"But I had found it: I did find and know an exalted mind, which raised me beyond myself, and made me all that I am capable of being. All the powers of my soul were extended, and the deep sentiment which nature engraved on my heart, was unfolded."

— Goethe, Johann Wolfgang (1749-1832)


Place of Publication
Leipzig
Publisher
Weygand'sche Buchhandlung
Date
1774, rev. 1787, 1779 in English
Metaphor
"But I had found it: I did find and know an exalted mind, which raised me beyond myself, and made me all that I am capable of being. All the powers of my soul were extended, and the deep sentiment which nature engraved on my heart, was unfolded."
Metaphor in Context
Why have I no longer the friend of my youth? or why did I ever know her? I might say to myself, "Werter, it is a vain pursuit; thou art seeking what is not to be found!" But I had found it: I did find and know an exalted mind, which raised me beyond myself, and made me all that I am capable of being. All the powers of my soul were extended, and the deep sentiment which nature engraved on my heart, was unfolded. What an intercourse! Our ideas, our expressions, were those of nature; and the purest affection warmed our hearts: and now--but she was before me in the career; she is gone, and has left me alone in the world. Her memory will be ever dear to my heart. Oh! I can never forget the strength of her mind, and the indulgence of her temper.
(Vol. I, Letter VI [May 17], pp. 17-18)

Ach, daß die Freundin meiner Jugend dahin ist, ach, daß ich sie je gekannt habe! – ich würde sagen: du bist ein Tor! Du suchst, was hienieden nicht zu finden ist! Aber ich habe sie gehabt, ich habe das Herz gefühlt, die große Seele, in deren Gegenwart ich mir schien mehr zu sein, als ich war, weil ich alles war, was ich sein konnte. Guter Gott! Blieb da eine einzige Kraft meiner Seele ungenutzt? Konnt' ich nicht vor ihr das ganze wunderbare Gefühl entwickeln, mit dem mein Herz die Natur umfaßt? War unser Umgang nicht ein ewiges Weben von der feinsten Empfindung, dem schärfsten Witze, dessen Modifikationen, bis zur Unart, alle mit dem Stempel des Genies bezeichnet waren? Und nun! – ach ihre Jahre, die sie voraus hatte, führten sie früher ans Grab als mich. Nie werde ich sie vergessen, nie ihren festen Sinn und ihre göttliche Duldung.
(Den 17. Mai, p. 11 in Reclam) [Engraving is not in the German]
Provenance
Google Books
Citation
An international bestseller with 27 entries for the uniform title "Leiden des jungen Werthers. English" in the ESTC (1779, 1780, 1781, 1782, 1783, 1784, 1785, 1786, 1787, 1788, 1789, 1790, 1791, 1793, 1794, 1795, 1796, 1799).

I consulted, concurrently, the German and eighteenth-century English translations. See Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, The Sorrows of Werter: a German Story. 2 vols (London: Printed for J. Dodsley, 1779), <Link to ECCO>. But, note, the translation is not always literal; the translator repeatedly tones down Werther's figurative language (especially, it seems, in the second volume): "A few expressions which had this appearance [of extravagance] have been omitted by the French, and a few more by the English translator, as they might possibly give offence in a work of this nature" (Preface).

Searching English text from a 1784 printing (Dodsley, "A New Edition") in Google Books <Link to volume I><Link to voume II>

Reading Die Leiden des jungen Werther (Stuttgart: Reclam, 2002). German text from http://gutenberg.spiegel.de/buch/3636/1. Printed in 1774 in Leipzig, Weygand'sche Buchhandlung.
Date of Entry
07/14/2013

The Mind is a Metaphor is authored by Brad Pasanek, Assistant Professor of English, University of Virginia.