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1749-1832 The German poet,
scientist, botanist and philosopher, dedicated the poem below to his former
lover Marianne von Willemer. The Ginkgo leaf symbolizes Goethe's theme,
one and double. The Ginkgo tree that was Goethe's inspiration to write
the poem in 1815, grew in Heidelberg, Germany. On the picture below you
see the poem in Goethe's original handwriting.
This poem was published in Goethe's work 'West-östlichen Divan' (book Suleika) of 1819, titled 'Gingo biloba' for literally reasons. |
Meinem Garten anvertraut, Gibt geheimen Sinn zu kosten, Wie's den Wissenden erbaut. Ist es ein
lebendig Wesen,
Solche Frage
zu erwidern,
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Goethe sent Marianne von Willemer a Ginkgo-leaf
and on September 15, 1815 on the Gerbermühle in Frankfurt (Germany)
he read his draft of the poem to her and friends.
On September 23, 1815 he saw Marianna
for the last time. Then he showed her the Ginkgo tree in the garden of
the castle in Heidelberg from which tree he took the two leaves pasted
by him on the poem. The tree no longer exists. After that he wrote the
poem shown above and sent it to Marianne on September 27, 1815.
So the date '15.9.1815' only refers
to his evening on the Gerbermühle.
The poem was published in his work 'West-östlichen
Divan' (Book 'Suleika'), first published in 1819. Suleika is Marianne von
Willemer. In his work Goethe changed Ginkgo into Gingo for literary
reasons (East ->West?).
200th
anniversary of
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Translations
English
This leaf
from a tree in the East,
Does it
represent One living creature
To reply
to such a Question,
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Japanese
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Spanish
Las hojas
de este árbol, que del Oriente
¿Será
este árbol extraño algún ser vivo
La clave
de este enigma tan inquietante
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French
La feuille
de cet arbre
Serait-ce
là un être unique
Répondant
à cette question
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Italian
Le foglie
di quest'albero dall'Oriente venuto a ornare il mio giardino
C'è
in esso una creatura
Per chiarire
il mistero
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Dutch
Zie dit
kleinood in mijn gaarde:
Leeft het
als een enkel wezen,
Langzaam
rijpende ideeën
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Read
other poems about the Ginkgo:
by Howard Nemerov,
Poet Laureate of the U.S.A.:
click here.
by the
Spanish poet Elena Martín Vivaldi: click here.
by Eve Merriam:
click
here.
© Cor Kwant