In 1814, Goethe read the poems of the great fourteenth-century Persian poet Hafiz in a newly published translation by Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall.
In this much awaited new translation, Eric Ormsby\'s clear prose is accompanied by explanatory notes of both the verse in German and in English and of Goethe\'s own commentary, the `Notes and Essays for a Better Understanding of the West-Eastern Divan\'..
She became the Suleika to his Hatem and a conversation begun with Hafiz blossomed into a duet for two lovers.
At the same time he met Marianne von Willemer, with whom he rapidly fell in love.
He called Hafiz his twin and was immediately inspired to create a Divan of his own.
The book was a revelation.
In 1814, Goethe read the poems of the great fourteenth-century Persian poet Hafiz in a newly published translation by Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall
