Humanities desk
< January 18	<< Dec \| January \| Feb >>	January 20 >

Welcome to the Wikipedia Humanities Reference Desk Archives
The page you are currently viewing is a transcluded archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current reference desk pages.

January 19[edit]

Goethe poem[edit]

This is from "Great Writings of Goethe" (1956) by Stephen Spender, p. 46. Any idea where to find the original in German? The translation below comes across as not very good.

    Reviewer (Goethe, 1776)
    Translated by Michael Hamburger

    There was a fellow dropped in for lunch,
    Didn't bother me much, I just let him munch
    Had the kind of meal I have every day
    The fellow gorged himself mightily
    And for dessert ate up what I'd stored
    But as soon as he'd left my larder cleared,
    The devil led him to my neighbor's, where
    After this fashion he discussed the fare:
    "The soup might have been more piquantly spiced,
    The roast more crisp, the wine better iced."
    A curse on that damnable knave, that evil-doer!
    Put the dog to sleep. He's a book reviewer.

Thanks. 2601:648:8200:990:0:0:0:720 (talk) 09:15, 1 9 January 2023 (UTC)

Rezensent. --Lambiam 09:21, 19 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]

By the way, Michael Hamburger was a well respected translator and I don't think it's appropriate to describe any translation by him as "not very good". --Viennese Waltz 12:13, 19 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Whether it is appropriate to rate a translation as "not very good" should depend more on the quality of the translation than on the respect bestowed upon the translator. But rating a translation without knowing the original may not be a good idea. --Lambiam 13:54, 19 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]

I actually find the translation pretty good - the style of the original is a bit doggerel (not at all the elevated style you'd expect from Goethe in his more serious poems), and the translation matches that fairly well, as far as I can judge. Fut.Perf. ☼ 13:07, 19 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks everyone. 2601:648:8200:990:0:0:0:720 (talk) 00:41, 20 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]

story of American States[edit]

When was the first Wisconsin reduced by its own preceeding governments? Was it trumblesOme of was it just history? Foster Vomabach (talk) 11:04, 19 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]

I'm not sure I understand your question. "reduced by its own preceeding governments" seems to be a meaningless phrase. Can you give more details of what you actually meant? --Jayron 32 12:56, 19 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]

I detect a whiff of troll scent. --Lambiam 13:44, 19 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]

See: Wisconsin Territory, which discusses the border changes prior to Wisconsin becoming a State. Blueboar (talk) 13:56, 19 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]