Single-stanza Lyrics

Walther von der Vogelweide was the greatest German lyric poet of the Middle Ages. He created and performed songs for the noblest courts of the Holy Roman Empire. Though every German-speaking school-child can recite some of Walther's lines, his has languished in obscurity in the English-speaking world, largely because it has been available until now only in scattered and poorly annotated translations. Presented here is a complete, annotated edition of his Sprüche, translated with care and elegance by Frederick Goldin, in a convenient facing-page, dual-language format. These brilliant powerful strophes are masterpieces of propaganda and impassioned reflection in which the live voice of the poet and performer comes through to us today, a fierce and irresistible presence fro the past.