GOETHE JOHANN WOLFGANG VON (1749-1832) Lot n° 192

Autograph poem signed "Goethe", Berka 21 June 1814; 1 oblong page in-8 (a slightly yellowed edge); in German, Latin script. Epigrammatic quatrain. "Darf man das Volck betrügen? Ich sage nein! Doch willst du sie belügen, So mach es nur nicht fein". "Do we have the right to deceive the people? I say no! I say no! But if you want to lie to her, don't do it nicely." Goethe named this poem Lug oder Trug? (Lie or imposture?) by including him in the "Epigrammatisch" section of his poems (Ausgabe letzter Hand, 1827). Goethe was staying at the Bad Berka spa, a meeting place for the members of the Weimar Court.