Quotes from book
Roman Elegies

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Original title Römische Elegien (German)

The Roman Elegies is a cycle of twenty-four poems by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.


Johann Wolfgang von Goethe photo
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe photo
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe photo
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe photo

“A world without love would be no world.”

Elegy 2
Roman Elegies (1789)

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe photo
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe photo

“Though you're a whole world, Rome, still, without Love,
The world isn't the world, and Rome can't be Rome.”

Elegy 1
Roman Elegies (1789)
Context: I'm gazing at church and palace, ruin and column,
Like a serious man making sensible use of a journey,
But soon it will happen, and all will be one vast temple,
Love's temple, receiving its new initiate.
Though you're a whole world, Rome, still, without Love,
The world isn't the world, and Rome can't be Rome.

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