chance was wasted,
When someone let a phial go untasted.

cont'd

[Anonymous No.7950703]

>>7950558
arndt if you want to read a lot of notes and critical essays. some of his phrasing is a bit stilted.

luke is fine. just general all purpose good.

harold bloom likes atkins. strongest focus on rhythm of the major translations. i think it's fine as well.

greenberg is an interesting darkhorse contender. some modernized colloquialisms.

bayard taylor if you want to read the most widely read one historically (i think?). poetic, but definitely reads like shakespeare.

[Anonymous No.7951953]

The Penguin one.