Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Born in 1749, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe is a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, critic, and amateur artist; he is considered to be a great German literary figure in the modern era.Raised in Frankfurt, Germany, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was tutored extensively in languages as a child and fascinated by writers like Homer and Ovid, and committed entire passages of their texts to heart.

Goethe anonymously released Annette, his first collection of poems, in 1770. At the completion of his studies, he composed a satirical crime comedy and developed a deep affinity for Shakespeare, the figure responsible for what he called his "personal awakening."

In 1768, he suffered a severe lung infection that caused him to spend nearly a year and half convalescing. During that time, he wrote the Leipzig Songbook, a series of ten poems set to melodies. Another of his work, The Sorrows of Young Werther (1774), also dates from this period. In 1775, He joined the royal Weimar court, and spent almost a decade dedicated to scientific and metaphysical studies. He journeyed to Italy in 1786 and the classical art he encountered in Rome inspired a play and a collection of poetry called Roman Elegies (1787).

Some of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's works include the following:

• The Sorrows of Young Werther - 1774
• Hermann and Dorothea - 1782
• Erlkönig - 1782
• Metamorphosis of Plants - 1790
• Roman Elegies - 1795
• Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship - 1796
• Elective Affinities - 1809
• Theory of Colours - 1810
• Dichtung und Wahrheit - 1811
• Goethes Werke - 1815
• Italienische Reise - 1816
• West-Ostlicher Divan - 1819
• Maxims and Reflections - 1833