John Anster’s Memorable Translation of a Couplet from Goethe’s Faust
Julie WinterThis paper seeks to describe and provide context for the translator John Anster’s rendering of a couplet from the Prelude in Goethe’s Faust. Anster’s translation of a portion of Goethe’s drama was published in 1820, making him the first English translator of a number of large extracts from the text. The couplet is of interest because it has become notable in English and is often used to inspire and motivate readers. Yet when we compare Anster’s version to the original German, we see a very free rendering, one that brings up intriguing questions about the nature of translating poetry. We also see that Anster has been frequently criticized for straying too far from Goethe’s lines.A close comparison of Anster’s translation to Goethe’s passage containing the couplet serves to illuminate how Anster’s rendering diverges from the original. Lawrence Venuti’s theoretical approach that describes a type of translation he calls “the poet’s version” (2011) provides a useful framework for understanding some of the issues raised by this particular translation. By delving into Anster’s rendering of this memorable quotation, we gain insight into the early history of translating Faust into English, the phenomenon of rendering poetry into another language, and the life of this particular couplet long after Anster’s time.
