The Sorrows of Young Werther
by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (translated by R.D. Boylan)

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July 26.

I have often determined not to see her so frequently. But who could keep such a resolution? Every day I am exposed to the temptation, and promise faithfully that to-morrow I will really stay away: but, when tomorrow comes, I find some irresistible reason for seeing her; and, before I can account for it, I am with her again. Either she has said on the previous evening “You will be sure to call to-morrow,” — and who could stay away then? —or she gives me some commission, and I find it essential to take her the answer in person; or the day is fine, and I walk to Walheim; and, when I am there, it is only half a league farther to her. I am within the charmed atmosphere, and soon find myself at her side. My grandmother used to tell us a story of a mountain of loadstone. When any vessels came near it, they were instantly deprived of their ironwork: the nails flew to the mountain, and the unhappy crew perished amidst the disjointed planks.

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This complete text of “The Sorrows of Young Werther” (the German “Die Leiden des jungen Werther”) by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (translated by R.D. Boylan - Edited by Nathen Haskell Dole), as well as the paintings by Caspar David Friedrich, are in the public domain.
Over at Amazon.com, you can get the book Sorrows of Young Werther and Selected Writings.
This page has been created by Philipp Lenssen.
Page last updated on April 2003. Complete book.
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