Prometheus is a poem by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German writer, pictorial artist, biologist, theoretical physicist, and polymath. He is considered the supreme genius of modern German literature. His works span the fields of poetry, drama, prose, philosophy, and science. His Faust has been called the greatest long...

, in which the character of the mythic Prometheus

Prometheus

In Greek mythology, Prometheus is a Titan, the son of Iapetus and Themis, and brother to Atlas, Epimetheus and Menoetius. He was a champion of mankind, known for his wily intelligence, who stole fire from Zeus and gave it to mortals...

 addresses God (as Zeus

Zeus

In the ancient Greek religion, Zeus was the "Father of Gods and men" who ruled the Olympians of Mount Olympus as a father ruled the family. He was the god of sky and thunder in Greek mythology. His Roman counterpart is Jupiter and his Etruscan counterpart is Tinia.Zeus was the child of Cronus...

) in misotheist

Misotheism

Misotheism is the "hatred of God" or "hatred of the gods" . In some varieties of polytheism, it was considered possible to inflict punishment on gods by ceasing to worship them...

 accusation and defiance. The poem was written between 1772 and 1774 and first published in 1789 after an anonymous and unauthorised publication in 1785 by Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi

Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi

Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi was an influential German philosopher, literary figure, socialite and the younger brother of poet Johann Georg Jacobi...

. It is an important work of the Sturm und Drang

Sturm und Drang

Sturm und Drang is a proto-Romantic movement in German literature and music taking place from the late 1760s through the early 1780s, in which individual subjectivity and, in particular, extremes of emotion were given free expression in reaction to the perceived constraints of rationalism...

 movement.

In early editions of the Collected Works it appeared in Volume II of Goethe's poems in a section of Vermischte Gedichte (assorted poems), shortly following the Gesang der Geister über den Wassern, and the Harzreise im Winter. It is immediately followed by "Ganymed"

Ganymed (Goethe)

Ganymed is a poem by Johann Wolfgang Goethe, in which the character of the mythic youth Ganymede is seduced by God through the beauty of Spring....

, and the two poems together should be understood as a pair. Both belong to the period 1770–1775. Prometheus (1774) was planned as a drama but not completed, but this poem draws upon it. Prometheus is the creative and rebellious spirit which, rejected by God, angrily defies him and asserts itself; Ganymede

Ganymede (mythology)

In Greek mythology, Ganymede is a divine hero whose homeland was Troy. Homer describes Ganymede as the most beautiful of mortals. In the best-known myth, he is abducted by Zeus, in the form of an eagle, to serve as cup-bearer in Olympus. Some interpretations of the myth treat it as an allegory of...

 is the boyish self which is adored and seduced by God. One is the lone defiant, the other the yielding acolyte. As the humanist poet, Goethe presents both identities as aspects or forms of the human condition.

Although the setting is classical, the address to the Judaeo-Christian God is suggested by the section beginning "Da ich ein Kind war..." ("When I was a child"): the use of Da is distinctive, and by it Goethe evokes the Luther

Martin Luther

Martin Luther was a German priest, professor of theology and iconic figure of the Protestant Reformation. He strongly disputed the claim that freedom from God's punishment for sin could be purchased with money. He confronted indulgence salesman Johann Tetzel with his Ninety-Five Theses in 1517...

an translation of Saint Paul

Paul of Tarsus

Paul the Apostle , also known as Saul of Tarsus, is described in the Christian New Testament as one of the most influential early Christian missionaries, with the writings ascribed to him by the church forming a considerable portion of the New Testament...

's First Epistle to the Corinthians

First Epistle to the Corinthians

The first epistle of Paul the apostle to the Corinthians, often referred to as First Corinthians , is the seventh book of the New Testament of the Bible...

, 13:11: "Da ich ein Kind war, da redete ich wie ein Kind..." ("When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things"). Unlike St Paul, Goethe's Prometheus grew up to disbelieve in the divine heart moved to pity for the afflicted.

The poem was set to music by J. F. Reichardt

Johann Friedrich Reichardt

Johann Friedrich Reichardt was a German composer, writer and music critic.-Early life:Reichardt was born in Königsberg, East Prussia, to lutenist and Stadtmusiker Johann Reichardt . Johann Friedrich began his musical training, in violin, keyboard, and lute, as a child...

, Schubert

Franz Schubert

Franz Peter Schubert was an Austrian composer.Although he died at an early age, Schubert was tremendously prolific. He wrote some 600 Lieder, nine symphonies , liturgical music, operas, some incidental music, and a large body of chamber and solo piano music...

 (see "Prometheus

Prometheus (art song)

"Prometheus" is an intensely dramatic art song composed by Franz Schubert in October 1819 to a poem of the same name by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. It was written for bass voice in the key of B major, but the key moves repeatedly through various major to minor tonalities, ending in C major...

", 1819), Hugo Wolf

Hugo Wolf

Hugo Wolf was an Austrian composer of Slovene origin, particularly noted for his art songs, or lieder. He brought to this form a concentrated expressive intensity which was unique in late Romantic music, somewhat related to that of the Second Viennese School in concision but utterly unrelated in...

 (1889) and F.M. Einheit (1993).

Text

First Version	Second Version	English Translation	English Translation, modern
Bedecke deinen Himmel, Zeus, Mit Wolkendunst! Und übe, Knaben gleich, Der Diesteln köpft, An Eichen dich und Bergeshöhn! Mußt mir meine Erde Doch lassen stehn, Und meine Hütte, Die du nicht gebaut, Und meinen Herd, Um dessen Glut Du mich beneidest. Ich kenne nichts Ärmer's Unter der Sonn' als euch Götter. Ihr nähret kümmerlich Von Opfersteuern Und Gebetshauch Eure Majestät Und darbtet, wären Nicht Kinder und Bettler Hoffnungsvolle Toren. Da ich ein Kind war, Nicht wußt', wo aus, wo ein, Kehrte mein verirrtes Aug' Zur Sonne, als wenn drüber wär' Ein Ohr, zu hören meine Klage, Ein Herz wie meins, Sich des Bedrängten zu erbarmen. Wer half mir wider Der Titanen Übermut? Wer rettete vom Tode mich, Von Sklaverei? Hast du's nicht alles selbst vollendet, Heilig glühend Herz? Und glühtest, jung und gut, Betrogen, Rettungsdank Dem Schlafenden dadroben? Ich dich ehren? Wofür? Hast du die Schmerzen gelindert Je des Beladenen? Hast du die Tränen gestillet Je des Geängsteten? Hat nicht mich zum Manne geschmiedet, Die allmächtige Zeit Und das ewige Schicksal, Meine Herren und deine? Wähntest du etwa, Ich sollte das Leben hassen, In Wüsten fliehn, Weil nicht alle Knabenmorgen- Blütenträume reiften? Hier sitz' ich, forme Menschen Nach meinem Bilde, Ein Geschlecht, das mir gleich sei, Zu leiden, weinen, Genießen und zu freuen sich, Und dein nicht zu achten, Wie ich. (ca. 1773, manuscript from 1777, published by Fr. Jacobi 1785)	Bedecke deinen Himmel, Zeus, Mit Wolkendunst Und übe, dem Knaben gleich, Der Disteln köpft, An Eichen dich und Bergeshöhn; Mußt mir meine Erde Doch lassen stehn Und meine Hütte, die du nicht gebaut, Und meinen Herd, Um dessen Glut Du mich beneidest. Ich kenne nichts Ärmeres Unter der Sonn als euch, Götter! Ihr nähret kümmerlich Von Opfersteuern Und Gebetshauch Eure Majestät Und darbtet, wären Nicht Kinder und Bettler Hoffnungsvolle Toren. Da ich ein Kind war, Nicht wußte, wo aus noch ein, Kehrt ich mein verirrtes Auge Zur Sonne, als wenn drüber wär Ein Ohr, zu hören meine Klage, Ein Herz wie meins, Sich des Bedrängten zu erbarmen. Wer half mir Wider der Titanen Übermut? Wer rettete vom Tode mich, Von Sklaverei? Hast du nicht alles selbst vollendet, Heilig glühend Herz? Und glühtest jung und gut, Betrogen, Rettungsdank Dem Schlafenden da droben? Ich dich ehren? Wofür? Hast du die Schmerzen gelindert Je des Beladenen? Hast du die Tränen gestillet Je des Geängsteten? Hat nicht mich zum Manne geschmiedet Die allmächtige Zeit Und das ewige Schicksal, Meine Herrn und deine? Wähntest du etwa, Ich sollte das Leben hassen, In Wüsten fliehen, Weil nicht alle Blütenträume reiften? Hier sitz ich, forme Menschen Nach meinem Bilde, Ein Geschlecht, das mir gleich sei, Zu leiden, zu weinen, Zu genießen und zu freuen sich, Und dein nicht zu achten, Wie ich! (ca. 1789)	Shroud your heaven, Zeus, With cloudy vapours, And do as you will, like the boy That beheads thistles, With oak-trees and mountain-tops; You must my Earth Now abandon to me, And my hut, which you did not build, And my hearth, Whose glow You begrudge me. I know of nothing poorer Under the sun, than you, Gods! You are barely nourished By sacrificial offerings And prayerful exhalations Your Majesty And would starve, were Not children and beggars Hopeful fools. When I was a child, And did not know the in or out, I turned my wandering eyes toward The sun, as if beyond it there were An ear to hear my lament, A heart like mine, To take pity on the afflicted. Who helped me Against the Titans' mischief? Who delivered me from Death, From Slavery? Did you not accomplish it all yourself, Holy, burning Heart? And glowed, young and good, Deceived, your thanks for salvation To the sleeping one above? I should honour you? For what? Have you softened the sufferings, Ever, of the burdened? Have you stilled the tears, Ever, of the anguished? Was I not forged as a Man By almighty Time And the eternal Fate, My masters and yours? Do you somehow imagine I should hate life, Flee to the desert, Because not every Flowering dream may bloom? Here I sit, forming people In my image; A race, to be like me, To suffer, to weep, To enjoy and delight themselves, And to mock you – As I do!	Cover your heaven, Zeus, With foggy clouds, And try yourselve, like a boy Who beheads thistles, On oak-trees and mountain-tops; You still must leave my Earth to me, And my hut, which you did not build, And my stove, Whose glow You envy me. I know no poorer creatures Under the sun, than you, Gods! You barely sustain yourself From sacrificial offerings And exhalated prayers Your Majesty And would wither, were Not children and beggars Hopeful fools. When I was a child, And did not know where from or to, I turned my seeking eye toward The sun, as if beyond there was An ear to hear my complaint, A heart like mine, To have mercy with the embattled one. Who helped me Against the Titans' might? Who saved me from Death, From Slavery? Did you not accomplish it all yourself, Holy glowing Heart? And glowed, young and good, Deceived, thanks for salvation To the sleeping one up there? Shall I honour you? What for? Have you softened the pains, Ever, of a burdened one? Have you silenced the tears, Ever, of an anguished one? Was I not forged into a Man By almighty Time And eternal Fate, My masters and yours? Do you imagine I should hate life, Flee to the desert, Because not every Flowering dream bloomed? Here I sit, forming humans In my image; A people to be like me, To suffer, to weep, To enjoy and to delight themselves, And to not attend to you – As I.

Sources

• J. W. Goethe, Goethe's Werke: Vollständige Ausgabe letzter Hand (Vol. II, pp. 76–78). (J. G. Cotta'sche Buchhandlung, Stuttgart and Tübingen 1827).
• J. W. Goethe, Gedichte (Aufbau-Verlag, Berlin and Tübingen 1988)
• J. W. Goethe, Werke Hamburger Ausgabe in 14 Bänden (Vol. 1 Gedichte und Epen I, pp. 44–46). München, 1998.
• Dr Martin Luther
  Martin Luther
  Martin Luther was a German priest, professor of theology and iconic figure of the Protestant Reformation. He strongly disputed the claim that freedom from God's punishment for sin could be purchased with money. He confronted indulgence salesman Johann Tetzel with his Ninety-Five Theses in 1517...
  
  , Die Bibel, oder die ganze Heilige Schrift des Alten und Neuen Testaments.