Die Ewige Weibliche
A Woman’s soul is Woman to the core,—
Not Man’s loose-fibréd and emasculate,
The feeble monster whom your moods create
To bruise as pet, to humble or adore,
In all the motions of her heart are more
Than man’s intensities of love or hate,
A strength to suffer that out-wearies fate,
And a mute patience when love’s dream is n’er (??)
The subtle ways her happy thought can find
Into the heart and secret soul of things,
Perplex the plodding and earth-delving mind
That creeps on crutches while she soars on wings.
The Eternal Womanly in the Life of All
Flows through her open soul, and shapes her coronal!
- Title
- Die Ewige Weibliche
- The Eternal Feminine
- First Line
- A Woman’s soul is Woman to the core
- Creator
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- Bibliographic Citation
- George S. Burleigh Papers, 1825-1902. John Hay Library, Brown University. Miscellaneous Manuscripts, "E" folder, HA1067
- Date
- Date tbd
- Subject
- Woman
- Philosophy
- Comments
- Signed with address of 69 College Street [Providence] so this likely dates it to the 1880s-1903 period
- This may be more of a gloss than a translation, per se. In any case, given George S. Burleigh's pro-feminist perspectives, it is significant that he as drawn to this famous concept of "The Eternal Feminine" as enunicated by Goethe.
- Wikipedia article on The Eternal Feminine
- Related Resource
-
Translations by George S. Burleigh
- Rating
- ★★★
- translator
-
George Shepard Burleigh