Erotica Romana by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

In the autumn of 1786, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe fled the constraints of Weimar court life for Rome—and found there a second birth. The poems he wrote in that city's golden light, known in German as the Römische Elegien and presented here under the title Erotica Romana, celebrate love in all its sensual immediacy: stolen hours in a lover's room, moonlit ruins, classical myth woven into everyday Roman street life. Candid enough to scandalize Goethe's own era, the cycle remains a masterpiece of erotic lyricism and classical poise. This edition reproduces the COMPLETE, UNABRIDGED original text, paired with a new introduction situating the poems within Goethe's Italian journey and the tradition of the Latin elegists, along with reader's notes illuminating allusions, names, and places. For poets, students, and curious readers alike. Part of The Founding Texts Library.