West-Eastern Divan

In 1814, Goethe read the poems of the great fourteenth-century Persian poet Hafiz in a newly published translation by Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall. The book was a revelation. He called Hafiz his twin and was immediately inspired to create a Divan of his own. At the same time he met Marianne von Willemer, with whom he rapidly fell in love. She became the Suleika to his Hatem and a conversation begun with Hafiz blossomed into a duet for two lovers. In this much awaited new translation, Eric Ormsby's clear prose is accompanied by explanatory notes of both the verse in German and in English and of Goethe's own commentary, the 'Notes and Essays for a Better Understanding of the West-Eastern Divan'.