Römische Elegien

In these lyrical elegies Goethe transports the listener to the timeless streets of ancient Rome, where marble columns and crumbling ruins become the backdrop for a restless wanderer’s yearning. The verses weave together personal desire, mythic allusion, and the bustling pulse of the city, letting the voice of a modern poet converse with the ghosts of gods, emperors and lovers alike. With a tone that shifts from reflective reverence to playful provocation, the poems invite you to linger over every whispered oath and echoing footstep.

Throughout the collection, love is portrayed as both a fierce arrow and a tender flame, its consequences rendered in vivid imagery ranging from moonlit festivals to the harsh judgments of the Erinyes. The work balances classical references—Mars, Rhea Silvia, the Tiber—with intimate, contemporary feelings, creating a bridge between the grandeur of antiquity and the immediacy of human emotion. Listening will feel like strolling through a Roman piazza at sunrise, where every line offers a fresh perspective on longing, destiny, and the enduring power of poetry.