David Luke (1921–2005) was a scholar of German literature at Christ Church, Oxford. He was renowned for his translations of

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as t ...

Thomas Mann Paul Thomas Mann ( , ; ; 6 June 1875 – 12 August 1955) was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novell ...

Heinrich von Kleist Bernd Heinrich Wilhelm von Kleist (18 October 177721 November 1811) was a German poet, dramatist, novelist, short story writer and journalist. His best known works are the theatre plays '' Das Käthchen von Heilbronn'', ''The Broken Jug'', ''Amph ...

Eduard Mörike Eduard Friedrich Mörike (8 September 18044 June 1875) was a German Lutheran pastor who was also a Romantic poet and writer of novellas and novels. Many of his poems were set to music and became established folk songs, while others were used by ...

Adalbert Stifter Adalbert Stifter (; 23 October 1805 – 28 January 1868) was an Austrian writer, poet, painter, and pedagogue. He was notable for the vivid natural landscapes depicted in his writing and has long been popular in the German-speaking world, while ...

and the

Brothers Grimm The Brothers Grimm ( or ), Jacob (1785–1863) and Wilhelm (1786–1859), were a brother duo of German academics, philologists, cultural researchers, lexicographers, and authors who together collected and published folklore. They are among the ...

. He won the European Poetry Translation Prize – subsequently renamed the

Popescu Prize The Popescu Prize is a biennial poetry award established in 1983.Popescu Prize
, official w ...

– in 1989 for his translation of

Part I Part, parts or PART may refer to: People *Armi Pärt (born 1991), Estonian handballer *Arvo Pärt (born 1935), Estonian classical composer * Brian Part (born 1962), American child actor * Dealtry Charles Part (1882–1961), sheriff (1926–1927) ...

of Goethe's ''Faust''. In 2000, the German-British Forum awarded him a medal of honour for his contributions to cultural relations between the UK and Germany. According to one 2017 appraisal, Luke's translation of Goethe's ''Faust'' is said to "allow Goethe's complex and varied meanings to emerge, including his philosophic and religious skepticism" and is described as "being more open to the conflicts and contradictions, theological and secular, virtues and vices, and idealism and cynicism than many translations into English". Luke described translation as being "the art of the least intolerable sacrifice ... the instinctive choice between competing imperfections". His literary agent and others have commented that he was "famed for his love of playing

Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...

at maximum volume". He was friends with

W. H. Auden Wystan Hugh Auden (; 21 February 1907 – 29 September 1973) was a British-American poet. Auden's poetry was noted for its stylistic and technical achievement, its engagement with politics, morals, love, and religion, and its variety in ...

and

Iris Murdoch Dame Jean Iris Murdoch ( ; 15 July 1919 – 8 February 1999) was an Irish and British novelist and philosopher. Murdoch is best known for her novels about good and evil, sexual relationships, morality, and the power of the unconscious. Her ...

Translations

* 1964 –

, ''Selected Verse'', Penguin * 1966 – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, ''Conversations and Encounters'', Oswald Wolff * 1968 –

, ''Limestone and Other Stories'', Harcourt, Brace & World * 1968 – Adalbert Stifter, , Cape Editions * 1977 – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, '' Roman Elegies'', Chatto & Windus * 1978 –

, '' The Marquise of O'', Penguin * 1982 – Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, ''Selected Tales'', Penguin * 1987 – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, ''

Faust, Part One ''Faust: A Tragedy'' (german: Faust. Eine Tragödie, links=no, , or aust. The tragedy's first part is the first part of the tragic play ''Faust'' by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, and is considered by many as the greatest work of German literature ...

'', Oxford University Press * 1987 – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, ''

Hermann and Dorothea ''Hermann and Dorothea'' is an epic poem, an idyll, written by German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe between 1796 and 1797, and was to some extent suggested by Johann Heinrich Voss's ''Luise'', an idyll in hexameters, which was first published i ...

'' * 1988 –

, ''

Death in Venice ''Death in Venice ''(German: ''Der Tod in Venedig'') is a novella by German author Thomas Mann, published in 1912. It presents an ennobled writer who visits Venice and is liberated, uplifted, and then increasingly obsessed by the sight of a Poli ...

'', Bantam Books * 1988 – Thomas Mann, '' The Road to the Churchyard'' * 1994 – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, ''

Faust, Part Two ''Faust: The Second Part of the Tragedy'' (german: Faust. Der Tragödie zweiter Teil in fünf Akten.) is the second part of the tragic play ''Faust'' by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. It was published in 1832, the year of Goethe's death. Only part o ...

'', Oxford World Classics * 1994 – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, ''Erotic Poems'', Oxford World Classics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Luke, David 1921 births 2005 deaths People associated with Christ Church, Oxford Literary scholars 20th-century British translators Translators of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Translators of Thomas Mann