A Goethe Poem

One of Goethe's most famous poems...

The Artist’s Evening Song

Oh, for some inner creative force

Through my mind, echoing!

That through my hands might course

A sap-filled blossoming.

I only shudder, I only stutter,

And yet can’t halt: at last,

I feel I know you, Nature,

And must hold you fast.

When I think how all these years

My powers have been growing,

And where barren heath appeared

Now streams of joy are flowing:

How I yearn for you, Nature, then,

And long for you, with faith and love!

For me you’ll be the leaping fountain,

A thousand springs will hurl above.

And every single power

In my mind you’ll heighten,

And this narrow being-here

To Eternity you’ll widen.

In Goethe's poem he praises nature and the creative powers it offers him. His quest for knowledge is apparent as he praises his "heightening mind". This is a great example of Goethe's quest for knowledge. Grass compares Goethe with Apollo and Oskar looks up to the both of them. I can see clear parallels between Apollo and Goethe as Apollo is associated with self-control, delight and intellectual inquiry. Goethe upholds all of these qualities as he delights in creative growth from nature.