Primer of German literature; (based on the work of Professor Kluge)

.'at.'iA

PRIMER

GERMAN LITERATURE

(JUfSXD ON TBB WORK OF PROFESSOR KLUQB)

ISABEL T. LUBLIN F. R Hist. Soa

hklden kholak, hbiiiaio( MXDALLiar, nHrrmsiTr oollku lohsom

TUTOB HOBTH IXUTDOM OOLLHUATK BCBOOL rOB OUUa

FOURTH

EDITION.

LONDON

SWAN SONNENSCHEIN AND CO., Ltd.

PATERNOSTER SQUARE

1904

SOME OPINIONS OF THE PRESS.

" In the oompaas of some 270 pages the authoress presents us with
an able summary of Qerman literature, well adapted for reference
or to form a basis for a more extended study of the subject. By
means of careful though not undue compression an immense amount
of valuable information has been included in a very handy volume.
A capital summary of each minor author and his works has been
given, while Goethe, Schiller, Lessing, Heine and other famous
writers are treated at some length and with much good sense and
judgment. We are glad to be able to call the attention of our readers
to this useful book ; such a woi^ was really much wanted." — School-
master.

"A small work of invaluable service to students of literature, and
especially to those who seek knowledge and intellectual enjoyment
in the vast stores of poesy, science and philosophy treasured up in
the works of German writers. Although the matter is necessarily
condensed, the book is written in a style that makes it attractive to
the general reader who might otherwise not turn to it for reference.
The intention of the authoress has evidently been to smooth away
difficulties for others which she as a student has experienced and
had, without much assistance, to overcome. After a careful perusal
of the handy little volume we are of opinion she has thoroughly
succeeded." — Liverpool Citizen.

"A handy smd, so far as we have been able to examine, a fairly
accurate outline of the literary history of Germany." — AthencBum.

"The conciseness and simplicity with which it is written make
it especially useful for students who wish to acquire rapidly a good
general view of its subject." — Seotsman.

LONDON : SWAN SONNENSCHEIN AND CO., Ltd.

F1B8T Edition, November, 1887.
Sboond Edition, March, 1894.
Third Edition, April, 1897.
FouBTH Edition, April, 1904.

PREFACE.

The want of a Primer of the History of
Grerman Literature has been much felt by me,
not only whilst myself reading, but also whilst
subsequently engaged in reading with others.
I have, therefore, determined to publish this
book, in the hope that it may be useful to
those who are interested in the study of this
subject, and to any one who desires to rapidly
ascertain the leading facts in the history of
Grerman Literature.

I trust that the dates — to verify which no
pains have been spared — will be found accurate,
and that this Primer may really prove a step-
ping-stone to a more extensive study of the
literature of Germany.

I T. LUBLIN.

^Bl^^

INTEODUCTION.

dRau—BLCLti^ua^t— (penob6.

Gebman Literature for our present purpose is to
be held as including those works only which are
thoroughly German in sentiment as well as in lan-
guage, that is to say, which reflect the opinions, cus-
toms, and ideas characteristic of that nation. It does
not include, therefore, the whole of the productions of
the German people, such for example as learned and
scientific treatises, which have nothing national ahout
them ; its object being to exhibit the mental condition
of that people from age to age as traceable in its
writings.

The Germans are descended from the Teutonic
branch of the great Aryan stock (Sanscrit dryas,
the mighty ones) whicli was indigenous to the high-
lands of Central Asia; they migrated thence at a very
early period, and gradually spread over the Northern
and Central parts of Europe, each tribe assuming a

A

2 INTRODUCTION.

different designation. One branch of the Aryan race
remained north of the Hindu- Koosh under the name
of Iranians; another pressed south through the passes of
those mountains into the fertile country of the Indus,
receiving on that account the title of Indians; while
the majority wandered off to the far west, and have
become known to us as Greeks, Romans, Celts, Ger-
mans, Lithuanians, and Slavs. The languages spoken
by all these brunches constitute the Indo-Germanic, or
more strictly the Indo-European Stock, to which be-
long, in Asia : —

Sanscrit (the "perfect" language), in which the
sacred writings of the Indians are composed.

Zend or Old Bactrian, the language of the sacred
writings of the Parsees, and

Old Persian.

The European branches of this Stock are : —

1. Greek.

2. Latin : including Eomanic, Italian, Spanish, Por-
tuguese, French, and Wallachian.

3. Slavic : including Russian, Polish, Czech, Wen-
dish, Servian, and New and Old Bulgarian. The latter
is the Slaviansk or Holy Slavic, into which Cyrillus
and Methodius translated the Bible, a.d. 800-900.

4 Lithuanian, with its cognate dialects, the Old
Prussian and Lettic.

5. Celtic. — Remains of which are found in Ireland,
the Highlands of Scotland (Gaelic), Wales (Kymric),
and Brittany.

6. German.

LANGUAGE.

Dialects of the Germanic Branch,

1. Gothic, the oldest known language of the Ger-
manic or Teutonic branch, is distinguished by pure
vowels and great variety and regularity in the forma-
tion of its cases, &c. Thus : Nom. dags (day). Gen.
dagis. Dat. daga. Ace. dag. Plural, Nom, dagos.
Gen. dage. Dat. dagam. Ace. dagans. In Gothic the
passive is formed by simple inflection without an
auxiliary verb, as haita, I call, haitada, I am called.

2. The Old Norse dialect, now found developed in
the Scandinavian tongues, is the principal source of
our knowledge of German Mythology, the records of
Pagan legends having been, to but a small extent, com-
mitted to writing in Germany in consequence of the
early victory of Christianity. To Iceland, however,
Christianity only penetrated in a.d. 1000, and the
legends of the gods were preserved under the especial
care of the Bards or Skalds. Under the curious title
of Edda or Great Grandmother, two collections of these
Myths were produced, the older, or poetic, by Saemund
Sigfusson, the later in prose, it is believed, by Snorri
Sturleson.

3. The Low German form, comprising: — (1) the
various dialects of Piatt Deutsch (flat German) spoken
in the plains of North Germany, its oldest form being
the Old Saxon; (2) Dutch and Flemish; (3) Frisian,
now all but extinct; and (4) Anglo-Saxon, which
forms the main element of our English tongue. The

4 INTRODUCTION.

old German epic of " Beowulf " is written in Anglo-
Saxon.

4. Higri drerman languages, comprising the various
dialects of South Germany and the German part of
Switzerland : the Alemannic, Franconian, Swabian,
dnd Bavaro-Austrian. The High German of the
earlier ages, dating from a period anterior to Charle-
magne down to A.D. 1100, embraces chiefly the de-
velopment of the Franconian dialect, now bearing the
name of " Old High German " ; while that of the next
three centuries, when the Swabian dialect pre-
dominated, is distinguished as "Middle High German,"
A.D. 1100-1300. By Luther's translation of the Bible
and his other writings, the " New High German " be-
came definitely established as the written, and more
and more exclusively the spoken, language of all the
countries inhabited by Germans.

Periods.

The following are the periods into which German
Literature may conveniently be divided : —

1. From the earliest times to Chailemagne (a.d.
800). This is chiefly occupied by the old heathen
legends.

2. From Charlemagne to the beginning of the 12th
century. Paganism disappears ; Literature falls into
the hands of the Clergy (a.d. 800-1100).

3. First Classical Period. Poetry in the hands of
Nobles; "Court" poets (a.d. 1100-1300).

fEMODS. 5

4 Poetry practised by Citizens and Guilds ; " Mei-
8ter-singers"(A.D. 1300-1500).

5. Period of the Reformation (a.d. 1500-1624).

6. Literature in the hands of Men of Letters (1624-
1748).

7. Second Classical Period (from 1748).

FIRST PERIOD.

From the Earliest Times to Charlemagne.

Tacitus in his Gennania tells us all that can safely
be accepted as true about the poetry of the ancient
Germans. He makes special allusion to their songs,
by the singing of which they signalized a feast or a
battle. In these songs, which are the only proofs
he brings forward that the Germans possessed any
literature at all, they celebrated gods and heroes, and
more particularly their ancestors, Tuisko, or Tuisto,
the earth-born god, and his son Mannus (Germania
Cap. II.), as the founders of the nation. Hercules was
also commemorated by them in song (Ger. Cap. III.),
and Arminius (Annals Cap. II.), their deliverer from
the Roman yoke. A peculiar custom is mentioned by
the same historian, that in going out to battle the
Germans intensified their battle-cry by holding their
shields before their mouths — their intention being to
frighten their enemies, and their expectation of victory
being proportioned to the loudness of the cry. This
manner of singing they called Barditus (derived from
the Old Norse bardhi, a shield, or according to Mlillen-
hoff, the beard-song). This word, Barditus, gave rise

t7ll>HtLA8 BIBLE. 7

to the mistaken idea that the Germans had a pro-
fessional race of minstrels called Bards.

Translation of the Bible by Ulphilas.

Amongst all the German tribes the Goths were the
most cultured, and the first to undergo conversion to
Christianity. A Gothic translation of the Bible is the
oldest work written in the German language, the
translator being a bishop of the Visigoths, by name
Ulphilas (Gothic Vulfila, little wolf), who was born
A.D. 311, and died in Constantinople at the age of
seventy. This writer translated the whole Bible,
with the exception of the Book of Kings, which he
omitted for fear of additionally inflaming the war-
like instincts of his people. The alphabet used by
Ulphilas consisted partly of the old Runic letters
(rfina, secret knowledge), which were generally re-
stricted to religious uses ; to this foundation he added
certain Latin and Greek characters, forming the
Gothic alphabet out of these three elements. A com-
plete copy of this translation does not exist, but
several important fragments are extant One of these
was found in the sixteenth century at the Abbey of
Werden, on the Ruhr, and is now preserved at Upsala,
in Sweden. It is known as the Codex Argenteus, or
Silver Manuscript, the writing being in silver on
purple parchment ; and at a later date, Marshal La-
gardie had it bound in silver. The Codex Caroliniis at
Wolfenbiittel was discovered at Brunswick in the

8 FIRST PERIOD.

eighteenth century, but a considerable part of this
MS. is in the Koman character. There are also a few
fragments at Milan, which were found at the convent
of Bobbio, in Lombardy. Tlie opening clauses of the
Lord's Prayer will suffice to give a specimen of the
Grothic language:

Atta unsar, thu in himinam, veihnai nam6 thein,
Father our, thou in heavens, hallowed-be name thine,

qimai thiudinassus theins, vairthai vilja tlieins, sve in

come dominion thine, done be will thine, as in

himina, jah ana airthaL

heaven, also on earth.

Popular Poetry during the Migrations.

The migrations of the tribes during the fourth, fifth
and sixth centuries, had a distinctly traceable influence
on the national poesy. A new cycle of legends arose,
which are known only from later writings, but their
origin is to be found in the migrations of this period.
They may be classed as follows :

1. The Ostrogothic. The earlier legends have for
their chief subject Hermanric, a brave and warlike
king of the Ostrogoths. A later legend has for its
hero the celebrated king Theodoric the Great, or Die-
trich of Bern {i.e. Verona). This prince founded a
kingdom in Italy, the capitals of which were succes-
sively Ravenna and Verona, from which he is called
in the legend "Prince of Verona."

\

" HILDEBRAND-LAY. 9

2. The Frankish or Lower Rhenish. The hero is
Si^fried, whose metropolis was Xanten.

3. The Burgundian. The heroes are Gunther, Ger-
not, and Giselher, their sister Kriemhilde also figuring
conspicuously, whilst Hagen and Volker predominate
amongst the vassals. The scene is laid at Worms on
the Rhine.

4. The Hunnish. The central figure, Attila, king of
the Huns, is known in the legend by the name of
Etzel (Attila diminutive of Gothic atta, father), and
his wife by that of Helche. His chief vassal is called
Rlidiger of Bechlarn.

5. The Lomhardian. Among its heroes are King
Rother, King Ortnit, Hugdietrich, and Wolfdietrich.

Hildebrand' s Song — Alliteration.

The only relic of poetry of the eighth century
is the song of Hildebrand, which treats partly of the
Gothic legend above mentioned. Hildebrand, from
whom it receives its name, is chief armourer to Dietrich
of Bern, and has fled with his master to Attila for
protection from Odoacer. After many years, Hilde-
brand returns to his home in Italy, where he had left
a young son, Hadubrand, who, not recognising his sire,
forbids his entrance. Paternal joy swells in Hilde-
brand's breast at the sight of his son, but the peculiar
notions of knightly honour then prevalent compel him to
challenge him to mortal combat, because his word lias
been doubted. The issue of the duel is not contained in

10 FIRST PERIOD.

the work, which is unfortunately only a fragment ;
but Caspar Von der Eoen, of the fifteenth century, in
his Book of Heroes, makes the father conquer his
son, and so bring him to recognition. The Song of
Hildebrand was found in the cover of a Latin prayer-
book at the Abbey of Fulda, and is now at Cassel.
The language is principally Old Low German, with
some elements of the Old High German ; the form is
alliterative, that is, those words or syllables of the
long line upon which emphasis is laid begin with the
same letter. Perhaps the most touching passage in
it is : —

" Welaga nu, waltant Got, w^-wurt skihit 1
Ih wall6ta sumar6 enti wintrd sfihstic ur lante,
D&r man mih @o scenta in folc sceotanterd,
Sd man mir at burc ffinigeru banun ni gifasta ;
Nu seal mih su^sat chind suertii hauwan,
Bretdn mit Bini\ billj^i eddo ih imo ti banin werdan."

Literal translation : —

" Woe is me now, 0 wielding God, a woful weird befalls I
I've wandered, summers and winters sixty, abroad.
Where men aye gave me a share among shooting folk,
Yet never on me at any burg a bane they fastened ;
Now me my own son with sword shall smite (hew),
Bruise with his bill (battle axe) — or I his bane become I "

Many words, now obsolete in German, may still be
found in kindred languages, such as wurtf destiny,
hretdn, whence our biittle, bani, bane.

SECOND PERIOD.

From CJiarUmagne to beginning of Twelfth Century.

A.D. 800-1100.

The reign of Charlemagne was a great turning-point
in the life and literature of the German people. That
monarch desired to unite all nations under his sway,
and convert them to Christianity ; and as one means
to this end he made every endeavour to improve the
education of the clergy. As few, if any, scholars of
eminence were to be found among the Franks, he in-
vited foreign men of letters to his Court, such as the
Anglo-Saxon Alcuin, Paul Warnefried from Lombardy,
and the Italian Peter of Pisa. Several convent schools
were established in the kingdom by Hrabanus Maurus,
a pupil of Alcuin ; the school at Fulda being only
rivalled later on by that at St. Gallen. Charlemagne
commenced by educating himself and his household,
and was not ashamed to learn writing in his old aga
He also partly composed a Grammar, and gave Grerman
names to the months. Above all, his historian Egin-
hard records that he began making a complete Cdlec-
Hon of the old German Songs.

Hi.* successor, Louis the Pious, 814-840. held other

12 dECONt) l>ERtdt).

views, and neglected the national lore, much of which
was lost, probably about this time. After the conver-
sion of the people, the old Pagan legends became pretty
well extinct The priests, who alone could write, en-
deavoured to exterminate everything that could lead
the nation to think of idolatry, and the singing of
heathen songs was strictly forbidden by the councils
of the Frankish kings. Poetry essentially Christian
arose, which was cultivated by the monks, and speci-
mens are to be found in the ninth century.

Christian Poetry — Ninth Century.

1. Wessohrunn Prayer, which received its name
from the Bavarian convent of Wessobrunn, or
Weiszenbrunn, where it was found. It is written in
alliteration, and consists of several verses describing
the time before the Creation.

2. Muspilli, also alliterative, treats of the end of the
world and the day of judgment (Muspilli is the Norse
Muspel = all-destroyer). In this poem, which reveals
evident capacity for appreciating the beauty of the
Christian faith, the earth is termed Mittil-gart, or
Middle Garden, the idea being that it is midway be-
tween Jotunheim, the world of giants, and As-gard,
the home of the ases or gods. The work was found in
the convent of Emmeran, and was written in a prayer-
book.

3. Heliand (Old Saxon for Healer, Saviour). This
poem, a Harmony of the Gospels, contains nearly 6000

" MUSPILLI." " HELIAND." 13

lines of alliterative verse. Though alleged to have
been "composed by a peasant at the command of
Louis the Pious," it shows too close an acquaintance
with the Latin Gospels, and even with many of the
Latin Fathers, to have been other than the work of a
learned Saxon priest. Its language is the Old Saxon,
i.e., Continental, as distinguished from Anglo-Saxon.
Apart from the Gothic of Ulfilas (which also is mainly
Low German), and next to the fuller stores of Anglo-
Saxon literature, the Heliand is the chief source of our
knowledge of the Old Low German idiom. The scene
is laid in Jerusalem, but the style and surroundings
are markedly German. Thus the hall where Herod
feasts is the wooden hall of a German chief ; the high-
homed ships (hoh-hurnid skip) are those of the North
German sea-kings ; and the wise men from the East
are snelle thegnSs, valiant Thanes, come to do feudal
homage to the Son of the Heavenly King. From the
preamble to the Beatitudes, we pick out a line here and
there : —

Than sat im the landes Hirti

then sat him (down) the land's (Shep) herd

Gegin-ward for them gumun* Godes egan Bam,
face to face before the men. God's own Child

Mildi an is mode, endi is mud antlok,
mild in his mood, and his mouth unlocked,

Sagda im tho te sode, quad that the salige warin

said to them then in sooth, quoth that they blessed were
* Our " bridegroom " is a blunder for " bryde-gum," bride's man.

14 SECOND PEKIUD.

Man an thesoro middil-gard, thie arme thurh
men on this earth, that poor through

6d-m6di w&rin, &c.

meek-mindedness were, &c.

4. The Krist (Christ). This was composed by
Otfried, a monk of Fulda, the first poet whose name
is known with certainty. In versification, it stands a
step in advance of the Heliand, being the first con-
siderable work written in Rhyme. Another noticeable
difference is the frequent recurrence of lyrical and
didactic passages ; whilst in the Heliand, the epic (nar-
rative) form is preserved throughout. Observe that
the rhymes are at the middle and end of each line : —

Th8 w^run thar in lante hirtS, haltente,
then were there in the land herdsmen halting,

Thes fehes d^tun warta widar fiant^.
of their cattle they kept (did) ward against foes (fiends).

Zi in quam boto sconi, engil scinenti,
to them came herald fajr, angel shining,

Joh wurtun si inliuhte fon himilisgen liohte.
also were they enlightened of heavenly light.

6. Ludwigs-lied (Lay of Louis), by Hucbald, a
monk of Flanders. The poem is in rhyme, and cele-
brates the victory of Louis III. over the Normans at
Saucourt, A.D. 881, commencing with the words : —

Einan kuning weiz ih, heiszit her Hludwlg,
Of a king wot I, named is he Louis,

Ther gerno Gode thionot : ih weiz, Her imo's lonot.
who sealously God serves : I wot, He him for it rewards.

OTFKIED. " WALTHARIUS." HROSVITHA. 15

Latin Poetry of the Clergy — Tenth Century.

From A.D. 900 there is for a considerable time
a break in the growth of German poetry. During
the reigns of Otto I., Otto II., and Otto III. (a.d. 936-
1002), under whom the classical literature of
Constantinople and Italy became more fully known
in Germany, Latin alone was sung at Court, and the
monks wrote exclusively in that language. The most
important works of this period are : (1) Waltharius,
or the wild adventures of Walter of Aquitame and
his betrothed Hildegund of Burgundy, their detention
as hostages by Attila, their flight and return to France,
where they find friends worse than foes in King
Gunther and his trusty henchman, Hagen ; written by
Eckehard, a monk of St. Gallen, in imitation of Virgil.
(2) Ruodlieb. (3) Some beginnings of the Beast Alle-
gory, afterwards perfected in Keynard the Fox, which
appear under the several titles of Ecbasis captivi,
Isengrimus, Eeinardus. (4) The works of Hrosvitha,
a nun of Gandersheim in Brunswick, who wrote six
Latin comedies, which were to have superseded
Terence, several Legends, and a Eulogy on Otto I.
The suspicion that these were fabricated by the 15th
century humanist, Conrad Celtes, has been knocked
on the head by Professor Budolf Kopke of Berlin.
(5) Several Translations of the Psalms, &c., as well as
some Dictionaries, belong to this period, and were
chiefly the work of the monks of St. Gallen and Fulda.

THIRD PERIOD.

First Classical Time of German Literature

A.D. 1100-1300.

The circumstances that favoured the glorious out-
burst of poetic genius for which these two centuries
are conspicuous may be very distinctly traced. The
first of these influences was the Crusades, by means of
which the Western nations became acquainted with
the tales and traditions of the East. Then the Hohen-
stauffen or Swabian line of Emperors, who ruled from
A.D. 1138 to 1254 (Conrad III., Frederic Barbarossa,
&c.), did much to forward the art of poetry. The
flower of the Nobility, too, cultivated poesy, as is in-
dicated by the tenn used in the Middle High German
to denote it, z.«., Jiovisch (courtly), which bore the same
relation to ddrperUch (rustic) that courtois does to
vilain. And again, much of the new development
was due to the French Troubadours (in Northern
France, Trouvhres, both words being derived from
trouver^ to find), whose fellow-countrymen greatly dis-
tinguished themselves during the crusades by their
chivalrous and courtly culture.

KINDS OF 1>0ETBY. 17

The poetry of this period may be classified under
three heads, the first and most prominent being Chi-

l) valrcus poetry, which gives to the epoch a definite
character. It was especially practised by poets of
noble rank, who sang at the Courts of emperors and
princes, notably at those of the Duke of Austria and
the Landgraves of Thuringia. Next in order came

^J Pmular poetry, which was cultivated in the streets
and market places by minstrels from the ranks of the
people. These minstrels wandered from town to
town, and village to village, and for small pay sung
the old heroic legends. They were called " Vamde
liute," travelling folk. Lastly, as being less in vogue
'\j than formerly, may be mentioned Religious poetry.

The four varieties of poetry are the Epic, Lyric,
Didactic, and Dramatic. The epic bears an objective
character, the poet relating his story while hiding his
own personality from the reader. There are both
Popular and Literary epics, the former showing the
character of the people, and being objective in the
fuller sense, while in the Literary the style is less
simple, and it abounds in lofty description. Lyric
poetry, on the contrary, is quite subjective, the poet of
this class expressing his own thoughts and feelings.
Didactic instructs in poetical form. Dramatic poetry,
which arose at a later period, lets the plot of a story
unfold itself in speech and action before the very eyes
of the spectator. The poets of this period wrote in
the Middle High German, which was simply a develop-
ment of Old High German. There was indeed a

B

18 tHIBD paRioo.

transitional period, which occupied a considerable part
of the twelfth century. The language of that interval
has been designated Middle German.

Beginning of the New Poetry.

The poets of the twelfth century had already ceased
to consist solely of the priesthood, and had secured
recruits from the ranks of the nobles : a development
which became yet more extended in the thirteenth
century. One of the most striking works of this time
is the Annolied, written in praise of Anno, Archbishoj
of Cologne, who died a,d. 1075. In a short preludt
the poet tells us he does not sing in praise of warlike
deeds and heroes. The body of the poem deals with
the creation of the world, the fall of man, the birth of
Christ, the apostles, and the saints, among whom St.
Anno is ranked. The name of Cologne leads the poet
to the founding of towns and cities, and the conversion
of the Franks to Christianity : the first preacher hav-
ing been stationed at Cologne. The whole concludes
with the wonderful deeds, the persecution and the
death of Anno. The credit of preserving this lay is
due to Martin Opitz, who fortunately published it just
before he died of the plague in 1639 ; for, in the con-
fusion that followed, the only known MS. of it was
lost.

The Kaiser-chronik (Imperial Chronicle) is similar in
many points to the Anuo-lay, and includes both sacred
and secular history.

" ANNO-LAY." " ALEXANDER-LAY." " ROLAKD-LAY." 19

In the Alexander-lied by Pfaffe Lamprecht (Father li . f .
Lambert), ihe history of the all-conquering Macedonian
king is set forth with much of Oriental imagery, the
second portion being especially noticeable for the use
of those Eastern sayings and legends which had be-
come since the Crusades the favourite theme both of
readers and poets. It tells how Alexander was turned
away from the gates of Paradise through want of
humility, and has also a pretty fancy of the Flower
children who come forth in spring from the calix of
the flowers and expire with their birthplace in the
autumn. This poem, which also abounds in masterly
description of battle scenes, was greatly praised by
Grervinus.

The Rolands-lied was composed by Pfafife Conrad,
and modelled after the French. In this song Charle-
magne is made, by Divine command, to invade Spain,
then under the Saracens, and try to reconvert it to
Christianity. He is accompanied by his twelve pala-
dins, among whom are Roland, Olivier, and Turpin.
Charlemagne conquers Saragossa, whereupon Mareilie,
the king of that province, expresses his willingness to
embrace Christianity. To test the truth of the pre-
tended conversion, the conqueror despatches an em-
bassy to Marsilie under the command of Genelun,
step-father of Koland, at whose instance he is appointed
to this mission. Genelun, who believes that Eoland,
prompted by avarice, has procured his appointment on
purpose that he may be killed, swears vengeance against
the latter, and in pursuit of his oatli persuades King

20 THIRD PERIOD.

Marsilie to feign submission. He returns with the
false news to Charlemagne, who thereupou retires from
Spain, leaving Roland in occupation with only the
rearguard. Roland's force, thus weakened, is van-
quished by the heathens in the valley of Eoncevalles,
and Roland is mortally wounded. After vainly at-
tempting to break his sword, Burandarte (Old French,
Durandal), the dying hero, gives it back to its true
owner, Christ. Charlemagne, who has heard Roland's
battle-horn Olivant (0. Fr. elefant, ivory) from afar,
turns back, but comes too late to be of assistance.
Genelun, the traitor, is sentenced at Aix la Chapelle to
be torn to pieces by wild beasts. This song belongs
to the Carlovingian Legend.

Dvke Ernest ia the son of a Bavarian duke, who
sets out for Constantinople on his way to the Holy
Land, and in the course of his journey meets with
many wondrous adventures illustrative of the fables
of the East. He reaches a lonely castle, of great splen-
dour and magnificence, fights with monsters, passes the
Magnet Mountain, wins the jewel which afterwards
decks the Emperor's crown, conquers a nation of
giants, and reaches the Holy Land, whence after per-
forming similar prodigies of valour he returns in
triumph to his Duch)'.

The story of lieynard the Fox, adapted from the
French Beast- Allegory, was first introduced into
Germany about 1170 under the title of "Isengrines n6t,"
by an Alsatian who calls himself Henry the Glozer
(glichesare). It contained ten stories of the Fox and

"DUKE ERNEST." *' REYNARD." " NIBELUNGEN." 21

Wolf; but only fragments of it now remain. A re-
vised version by an unknown author, and bearing the
title of Reinhart F^iehs, appeared in the 13th century.

Another noticeable work belonging to this time ia a
poem by a priest called Wernher in praise of the Virgin
Mary, dealing with her life and various legends con-
cerning her. This composition, falsely ascribed to
"Wernher of Tegernsee, is marked by strong religious
feeling.

A compact little poem by a Wernher shall form our
fii-st specimen of Middle High German :

Du bist min, ich bin dtn : des solt d{i gewis sin ;

D<i bist beslozzen in mmem herzen, verloren ist daz

sliiezzelin,
Dft muost immer darinne stn.

Thou art mine, I am thine : of that mayst thon assured be ;
Thou art locked in my heart, and lost is the key.
Thou must therein for ever be.

Popular Epic in its Prime.
Nibelu ngen-L ied.

The Nibelun gen-lied, the greatest national epic of the
Germans, was probably produced, as it now stands, at
the commencement of the 13th century. It is some-
times called Der Nibelunge Not (distress of the
Nibelungs), and is in two parts : the first containing
Siegfried's Death, and the second Kriemhilde's Re-
venge. The outline of the story is as follows. Gun-
ther, assisted by his two brothers Gemot and Gisd/ter,

22 THIRD PERIOD.

is ruler of Burgundy, and usually resides at Worms on
the Kiiine. They have a sister, Kriemhilde, renowned
for her beauty, and two powerful vassals, Hag&n of
Tronje and Volker of Alzei. Kriemhilde is troubled
by a dream, in which she sees her pet falcon torn to
pieces by eagles. Her mother, Ute, interprets this
dream as a sign of coming evil, and her foreboding is
speedily verified. Siegfried, son of Siegmund and
Siegelinde, King and Queen of Xanten on the Lower
Rhine, arrives with a grand retinue at Worms as
suitor for the hand of Kriemhilde. Hagen recognises
in Siegfried the possessor of the immense treasure
(the marvellous Nihelungen hort hoard), which he has
captured after severe conflicts from the king of the
dwarfs, Alherich, whose cape of darkness (tarnkappe)
he has also carried off. So redoubtable a hero is re-
ceived with high honour, and he remains a year at
Worms. Gunther, however, withholds the hand of
Kriemhilde except on condition that Siegfried shall
assist him to subdue Brunhilde, the haughty Princess of
Iceland, who subjects her suitors to difficult proofs of
physical strength. Siegfried by the aid of his invisible
cape effects this conquest instead of Gunther, and all
return to Worms, where a double wedding is solemnized.
After ten years of happy life at Xanten, Siegfried and
Kriemhilde return to Worms on a visit, when splendid
tournaments are held in their honour. A quarrel,
however, takes place between Kriemhilde and Brun-
hilde as to the merits of their respective lords, and the
former, enraged, reveals to her sister-in-law that it was

" NIBELUNGEN." 23

Siegfried, not Gunther, who subdued her. Burning
with a sense of humiliation, Brunhilde, after some per-
suasion, induces Hagen andGunther to join her in a
plot of vengeance on Siegfried. Hagen, on pretence of
consulting Siegfried's safety during an impending
attack on the Saxons, prevails upon Krierahilde to sew
a little red cross on his garment This the conspira-
tors contrive shall be so placed as to indicate the one
spot where he is susceptible of injury; for Siegfried,
by bathing in dragon's blood, had made himself invul-
nerable except where a leaf falling from a lime tree
had stuck to his back, Kriemhilde has again been
troubled by a dream in which she saw her beloved
husband crushed between two mountains. She en-
treats him to remain at home, but he laughs her fears
away, and goes out to meet his fate. The expedition
against the Saxons has been postponed, and a grand
hunt is got up, Siegfried, when far away from his
train, kneels down at a spring to drink, when he is
treacherously pierced by a javelin thrown by Hagen,
who then adds to his villany by placing the corpse be-
fore Kriemhilde's chamber.

In the second part we see Kriemhilde transformed
from a gentle and loving woman ihto an inflexible
fury, with one fixed idea, that of wreaking vengeance
on her husband's murderers, whose identity she has
speedily divined. She remains at "Worms, her one
solace being the distribution of the " hoard " among
the poor ; but Hagen, fearing it may prove an in-
strament of revenge in her hands, causes her to be

24. THIRD PERIOD.

deprived of even this comfort, and secretly sinks the
treasure in the Khine. For thirteen years she
nourishes her hatred, and eventually accepts the hand
of Etzel (Attila), King of the Huns, in hopes his proud
position may aid in her revenge. At her instigation
Etzel prepares a grand feast, and invites her three
brothers, who, despite the evil auguries of Ute and the
entreaties of Hagen, proceed to Vienna; Hagen him-
self accompanies them for fear of being thought a
coward. Two mermaids in the Danube prophesy the
destruction of the whole train with the exception of
the Court chaplain. At Bechlarn the Burgundians
are received with princely hospitality by Riidiger,
markgrave of that place, who betroths his daughter to
Giselher, and presents Gemot with a sword, which
afterwards turns its edge upon the giver. They journey
onward to Etzel's Court, and upon their arrival at the
palace a battle ensues within closed doors, in which all
the Burgundians perish with the exception of Gunther
and Hagen. These two are promised their lives by
Dietrich of Bern, whereupon they surrender and are
led in chains before Kriemhilde. She agrees to spare
their lives if Hagen will tell her where he has concealed
the hort : this he refuses to do during the lifetime of
a Burgundian king, upon which Kriemhilde instantly
kills her brother Gunther; and Hagen persisting in
his refusal, she slays him also with Siegfried's sword.
Dietrich then kills Kriemhilde for having made him
false to the promise he gave Gunther and Hagen. The
only survivors are Attila, Dietrich, and Hildebrand,

" NIBKLUNGEN." 25

who, in an epilogue called the Klage (lament), bewail
the extermination of the royal race of Burgundy.

The Nibelungen Lay contains an immense range of
characters, a few of which may be briefly described.

Siegfried is an adventurous hero, fearless, magnan-
imous, and trustful. Kriemhilde, in the first part a
sweet German girl and a loving happy wife, becomes
in the second an At^, with no thought but revenge.
Hagen has no conscience but his duty to his chief ; a
trusty vassal, as unscrupulous as he is undaunted,
Gunther is both proud and weak, allowing others to
act for him. Among the most admirable characters is
that of Rlidiger of Bechlarn, who is a real Christian
hero. He is called " der milde " (liberal), and is dis-
tinguished for his hospitality. The Nibelung Lay is
not only conspicuous for richness, but for the manner
in which it reflects the intrepid courage, depth of
feeling, and other characteristics of the Germans.
Fidelity is strongly marked in the relations between
Gunther and Hagen, Kriemhilde and Siegfried, &c. ;
and the fierce crimes perpetrated are only to be pal-
liated by remembering that fidelity was essentially
their cause.

The subject matter is much older than the time of
the record (about 1200). It is in fact an amalgamation
of four Old-German legends with purely mythological
elements. The four legends are the Burgundian,
Prankish, Ostrogothic, and Hunnish. The name Nibe-
lung (son of mist) is indicative of a mythical ba.sis,
the old Norse Ni/el-heim, Nebel-heim, meaning the

26 THIRD PERIOD.

kingdom of the dead. The gold on which so awful a
curse rests belonged originally to the inhabitants of
Nifelheim. Albe-rich, the name of the dwarf-king,
means elf-king, whence the French Auberon, Oberon.
The val-kyries (war-maidens) of the god Woden are
represented in Brun-hilde (mailed heroine), and Kriem-
hilde (masked, i.e., helmeted heroine). Hagen has
some qualities of the evil god Loki. Siegfried is a
personification of the air-god Woden, or Odin, who
wraps himself in the clouds and becomes invisible,
as Siegfried does with the magic cape. The Edda
mentions that Brunhilde was formerly loved by Sieg-
fried, thus adding to the tragedy of the story. In the
Edda, in fact, the legend is more cruel and awful than
in the later form, which is modified by the introduction
of Christian chivalry. Thus in the Nibelung Lay we
have three great elements in the culture of the Ger-
man people, viz., the Mythical, the Germanic, and the
Christian.

Ten perfect copies of the manuscript exist in addi-
tion to several fragments. The author is unknown,
although believed by some to have been Henry of
Ofterdingen. According to Lachmann, Miillenhoff,
and others of their school, the lay was compiled from
a number of smaller ones, this view being known as
the lAeder theorie (several-songs theory). Uhland
supposes it to be the work of one poet upon previously
existing legends, Franz Pfeiffer and K. Bartsch
suggest as a likely author the Knight of Kilrenherg,
who, in his known works, uses the simple ballad-metre

" NIBELDNGEN.'* " OUDRUN." 27

of the Nibelungen ; but this is merely a hypothesis.
After all, it matters little: the man who has stirred
our souls to their depths is not unknown to us, though
we cannot tell what letters of the alphabet composed
his name.

The metre is a stanza of four long lines, every
half-line having three accents, except the last, which
has four. Sometimes, besides the end-rhymes, the
alternate half-lines rhyme together, but not as a rule.
As a specimen, take Kriemhilde's first dream : —

Ez tr6amde Eriemhilde in tdgenden, der sie pMc,
Wie sie einen v&lken wilden ziige manegen t4c,
Den ix zw£n am erkrummen. Daz sie daz miioste sehen,
Ir en-knnde in dirre w&lde nimmer 16ider sin geschehen.

K, dreamed, in the fine feeling that she nursed, how
she a falcon wild had fostered many a day, which to
her two eagles mangled. That she this must see —
to her could in this world no sadder have chanced.

Gudnin and other Popular Epics.

The most important popular epic after the Nibel-
ungen Lied is Gudrun, which is styled • the German
Odyssey, as the former is called the German Iliad.
The scenes of Gudrun are laid on the coast of the
North Sea, Friesland, Ireland, Zealand and Normandy,
and are divided into three parts. The first part re-
lates how Hagen, the son of King Siegeband of Ire-
land, was, in childhood, carried off by a griffin and left

28 THIRD PERIOD.

on a desert island. There lie meets Hilda, an Indian
princess, who has suffered a similar fate. They are
lescued by a passing ship, return to Ireland, are
married, and succeed to the throne. In the second
part, Heitel, King of Friesland, woos Hilda, the daughter
of Hagen, and for this purpose sends three vassals,
one of them the minstrel Horand, who, by his en-
chanting strains, persuades the princess to elope with
them and marry their master. The third part tells of
the trials and misfortunes of Gudrun (daughter of
Hettel), who is betrothed to Herwig, son of the King
of Zealand. She is forcibly carried off by a former
suitor, Hartmut of Normandy ; but persisting in her
refusal to become his wife, she is treated with the
greatest cruelty at the Norman Court, especially by
his mother Gerlinde. For thirteen years, in company
with her faithful friend Hildburg, she suffers the
greatest hardships, until one dreary, snowy day,
while washing linen on the seashore, barefoot and
meanly clad, they see a fleet of vessels come to rescue
her from thraldom. In the conclusion, a reconciliation
is effected between the opposing parties, and a four-
fold wedding takes place, Gudrun being united to
Herwig, Hildburg to Hartmut, the sister of the latter
to Gudrun's brother Ortwein, and Herwig's sister to
Siegfried of Morland. The German character as
depicted in this poem is again remarkable for courage
and constancy. The patient faithfulness of Gudrun
merits particular attention for the contrast it offei-s to
the 8tern wifely fealty of Kriemhilde which urged

"GDDRUN." "rose-garden." "RAVENNA-FIGHT." 29

her to such bloody vengeance, while Gudrun intercedes
for the life of her cruel oppressor Gerlinde. Only one
manuscript of the Gudrun exists, which was executed
by order of the Emperor Maximilian, and preserved
at the castle of Ambras in the Tyrol. From this it
was published for the first time by F. H. von der
Hagen in 1820. ^

The metre is much the same as in the Nibelung Lay,
but the last half-line is so long as to have five
accents : —

Daz k6m an ^inem &bent d&z in sO gel&no,

Daz von Tenemarke der kiiene degen sano

Mit s6 hSrlicher stimme, daz ez wul gevallen

Mdose 41 den liuten ; d& v6n gesweic der vugelline sch&llen.

It chanced one even, that so well they sped, the
valiant thane from Denmark sang with voice so sweet,
it could not but please all men well ; the birds, to hear
it, hushed their song.

Among other less important epics are : —

The Great Rose Garden : Kriemhilde's at Worms,
stormed by Dietrich.

The Little Rose Garden: that of the Dwarf-
King Laurin, who is taken by Dietrich's men.

The Raid of Ecke : a giant slain by Dietrich

The Battle of Ravenna (Raben-Schlacht), won by
Dietrich over his faithless uncle Ermenric.

Giant Sigenot : Dietrich, beaten by him, is rescued
by Hildebrand.

30 THIRD PERIOD.

Alphart, a scout of Dietrich's, is surprised and
slain.

Dietrich's Flight to the Huns.

These seven poems treat of the Dietrich legend
(Ostrogothic) ; whilst of three others, the Ortnit,
HUGDIETRICH, and WOLFDIETRICH, the subjects are
Lombardian.

Chivalry Epic in its Prime.

Subjects.

The chivalrous or artistic epos treats principally of
foreign incidents taken by the poets in great part from
French sources. The British legend of King Arthur
and the Round Table, which is the ground- work of
some of the most important of these epics, came to
Germany in a French form, and was then worked up
into its German shape. King Arthur appears as the
flower of British (Celtic) nationality, last of the
heroic age, who, by the glory of his reign, did much
to raise the national spirit of his people. With his
lovely Queen Ginevra he holds his Court at Caridol or
Carduel (Caerleol) in Wales. The royal couple are
surrounded by knights famous for bravery and cour-
tesy, and by ladies of surpassing grace and loveliness.
Around Arthur's board twelve of the bravest and
noblest knights are privileged to sit, and are known as
"Knights of the Round Table." The nobles sally
I'ortli from Arthur's Court in search of chivalrous
adventures, championing women, and combating with

CHIVALRY EPIC. ARTHUR. GRAIL. 31

monsters and giants ; and not till they have signalized
themselves by deeds of special prowess do they
attempt to return. Among the most renovmed of these
knights are Gaweiu, Iwein, Tristan, Parzival, Erek,
Wigalois, and Lanzelot.

Another favourite subject of the same class is the
Spanish legend of the Holy Grail, a costly vase of
jasper, supposed to be the veritable vessel used by
Christ at the Last Supper, and into which His blood
flowed at the Crucifixion. The body and blood of
Jesus were thus contained in the Grail, gifting it with
full power to impart eternal life. After the death of
Joseph, the Grail was guarded by angels, until Titurel,
son of the King of Anjou, built for it a castle on
Mount Salvage in Spain. He also founded the Order
of Templars (Templeisen). The word grcd is Celtic,
and means vessel, hence san greaJ, holy vessel ; though
some think this ought to be written sang real, t.«.
royal blood. The legend of the Grail is very old, and
comes originally from the East.

To the same class of epics belong the poems on the
Trojan War and Alexander the Great, on the French
legend of Charleinagne, and others which it is not
necessary to specify.

Authors.

The four chief poets of Chivalry Epic were Henry
of Veldeke, Hartmann of Aue, "Wolfram of Eschen-
bach, and Gottfried of Strasburg.

32 THIRD PERIOD.

1. The first of these, Henryjof Veldeke, who
ttourished at the Court of Cleves about a.d. 1175,
may be called the father of Middle High German
poetry. When he had written a great part of his
Eneit (^neid), the manuscript was stolen by Count
Henry of Schwarzburg, and only recovered with great
difficulty by Hermann of Saxony. The poem was not
completed until nine years after its commencement.
Though founded on Virgil, the life described is purely
German, and the hero ^neas " a veray parfait gentil
knight." It is noticeable as the first work having
Minne (love between the sexes) for its central subject
and main motive; and charmingly naive is the dia-
logue in which Lavinia's mother instructs that maiden
in the mysteries of Minne. The poem is written in
the Low Rhenish dialect,

2. Hartmann of Aue, generally supposed to have
been a Swabian, had a better education than most of
his contemporaries, being not only able to read and
write, but having some knowledge of French and Latin.
He took part in the Crusades of 1189-1197, and died
about A.D. 1210 or 1220. His works reflect those
stately manners based on self-control (diu m^e,
moderation), which were the ideal of courtly circles at
that period. In two of his poems he has drawn upon
the legend of Arthur after the celebrated North-French
poet, Chretien de Troyes. In one of these, namely,
Erek and Enite, written about 1192, putting Erek for
Geraint, the story is substantially the same as iu
Tennyson's Enid, though the English poet does not.

YKLDEKE. HARTMANN. WOLFRAM. 33

like the German, take 500 lines to describe Enid's
horse; but description was Hartmann's forte. His other
poem of this class is entitled Iwein, or the Knight of
the Lion, who, having killed a giant and married his
wife, breaks his promise to come back to her in a year,
loses her favour and his reason, embarks on wild
adventures, and in particular rescues a lio7i from a
dragon, whence his alias. This is perhaps the best of
Hartmann's works, as it is of all Middle High German
poems the most regular in form.

OregoriiLS on the Bock is a pious legend of a sort of
German (Edipus, who, after doing seventeen years' pen-
ance, both for his own sins and those of his parents, is de-
clared the purest of men, and mounts the papal throne.
Poor Henry is a poetic tale of a Swabian knight, who,
forgetful of his duty to God, is punished with leprosy.
He sells his property, and retires to a small farm, where
he is carefully tended by the farmer and his daughter.
He is supposed to be in^rable, except at the cost of
the heart's blood of a young girl; on hearing which,
the farmer's daughter journeys with him to the learned
leech at Salerno, bent upon immolating herself to ef-
fect his recovery. But at the last moment the knight
shrinks from permitting the heroic act of devotion, and
after due humiliation he is cured by more merciful
means, and married to his loving nurse.

3. Wolfram of Eschenbach, a poor Frankish
knight, surpasses his brother poets in depth of thought
and earnestness of purpose. He is, however, obscure in
passages, and his greatest work, Farzival, contains so

C

34 THIRD PERIOD.

many wildly improbable episodes and adventures, that
Gottfried of Strasburg called him an "inventor and
hunter-up of wild strange tales." His poem, neverthe-
less, ranks among the foremost of artistic epics. The
story combines, in some measure, the legend of Arthur
and that of the Holy Grail. Parzival, whose father,
Gamuret, died during an expedition to the East, is
brought up by his mother, Herzeloide, in the silent
retirement of a wood, far from the noise of the world.
But, meeting some armed knights in the forest, and
yielding to the ambitious dreams awakened in his
breast by their splendid array, he sallies forth in
search of adventure, unrestrained by the tears and
supplications of his mother. After various incidents,
he reaches the Court of Arthur at Nantes, where his
prowess speedily procures him admission to the Round
Table, and a bride in the person of Conduiramur. He
goes to the Castle of the Holy Grail, where his uncle,
King Amfortas, lies at the point of death, and can only
be saved if some strange knight shall inquire about the
mysteries of the Holy Grail: but Parzival has been
counselled by Gurnemanz, a courtly, worldly-wise old
knight, not to ask many questions. Hence he hesitates,
and through the tumpheit (folly, ignorance), as the song
calls it, he forfeits the high destiny intended for him.
Hard trials ensue, and he receives a message that he is
expelled from the Round Table. Tormented with
religious doubts, he turns away from God, and for four
years wanders in a state of unbelief. On a certain
Good Friday, he arrives at the retreat of a pious her-

WOLFRAM TGTFRIKD. 35

mit, TrevriearU, who instructs him, and reveals to him
that he is destined to achieve the adventure of the
GraiL Parzival renounces his pride and doubts, and
salvation is once more within his reach. In a series of
battles he overcomes Gawein and his worldly knights,
and is re-admitted to the Round Tabla He heals his
uncle's sickness, and is eventually elected King of the
Castle of the GraiL Three mental stages are traceable
in the history of Parzival. The first (tumpheit) is
marked by the simplicity of childhood and the indis-
cretion of youth; in the second {zvoifel, doubt,) the
hero is at war with the world, with himself, and with
God; while in the last {saelde, well-being), he attains
to happiness and salvation. Wolfram's last work,
WilUhalm, written about a.d. 1215, draws upon
Carlovingian legend, and deals with the acts of St
William of Orange.

The same writer also left, in Titurel, a fragment
which Simrock thinks the prettiest thing ever pro-
duced in the way of Artistic Epos ; and he is the sup-
posed author of a third Grail-epic, Lohengrin, now
rendered so popular by Wagner's opera.

4 Gottfried of Strasburg, a knight of inferior or
citizen rank, presents a total contrast to Wolfram both
in the form and tone of his poems. While Wolfram
sings in honour of moral greatness and nobility of
spirit, Gottfried praises the enjoyment of life. His
chief work, Tristan anct Isolde, describes Tristan's love
for the wife of his uncle Marke. In treating this
dangerous topic, the author makes the fault seem the

36 THIRD PERIOD.

less culpable, as both Isolde and Tristan have uncon-
sciously partaken of a love-potion. This poem, left
unfinished, was continued by Ulrioh of Turheim,
who also completed Wolfram's Willehalm.

Some other poets of the Artistic Epos are : — (1) KoN-
RAD Fleck, who sang the pure loves of Flore and
Blancheflur, the parents of Charlemagne's mother,
Bertha ; — (2) Rudolf of Ems, the author of Barlaam, a
hermit who instructs an Indian prince in Christianity ;
of Good Gerhard, a Cologne merchant, whose noble
character Otto the Great takes for his model ; of Wil-
liam of Orleans (meaning the Conqueror) ; and the Tale
of Alexander; — (3) KoNRAD OF WiJRZBUBG, an extra-
ordinarily prolific author, whose writings are an inex-
haustible mine of poetic thought and imagery. Beside
the legends of St. Sylvester and St. Alexiiis, the shorter
tales of Bearded Otto, Engelhart, &c., his most perfect
poem is the Goldene Schmieden an encomium on the
Virgin, and his longest the Trojan War, which alone
contains 60,000 lines I

There is also a Comic Epos, written under the
pseudonym of Der Stricker (the knitter). It deals
with the amusing adventures of a priest, Pfaffe Amis,
whose name gives title to the story. Neither is
peasant life altogether overlooked : witness the Meier
Hdmhrecht of Wernher the Gardener, a spoilt child of
peasant parents, who, longing for an idle life, takes to
evil ways, and comes to a fearful end.

minns-sin gebs. 37

The "Coubt" Lyrio.
Subjects and Form.

Court Lyric, originating about a.d. 1180, is known
chiefly by the generic title of Minne-gesang ; and the
poets, from their principal theme being Minne (love),
are called Minnesingers (Sanscrit man, to think, re-
member ; Latin meminiy memento, mxmeo ; 0. H. Ger-
man meinan, to think of). These lyrics, however, are
not confined to erotic subjects, but embrace also reli-
gion and patriotism. To quote Uhland, ** they sing of
faith, holiness, freedom, and manly worth," as well as
"of spring and love and the golden time of youth."
Hence we may subdivide the Lyric Poetry imder the
three heads of: —

1. Love Songs.

2. Religious Songs,

3. Patriotic Songs,

Lyric Poetry, like the Artistic Epic, originated in
France. The charming provinces of Languedoc smd
Provence gave birth to many famous minstrels, such
as Guillaume de Poitiers, Nevertheless, the German
lyrics of this epoch are superior to the French in
warmth and intensity. Frivolity, infidelity and
jealousy are frequent themes of the Troubadour songs,
while the German supply their place by faith and
constancy. J. Grimm rightly described their prevail-
ing tone as fraitenhaft (womanly). Notwithstanding
their simplicity of form, the lyrics have much variety

38 Third period.

of metre and melody ; and though the simple verse of
the popular songs is that most commonly used, there
are many exceptions to that usage. Thus we have,
according to their form, Songs, Lays and Epigrams.

In the Song, each verse consists of three parts. The
first two of these are called "stollen" (posts); the
third, usually the longest, is the " abgesang." These
terms are architectural, and represent two uprights
supporting a cross beam, being somewhat analogous to
the Greek strophe, antistrophe, and epode. The fol-
lowing verse from Walther von der Vogelweide will
serve as an example.

(Ist Stolle.) Ich h&n Isinde vil gesehen

Undo nam der beaten geme war ;
(2nd Stolle.) tjbel miieze mir geschehen,

Kiinde ich ie min herze bringen dar,
(Abgesang.) Daz im wol gevsJlen

Wolte fremeder site ;

N<i waz hulfe mich, ob ich unrehte fctrite ?

Tiuschiu zuht g&t vor in alien.

Countries many have I seen,

And in each the best have sought :
Sorrow seize my stricken spleen,

Could my heart be ever brought
Foreign ways to follow

And to think them wise I
What's the good, I wonder, of upholding lies ?

Glennan breeding beats them hollow.

The Lay has a more varying metre, and altogether
a freer form. Having its source in the Old Church
Music, it may be compared to the Cantata. In addi-
tion to religious and patriotic lays there are also dance
lays, which are written in a sprightly vein.

The Epigram, consists of a threefold verse, and is

MIMNE-SINGEBS. 39

nearly always of a religious or political nature. Un-
like the lays, it is not sung.

Minne poetry is, however, intended to be sung, not
read. As Groethe appositely observes : Nur nicht lesen,
immer singen, and ein jedes wort ist dein (Do not
read, only sing, and every word is yours). These_
poems were_gung_at.the caatlea oLlorda and-prince*r^
the accompaniment of a stringed jngtrugifint. usually
the fiddle (met der fidelen, nach der gigen), and were
preserved ishiefljLby^tradition, since many of the poets,

singers olften kept a singing boy (Singerlin, little
singer), and having taught him a song, would send
him instead of a letter to the loved one. In course of
time these songs were committed to writing, the most
important collections of them being that now in Paris,
and supposed to have been made by Riidiger von
Manesse of Zurich ; the Weingarten collection at
Stuttgart, and a third preserved at Heidelberg.

The Minne-singers were for the most part of
knightly rank, .although some citizens were included
among them ; and so numerous a body did they con-
stitute, that Gottfried alluding to them in his Tristan
says, " der nahtegalen der ist vil " (they are so many
nightingales). Among princely aspirants to the lyric
art, we find the names of the Emperor Henry VL,
Duke Henry of Breslau, King Wenzel of Bohemia and
Otto IV., Margrave of Brandenburg. The songs of no
less than 140 Minne-writers are included in the Man-
esse collection alone.

40 THIKD PERIOD.

The following are next to Walther the chief poets
of this class and period : —

The Knight of Kurenberg, whose songs still bore
a popular stamp, and were in the simple ballad metre
of the Nibelung Lay.

DiETMAR OF AiST : only short rhyming couplets.

Spkrvogel : full of pithy worldly wisdom. So far no
special lyric form, until —

Hkinrich of Veldeke, to use Gottfried's words,
" grafted the first shoot on German tongue," and might
therefore be called the father of Minne poetry.

Friederich of Hausen, a knight of the Palatinate,
who stood in high favour with Frederic Barbarossa,
accompanied him to Italy and in his Crusade, and fell
fighting before Philomelium in Phrygia, where the
whole army joined in the dirge over the stoutest of
champions and sweetest of bards.

Heinrich of Morungen, a knight of Thuringia.

Reinmar the Old, an Alsatian. But, towering
head and shoulders above the rest, stands —

Walther von der Vogklweide, whose birthplace
has long and variously been guessed at, but is pro-
bably the Southern Tyrol, where, near the village
of Layen, between Klausen and Waidbruck, there is
to this day a " Vogelweide Farm." In early youth he
was removed to Austria, and it was there, he tells us,
that he learnt " singing and saying," his teacher being
most likely Reinmar the Old.

After the death of his patron Frederick the Catholic
in A.D. 1198, Walter, though of noble family^, became

waltuer von der vogklweide. 41

impoverished, and quitted Axistria to travel. He tells
us in the^poemTquoted liBove (Ich h^n, &c.), that he
preferred staying at the Court of Thuringia. He was
presented by^Trcdericr"IlT with~a^mall estate, which
he greatly prized. It is uncertain whether he took
part in that emperor's crusade. He died about a.d.
1230 at Wurzburg, and is buried in the Eorenz Garden.
In the great political struggle of the time he sided
with the emperor, and his indignation at the de-
pravity existing at Eome is vented in various poli-
tical songs. He is the most celebrated of the lyric
poets. His Minne-song beginning, " Under der linden
an der heide," is one of great beauty.

During Walter's lifetime a distinct deterioration in
Minne-song is noticeable; but there are nevertheless
several poets who did much to influence the opinions
of the age. Among them is Neidhaet, a Bavarian
knight, who, upon losing the favour of his own
sovereign the Duke of Bavaria, settled at Vienna,*^
where his monument stands near the Church of St.
Stephen, This writer originated a kind of Minne-
song which satirizes the peasantry, holding their
dances, brawls, love-making and manners in general
up to ridicule, and using the term dorperheit (villager-
hood) in a contumelious sense.* This kind of poetry
became popular with the upper classes, and gained for
Neidhart the byname of Batum/eind, the peasantlgjoe.
\ Uleich op Lichtenstein was a knight of Styria,
who died about 1275. He led a very adventurous
life, which he records in a work called " Frauen-
dienst," ladies' service.

42 THIRD PERIOD.

^ Heinrich of Meissen was called FrauenLob on
account of his adopting the term Frau lady, in lieu
of Wexb. The works of this writer constitute a
transition from Minne-song to Meister-gesang, and he
is said to have founded the first school of the latter
at Mayence. He died about 1318.

To about this period the " Sangerkrieg auf der
Wartburg," Minstrels' contest at the W., the work
of an unknown author, is supposed to belong. The
poem is divided into two parts, in the first of
which several poets, including Heinrich von
Ofterdingen and Walther von der Vogelweide
are assembled at the Thuringian Court. The two
latter compete in rival songs, Henry singing in praise
of the Duke of Austria, while Walter vaunts the
merits of the Landgrave of Thuringia. Wolfram
von Eschenbach, the umpire, adjudges the palm of
victory to Walter, and Henry for his defeat is doomed
to death at the hands of the hangman. At the
intercession of the Landgravine Sophia, however, he
is granted another trial, Klingsor, a magician from
Hungary, being appointed umpire; but the poem
comes to an end without disclosing the issue of the
contest Wagner's TannJiditser is founded on this
poem.

, Didactic Poetry.

Der Winsbeck and Die Winsbeckin are two didactic
poems by an unknown author, and are contained in
the Manesse collection. The first consists of the wise

"WABTBURG WAR." FRKIDANK. tRIMMRG. 43

rules for the guidance of life imparted by a knight to
his son ; while, in the second, a lady of high rank in-
structs her daughter in the laws of courtesy, hospita-
lity and virtue.

The WdscJie Gast (Italian Stranger^, by Thomasin
of Zirklare, a noble of Friuli, makes Staete (persever-
Mnce) the mother of all virtues, and Unstaete of all vices.

>j The Beschddmheit of Frkidank, an otherwise un-
known poet, who accompanied Frederic 11. to the
Crusades in 1228, is a mine of wisdom and reflection ;
Bescheidenheit (now modesty) being then synonymous
with discretion. From the thirteenth to the seven-
teenth century it excited much interest, and was called
a " Worldly Bible."

>^ The Benrur was written by Hugo of Trimberg.
about A.D. 1300. The author was principal of a school
at Theuerstadt, a suburb of Bamberg, and chose his title
to signify his wish that the book might rim through all
lands : " Benner ist ditz buoch geTiant, wan ez sol rennen
dureh diu lant." He was the first author that ventured
to sneer at the practices of chivalry, duelling, woman -
worship, &c. The great fault of this work is its extreme
length, which extends to no less than 25,000 verses.

The Fables which belong to the poetry of this period
were then called hispel (AS. H-spel, parable gdd-spel,
gospel, &c.). The two principal writers of this class
are the Strieker, who entitles his fables " The World,"

^ and Ulrich Boner, a preaching friar of Bern, who pub-
lished a volume of fables and anecdotes called " The
Jewel" (edelstein), which had the honour of being the
first German book ever printed.

FOURTH PERIOD.

^ Poetry in the hands of Citizens and Guilds,

A.D. 1300-1500.

From this period an unmistakable decay is observable
in the quality of German poetry, and the causes which
led to its decline are both various and complex. The
vigour of the German kingdom became sensibly weaker
after the fall of the dynasty of Hohenstaufifen. In-
cessant wars in Italy had undermined the power of
the emperors, and after the accession of Rudolph of
Hapsburg (1273-1291), they gave but little care to
the fine arts, and devoted themselves almost entirely
to the promotion of their dynastic interests. The
knights, too, had lost their traditional courtesy, and
lived chiefly by plunder ; the clergy relapsed into
comparative ignorance ; while, as if to add to the
general wreck, the land itself was repeatedly visited
with terrible inundations. Notwithstanding these
drawbacks, however, the time was rich in mechanical
discovery, in proof of which it will sutfice to mention
that the inventions of watches, printing, and the mari-
ner's compass are all comprised in this period. The

"RKINKE DK VOa." 45

Universities of Prague (1348), Vienna (1365), and
Leipzig (1409) were founded; and science in general
progressed, though it added little as yet to the people's
education or the development of literature. Poets no
longer chose great national events for their theme ;
matter was allowed to become subservient to form, and
the pure Middle High German of the 13th century
was, to a great extent, superseded by various discor-
dant dialects.

The works of this period include specimens of Epic,
Lyric, Didactic and Dramatic Poetry.

"• Epic Pobtbt.

The Epic Poetry of this time can only be regarded
as very inferior in kind. The best imaginative work
of the 15th century is, perhaps, Beinke de Vos (Rey-
nard the Fox) ; but it is simply a free rendering, in
Low German verse, of the prose Reinaert, which,
written in the Netherlands, and itself founded on
the French Renart, was a far more perfect work than
its original. The name of the adaptor of this work is
uncertain, both Hermann Barkhusen and Nikolaus
Baumann being credited with its production ; but the
balance of probability lies with the former writer.
The poem is full of satirical allusions to the moral and
social condition of the clergy, and the intrigues of
those in power. Reynard treats honour and virtue
alike with scorn, thrives by perfidy and slander, and
ends by becoming Chancellor.

46 FOUBTH PERIOD.

Lyric Poetry.

The Minne-gesang had now become a thing of the
past Hugo of Montfort and Oswald of Wolkeustein
had striven in vain to restore the old chivalrous tradi-
tion; the citizen superseded the knight in lyric
poetry, and Minne-gesang became Meister-gesang.

In the South German towns, such as Mayence,
Augsburg, and Nuremberg, Singing Schools were
established, to which the artizans of various trades
resorted on Sundays and holidays to study the vocal
art. These students were divided according to their
efficiency into the following five classes : —

1. Scholars (Schiller), or those still studying the roles

of the Tdbulatur ;

2. School-friends (Schul-freunde), who had mastered

those rules ;

3. Singers, who could sing a certain number of songs

according to rule ;

4. Poets, who were able to compose a song to another's

tune;

5. MaderSy who composed both song and tune out of

their own heads.

The ofi&cials of a Singing School, such as the Critic,
the Treeisurer, and the Distributor of Prizes, were
chosen from the ranks of the " masters." The " poets "
were strictly enjoined to avoid, in their themes, what
was termed the blind — i.e., anything irreligious — and

MEISTER-SINGEBS. BALLADS. 47

the /oZw, namely, whatever was contrary to good
morals and decorum. Strict attention to language
and form was also exacted ; and the TabtUatur, or
code of rules, contains a list of no less than thirty-two
punishments for any laxity in these matters. The
successful "singers" were crowned with wreaths of
silk and flowers by the Kron-meister ; but the highest
prize was a silver chain with a medal bearing the
likeness of David. ^ The subjects of the Meister-sanger
poems were usually religious, and during the period
of the Reformation exclusively so. The Mdster-
gesang attained its culminating point in the 16th
century, and then rapidly declined ; but the school at
Nuremburg was not dissolved till the last century,
and that of Ulm not until 1839.

A great many Popular Ballads, mostly historical,
belong to this period, and were sung at the Dit-
marschen in Holstein, and in other portions of Ger-
many, where struggles of the commonalty for political
freedom were beginning to arise. Also, the victories
of the Swiss over Austria and Burgundy were eagerly
seized upon as themes for these songs of the people,
though the authors are for the most part unknown.
Two of these poets, whose names have been preserved,
are Halbsdtbr, a citizen of Lucerne, who extols the
valiant deeds of Arriold von Winkelried at the battle
of Sempach, A.D. 1386; and Veit Weber, who cele-
brates the victories of the Swiss over Charles the
Bold at Granson and Murten. Both of them had
fought for freedom in the battles they describe.

48 FOURTH PERIOD,

Ni Didactic Poetry.

Many pieces of the didactic order were produced
about this time, one of the most famous of which was
the Ship of Fools, a satire written in the rough
Alsatian dialect by Sebastian Brant. The story
deals with the voyage of a shipload of fools, of 113
sorts, to Narragonia (narr-fool), in the course of which
the luxury, love of fine clothes, and other vices and
crimes of all classes are severely censured, while
poverty is extolled as the mother of all virtues, and
contentment as the source of all happinesa This
book appeared at Basle in 1494, and became so
popular that many subsequent editions were pub-
lished; while Geiler von Kaisersberg, the greatest
pulpit orator of the time, adopted it as his text for a
series of lectures. Brant, who was a Syndic of
Strasburg, died in that town about the year 1521. .

A particular form of didactic poetry cultivated to
some extent at this time was the Priamel (preamble),
in which first a number of topics were mentioned,
apparently at random, and then gathered into a
common category in the closing lina Here is a short
specimen: — "He that would wash a raven white, Dry
snow by the sun, shut the winds up tight, Keep misery
to sell. Find a short cut to hell, Tie fools in a string,
and shave clean the bald, — His works may well vain
labour be called," Some poems of this kind were
written by Hans Rosenblut, a barber of Nuremburg,

"SHIP OF FOOLS." PRIAMKL MYSTERY. 4d

of the class called " Wappendichter, an ill-paid order
of poetasters who invented heraldic legends for their
patrons. Hans Folz was another writer of these
poems ; but, except that they mostly belonged to the
Meister-sdnger, little is known of the composers of
Priamel.

Dramatic Poetry.

The dramatic compositions of this epoch had their
origin in the Latin Sacred Plays which were acted in
churches at Christmas, Easter and Passion time, on
subjects appropriate to these festivals; but in course
of time, as Latin became superseded by Grerman, the
people as well as the priests became able to participate
in the acting, or rather recitation, of these plays, and
their representation ceased to be confined to churches.
They were called Mysteries, or, according to J. Grimm,
Misteries (from Ministeria), i.e., ministrations, services.
But few of these pieces survive, and the authors are
almost entirely unknown. One of the most celebrated
of such as remain is the Latin Play of Antichrist,
which arose at Tegernsee in the 12th century, and in
which Ghibelline (Anti-Papal) sentiments are freely
expressed. Another is the Play of the Ten Virgins,
composed in the Thuringo-Hessian dialect, and repre-
sented on the 24th of April, 1322, by the Monks of
Eisenach and their pupils. Some idea of the nature
of the piece may be formed from the description of the
stage, which consisted of three sections, one above the

D

50 FOURTH PERIOD.

other, representing Heaven, the World, and Hell. So
Ooethe says in Faust, "from Heaven through the
World to Hell." This piece has unity of action, a well-
developed plot, a popular style, and, at the same time,
an elevated tone. It became famous through the
tragical eflfect it had on the presiding Landgrave
Frederic, who, seeing that even the intercession of the
Blessed Virgin was unavailing in the case of those
accursed, became a prey to despondency, and died in
despair in 1324. A treatise on this work was published
by R. Bechstein in 1886, and a translation by A. Freybe
in 1870.

The Fastnachts-spiele, or Shrove-tide plays, were not
of a religious kind, and were usually somewhat vulgar
in tone. Two fertile writers in this field were the
already mentioned Hans Eosenbltit and Hans Folz.

Prose.

Mysticism is a prevailing feature of the prose of
this period. The father of the German Mystics was
Eckhardt, a Dominican monk of Augsburg, who gained
great distinction at Paris as a teacher of philosophy.
He was summoned to Rome by the Pope, who con-
ferred upon him the title of Doctor of Theology. At
a later period, he collected a coterie of young men at
Cologne and Strasburg. One of his pupils was
Johamies Tauler of Strasburg (d. 1361), author
of " How to follow Christ's poor life," &c., who
preached annihilation of self, and absorption in

MYSTERV, SHROVETIDE-PLAY. MYSTICS. " OWLGLASS." 51

deity.* Another pupil of Eckhardt was ffeinrich Snso
of Ulm (d. 1365), who represents the poetic mysticism of
Germany. At the close of our Pre-Reformation period
stands the great Strasburg preacher, Geiler von Kaisers-
berg (d. 1510).

Historical Prose is represented by numerous
Chronicles, conspicuous among which may be instanced
" The Strasburg Chronicle," by Friedrich Closener;
"The Alsatian Chronicle," by Jacob Twinger of
Konigshofen ; and " The Limburg Chronicle," by the
town-clerk, Johannes ; and sundry Swiss Chronicles.

There are also numerous Translations of the old
classics, and of Latin and French romances. Transla-
tions of the Bible before Luther : one in High German,
printed in instalments (1466-1518) ; and five in Low
German, the earliest at Delft (1477).

An extravagantly facetious work, entitled Till
Edlenspiegel, excited much attention, and has been
translated into nearly every language. "Till" is a
wandering journeyman, who acquires notoriety by his
mischievous love of fun and buffoonery, disguised
under a veil of simplicity. His adventures, though
wildly improbable, are also most amusing. There really
was a vagrant called Till, who lies buried at Molln,
near Lubeck; but the exploits attributed to him are
almost entirely fictitious. The surname Eulen-spiegel,
Owl's Glass, is metaphorical, and refers to the proverb :
" We see our own faults as little as the owl perceives
its ugliness in the glass."

* Some of Taoler's Hymna are vety sweet, e.g., " A ship comes,
laden to the brim."

FIFTH PERIOD.

Literature at the Reformation.

1500-1624.

The mighty change now impending in men's minds
was pregnant with issues vital not only to Cliristianity
and Science, but also to the German language and
literature. Foremost in the field of literature (as
some of them were also in other fields) stand Martin
Luther, Ulrich von Hutten, Thomas Murner, Hans
Sachs, and Johaun Fischart.

Martin Luthek was bom at Eisleben on the 10th
November, 1483, and went to school at Mansfeld,
Magdeburg and Eisenach. From 1501 he studied at
Erfurt, and joined the order of St. Augustine in 1505.
He became Professor at Wittenberg in 1508, and
Doctor of Theology four years later. On the Slst
October, 1517, he nailed the celebrated ninety-five
Theses to the doors of the Church at Wittenberg, and
in 1520 publicly burned the bull of excommunication
which the bold Augustinian's attacks on the See of
Rome had caused the Pope to issue against him. After
his heroic confession before Charles V. at the Diet of

LUTHKR. 53

Worms (April, 1521— March, 1522), motives of safety
caused his friends, whether with or without Luther's
consent is somewhat doubtful, to obtain his retirement
to the Castle of Wartburg; where, protected by the
Elector of Saxony, he commenced his translation of
the Bible. In 1525 he married Katherine von Bora,
who had been a nun, thereby widening if possible the
breach between himself and the Pope; and in 1529,
after his sad experiences during a visitation of the
churches undertaken by command of the Elector, he
wrote his two Catechisms. In the same year he had a
religious discussion with Zwingli, and prepared the
Articles of Faith for submission to a proposed Council
at Schmalkald in 1537. His stormy career came to an
end at Eisleben on the 18th of February, 1546.

Luther deserves undying renown for the immense
service ^ rendered to German literature by his Trans-
lation of the Bibles which great task he commenced at
Wartburg and concluded at Wittenberg. The New
Testament appeared in 1522, the Old was finished in
1532, and the entire Bible was printed by Hans Lufit
in 1534 at Wittenberg. HiaJKfirsion was the firstjhat,
instead of resting on the Latin Vulgate, went back to
the original texts. Various translators, De Wette,
Bunsen, Leander van Esz and others, have since
followed in his steps, and aided by the progress of
philology, have attained more accuracy in details ; but
none of them comes up to Luther in popular power
and unction, because none have so lived in and caught
the spirit of Revelation. Not only did Luther's labours

54 FIFTH PERIOD.

lay the foundation of tliose vast changes which are
historically comprehended under the name of the Ee-
formation ; they have moulded and fixed both the
spoken and written language. His letters, lectures,
and minor writings became models for his contempor-
aries and men of after times. Among the best of his
writings are the " Babylonian Captivity of the Church,"
the. "Freedom of a Christiaii" (1520), and an appeal
" To the Mayors and Aldermen of all German towns to
set up and support Christian Schools." The language
used by Luther alike in his translation and his other
works was the so-called " common " language, which
hit the medium between the hardness of the southern
and the softness of the northern dialects. In his
Table-talk, chap. Ixx., Luther says, " I use no one dialect
of German, but the common language, so that both
Highlander and Lowlander can understand me. I take
after the Saxon Chancery, which is followed by all
kings and princes in Germany."

Luther _may ^e called the father of the Protestant
Hymn, the pearl of lyric poetry in that period. He
composed many himself, remodelled some older ones,
and translated the most beautiful songs of the Latin
Church into German : notably the Te Deum Laudamits
and the Veni Sande Spiritus. Some of his hymns are
founded on passages of Scripture, e.g., that battle-song
of the Reformation, "A firm stronghold our God is
still," founded on the 46th Psalm. His first hymn-
book, published in 1524, contained only eight hymns,
four of them composed by Luther. His last edition,

LUTHKR. EOLLENHAGEN. HUTTEN. 55

that of 1545, has 129 hymns, of which 37 are his own.
Among those on whom his mantle fell, are P. Speratus,
author of " To us is now salvation come ; " N. Necvas,
of "To God on high be thanks and praise;" P.
Nicolai, of " Fair beams on ns the morning-star," and
" Sleepers, wake 1 a voice is calling," &c., &c. \-

In addition to these works, Luther translated a
number of .^op's Fables, and himself wrote one about
the Lion and the Ass. Two converts of the Reformer,
Alberus and Waldis, also wrote many fables. A satiri-
cal poem of considerable note by Georg BoUenJuigen,
called Frosch-meuseler, or " The Wonderful Court of
the Frogs and Mice," may appropriately be mentioned
here, partaking, as it does, both of the nature of fable
and allegory. The plan of this work was probably
taken from Homer's " Batrachomyomachia." EoUen-
hagen studied under Melanchthon at Wittenberg, and
died in Magdeburg, 1609.

One of the most vehement combatants in the cause
both of the "New Learning" and of the Refor-
mation was Ulrich von Hutten. This fearless
champion of his country and his belief was born at
the Castle of Steckelberg, in Hesse, on the 21st April,
1488, and died in deep misery at the Isle of Ufnau, in
the I^e of Zurich, on the 29th August, 1523. In
collaboration with his friend Crotus Rubianus, he
produced the " Epistolae Obscurorum Viroram," and
until 1520. wrote exclusively in Latin. About that
time, however, he translated his Latin works into
Crerman, and afterwards wr(K« only in the latter Ian-

56 FIFTH PERIOD.

guaga His poem, **A Lamentation and Warning
against the power of the Pope and carnal-minded
Clergy," is written in rough racy German. His cele-
brated New Sony commences with his motto, " I have
dared.**

Thomas Murner, a Franciscan Monk of Straeburg,
who died about 1636, was a bitter enemy of the
Keformation, and hence occupies a position directly
antagonistic to that of Hutten. A keen, if somewhat
coarse, master of satire, he directed his whole power of
invective against image-breaking and the excesses of
the Eeformation. His chief writings are TTie Cheat
Lutheran Fool, The Guild of Rogues, Gauchmatte (fool's
meadow), and The Exorcism of Fools. This latter
production, which censures alike the pedantry of the
clergy and the stupidity of princes, was probably
suggested by Brant's " Ship of Fools." As Brant's
passengers were bound for Narragonia, Murner deems
Welschland (Italy) the fitting port for his desirable
cargo.

Hans Sachs, born at Nuremberg on the 6th of
November, 1494, was the son of a tailor, who sent him
to a Latin school at the age of seven. He left when
about fifteen, and was apprenticed to a shoemaker ; but
in the meantime the weaver Nunnenbeck had initiated
him in the ** pleasing mystery " of Meister-gesang.
At the age of seventeen he set out on his travels, which
took him all over Germany. He stayed longest in the
large towns, where Meister-sanger schools existed, and
ac(juired much knowledge in regard to them. After

MUBNER. HANS SACHS. 57

five years of wandering he returned to Nuremberg,
where he married very happily, and lived to the age of
eighty-two. One of his pupils, Puschmann of Gorlitz,
in a memorial poem on the good old man, gives a
striking description, especially of his last days.

Hans Sachs is the most fertile poet of the time of
the Reformation, to which cause he was warmly devo-
ted, as is shown in his Nigktingcde of WitteTiherg .
He was very well read in the old legends, and by
means of translations knew much of Greek, Roman,
French, and Italian literature. The stories and myths
of all nations and all times were seized upon in turn
by this genial writer and true poet. At a later period
unjust attempts were made to decry his works, and it
was sneeringly said : " Hans Sachs was a shoemaker,
and a poet as well." Wieland recognised in him the
genuine poet, and Goethe raised him to his true niche
in the poem " Hans Sachs's Poetic Mission." His
monument stands in Nuremberg : two others have been
reared to him, one by Deinhardstein in his drama of
" H. Sachs," another by Wagner in his opera of " Die
MeistersSnger."

Hans composed 4275, Meisier-gesdnge, chiefly of a
religious character* "SisiTcdeB jae of more poetic
value, and of these he wrote the enormous number of
1700. In them he touches upon almost all conceivable
circumstances of life, and with impartial but good-
natured severity upon all classes of society. The seri-
ous compositions he called " Histories," the comic ones
" Fables and Merry Tales," These latter reveal wucb

58 FIFTH PERIOD.

wit and humour, for example, St. Peter and the Goat,
St. Peter and the Pikemen, Sehlaraffen-land (lubber-
land), and The Unlike Children of Eve.

Sachs also composed some two hundred Tragedies,
Comedies and Shrovetide Plays. His example did
much to improve the Drama, both by imparting more
action, and by instituting the method of division into
acts and scenes. Of his Tragedies, the subjects are
chiefly borrowed from the Scriptures, the Classios,
French romance and Heroic legends ; among the best
are Cli/temn>estra, Apostate Julian, Horn-clad Siegfried,
and Meltisine. His comedies show more of genius and
mother- wit, e.g., The Children of Eve; so do his
Shrovetide plays, e.g., the Narrenschneiden.

About the end of the 16th century the first profes-
sional actors made their appearance in Germany,
They were called "the English Comedians," and
travelled about the country performing at the Conrts of
princes. The English stage had reached a high degree
of development, as is evident when we remember that
this was the era of Shakespeare. The pieces performed
were both tragic and comic, the famous Hatis Wurst
or Jack Pudding playing a conspicuous part in the
latter.

Ja£ob Ayrer, who died in 1605 at Nuremberg, was the
author of about 70 dramatic pieces, some of them
founded on the legends of Ortnit and Wolfdietrich.
He was the first introducer of *' sung plays," the rude
lieginnings of opera.

JoHANN FiscHART, one of the wildest romancists,

HANS SACHS. FISCHART. " TKUERDANK." 69

quaintest word-coiners, and sharpest satirists, was a
native of Mainz. He studied jurisprudence at different
Universities, afterwards practised at Strasburg, and
eventually became farmer of crown lands at Forbach.
He died in the prime of life in 1589. His greatest
work is undoubtedly the Geschichts-klitterwng (history-
blottings), a satirical romance freely imitated from
Rabelais's Gargantua. Better known is the narrative
poem. The Ltuky Ship of Zurich, a ship that carries
the Zurich bowmen to the Strasburg shooting-match
in one day, as proved by their kettle of furmenty being
still warm when they arrive : " What will not courage
zeal, and love of country do?" The object of the
poem is to stimulate patriotism, and promote friendly
union among German towns. Many of his poems
fiercely attack Monkery, and especially the Jesuit
reaction.

OfAer Literature of the Fifth Period.

At the very threshold of the period we come upon
an allegorical epic, the Teuerdank, less distinguished
by intrinsic merit than by its illustrious parentage,
having been planned by no less a personage than the
Emperor Maximilian I., and worked out by his secre-
tary, Melchior Pfinzing. Under a thin disguise it tells
how Maximilian wooed and won his Mary of Burgundy.
He is Teuer-dank, one who thinks on 'terier, adventure,
and Mary is Ehren-reich, honour-ful, daughter of
Kuhm-reich, renown-ful, Charles tjie Bold, At thjree

60 FIFTH PERIOD.

narrow passes he quells three mighty foes, Tur-wittig,
waywardness, Un-falo, mischance, Neidel-hard, rivalry,
and so on.

Popviar Songs continued to be written, and reached
a pitch of great perfection. Every class had its songs
— the soldier, the huntsman, the peasant, the vine-
dresser, and the student. Herder was the first to point
out the rich vein of poetry that runs through them.
Clemens Brentano and Achim von Amim were the
first to make a collection of them under the name of
"The Boy's Wonder-Horn " (1806) ; and were followed
by Uhland in his " Alte hoch- und nieder-deutsche
Volks-lieder."

The Prose Tale was also richly represented at the
time of the Eeformation, under the name of RomaTice,
though that word originally meant a poem in the
Eomance (Old French) tongue. " Amadis," which ap-
peared at Frankfort in 1583, was the first French
" roman " known in Germany.

Another class of work that should be noted is the
cheap Chap-hook (Volks-buch), which the art of print-
ing now sowed broadcast for the delectation of the
million. The contents were mostly legends amusing
or edifying, traditions of towns or individuals, &c.
Such was the Lalen-hvxh, or Book of the Citizens of
Schilda, in which the stupid acts of the burgesses of
that place are related, and provinical misgovernment is
pungently dealt with. The book of the necromancer
Faiist is a version of the powerful legend since ren-
dered so familiar to modern readers and playgoers.

SONG. ROMANCE. LEGEND. 8CHWANK. 61

Faust is supposed to be a native of Knittlingen in
Swabia. He studies medicine, theology, astrology
and magic at Wittenberg and Ingolstadt, and after-
wards teaches these arts to Wagner, his secretary.
Faust has inherited an immense fortune from his uncle,
which he lavishly squanders. To provide himself
with fresh funds, he sells himself to the devil, and dies
a miserable death. In the equally celebrated legend
of the Wandering Jew, who is said to have appeared
in several towns of Europe about the middle of the
sixteenth century, the curse of unbelief is conspicu-
ously shown. The Faust legend has since been treated
by Klinger, Maler-Muller, and others, but most suc-
cessfully by Goethe. Lenau has utilized the legend
of the Wandering Jew in two poems, as have also
Mosen in his epic of " Ahasver," and other writers.

A copious and highly characteristic literature of the
time was supplied by the SchwanJe (drollery, merry
prank). The chief collections of these were : " Jest
and Earnest," by Johannes Pauli, an Alsatian monk ;
the " Rollwagen-biichlein " of Georg Wickram, an Al-
satian town-clerk; and " Wend-unmuth " (kill-care),
by Wilh. Kirchhof.

Lastly, as an important contribution to History, may
be mentioned the " Helvetian Chronicle " of jEgidius
Tsehudi (bom at Glarus 1505, died 1572), which fur-
nished Schiller with a vast store of detail for his
Wilhelm Tell.

SIXTH PERIOD.

Poetry in the hands of Men of Letters : Age oj
Imitation.

1624-1748.

Germany in the seventeenth century, devastated by
the Thirty Years' War, was one huge scene of desola-
tion. The wealth of the nation was destroyed,
progress of all kinds arrested; and, the schools
naturally participating in the general demoralization,
learning, for the time, seemed dead. Yet, as will
always be the case at periods both of crisis and of
calm, some few men shone intellectually above their
fellowi. Of this order may be mentioned the mystic
Jahob Bohme (1575-1624) ; the pietists, Philipp Jakob
Spener, an Alsatian (1635-1703), and August Hermann
Francke (b. Lubeck, 1663, d. Halle, 1727) ; the com-
prehensive genius Gottfried Wilhdm Leibnitz (b.
Leipzig, 1666, d. Hanover, 1716) ; the jurist and his-
torian Pufendorf (1632-94) ; Christian Thonuisivs,
the teacher of natural rights (1655-1728) ; Christian
Wolff, philosopher and creator of the new philosophical
language (1679-1754).

LANGUAGE-REFORMING SOCIETIES. 63

The influence of French manners and literature
over the whole of Germany was very marked at this
time. Kings and princes, and the aristocracy in
general, spoke French, while German was rapidly
sinking into desuetude, and the corruption that comes
of neglect Men of letters, therefore, resolved to
purify the language from the foreign words with
which it had become intermingled, and, following the
plan of the Italian Academies, instituted Societies for
improving the language. One of the first of these was
the Fruit-bearing Society, founded at Weinft,r in 1617,
with Ludwig, Prince of Anhalt, for its head. The
first meetings were held at Kothen, but the members,
among whom were various princes, afterwards met at
Weimar, and finally migrated to Halle, where the
Society continued in existence until 1680. Its symbol
was a palm-tree, with the superscription, "All for
Use/* The members assumed fanciful names, chiefly
chosen from the vegetable kingdom. Ludwig's nam
de seance was the " Nourisher," and his cognisance a
wheaten loaf.

The German-minded Company was founded at Ham-
burg in 1643 by Philip Von Zesen, whose extravagant
zeal was such as to excite the ridicule of his contem-
poraries : thus, a theatre was to be called a show-hall ;
an afifection, heart-drift, the nose, extinguisher or
face-balcony, &c.

The Society of Pegnitz Shepherds was founded at
Nuremberg in 1644 by Johann Klai and Philipp
Harsdorfifer; the first of whom acquired celebrity by

64 SIXTH PEMOD.

his Religious Operas, the latter by his Ladies* Conver-
sation-games, and especially by his Nureniherg Funnel,
through which " the whole art of German rhythm and
poetry could be poured into the mind in six hours."
The members of this order bore shepherds' names.
Their proceedings were of a more trivial nature than
those of the other societies, and of proportionately in-
ferior value.

The poets of this period imitated exclusively foreign
writers. Besides copying the Roman and Greek
authors, they moulded their works upon those of
French, Italian, and Dutch poets. Hence we call the
period the " Age of Imitation." But as the first im-
pulse towards poetry in the seventeenth century came
from Silesia, it is also known as the " Period of the
Silesian poets," although many of them belonged to
Saxony, Hamburg, and other places.

The Silesian poets are divided into Tv>o Schools, the
acknowledged leader of the

First Silesian School

being Mabtin Opitz. He was bom at Bunzlau, on
the Bober, in 1597, and educated both at that place
and at the schools of Breslau and Pieuthen. At the
age of twenty, he wrote his Latin oration, " Aristar-
chus : or, the Disdain of the German Language," a
fervent exhortation for preserving the purity of the
tongue. After a short stay at the University of
Frankfort on the Oder, he went to Heidelberg to study

nBST SILESIAN SCHOOL. OPITZ. 65

jurisprudence and poetry. In 1620, when the wave
of war approached the Palatinate, he took refuge in
Holland, and at Leyden became acquainted with
Daniel Heinsius, his model as a poet and scholar.
While on a visit to Jutland, he wrote " Songs of Com-
fort under the Miseries of War," which, however, were
not published until thirteen years later. He was ap-
pointed by Prince Bethlen Gabor to a post at the
Public School of Weissenburg in Transylvania, and
there wrote a descriptive and didactic poem on Peace of
Mind, which he called Zlatna, after a country-seat of
that name. A longing for home led him to return to
Germany in 1623, where he entered the service of the
Catholic Count Hannibal von Dohna, at Breslau, who
employed him against his own countrymen. He was
sent on a mission to Paris, and shortly after his return
was ennobled by the Emperor Ferdinand II., under the
title of " Martin Opitz von Boberfeld." On the fall of
Count Dohna, he rejoined the opposite camp, found
employment at the Protestant Courts of Brieg and
Liegnitz, and after that entered the Swedish service.
Opitz eventually became Court poet and historio-
grapher to the Polish king, Ladislaus. He died at
Dantzig m 16^5^ of a pestilence then raging.

Though endowed with remarkable talents, Martin
Opitz does not rank as a creative genius. It was his
task to restore clearness and regularity of form to Ger-
man poetry ; and his own work is more remarkable for
precision of style than for lightness of fancy or depth of
^sentiment. He wrote many Hymns and Songs {e.g., "Be

S

66 SIXTH PERIOD.

of good cheer, let sorrow sleep "), in addition to Idadie
and DeseripivBe poems. In the field of Drama e did
nothing original; bnt, besides translating c-iieca's
" Trojan Women " and the " Antigone " of Sopodes,
he gave the Opera a home in Grermany by his =?rsioa
of " Daphne and Judith " from the Italian. M'Bover,
by his "Sheepfold of Nymph Hercynia," he rans-
planted the Pastoral Bomanue to Grerman soil.
I By imitating the Ancients and the best poetsnf the
I Benaissance, and by establishing definite Mrieal
\ Lawtj Opibt did mnch to revive the Grerman lagnage
\at a time when foreign corruptions had aained
Va widespread growth. His little book, "The .rt of
Grerman Poetry," published in 1624, gave new
departure to the poets. In the fifteenth and siic^enth
centuries, German Metre had gone wild, Insind of
studying rhythm, the writers merely counted syables:
hence the doggrel verse of Hans Sachs and the Mster-
singers. Opitz introduced the six-foot AUxandne, so-
called as being the verse used in the old FrenclAlexr
ander-song, and adopted as the national verse y the
classics Comeille, Racine, &c. This form o' verse
became the one chiefly used in German drami« until
Lessing introduced the five-foot Iambic. •

Gf the poets who succeeded Opit?:, P/^pi, Fr.Kirro, who
was bom (1609) at Hartenstein in Saxony, canot, of
course, be said to belong to the Silesian school, ut he
counts himself a disciple of Opitz. After attnding
school at Meiszen, Fleming took up the stdy of

OPtEL fLDOSGL lOGJkE. 67

'uecEoBe alt "Lapaig, and it vas hoe Hhat Im poetifl
aknts bcgm to show tiieanelveB. Hie fdt deepfy
^he iiumj of Ms imdfrJofed ombIij, CBgondfered liy
the wan of Ae time; and a aonoiwfid tinge jwawiilei
most of Ins wiiting&. Hie took part in die oabaaBf
sent bj Duke Frederic of SAleswig-lfohlian to
RoflBia and Peiaia; and, daring Ae six jean tinae
tTsvds lasted, bis drtiratp cnmiftnliun wfiarfted tibe
seeds of dtacasa fitom wliicli be never follf recovered.
He;, bovevo; practised lor a dioit tine at Hanbo^
as a doctor, and died tiiere on tiie 2^1 April, 16401,
agedSOl A oolkctian of bis aoags, nade after bis
deafli, leveak jntty Ucail^ fbe dianrtw of Ibe
writer. Hie is nosft eoBipknns as a Ijrie poeli,and
his aeealar and rdijgMns &nfs are InQ of patiioa.
Perin^ tiie best of bis .^fnasis tiie chainii^ pi%rin-
SQi^ "Li an nj deeds." fleaung, like Opiti; van an
ardeMfcjSbMMtfttrr one of bisnosfc efiectiwe wnets is
entitied "To ffinsei^* amtiier is oa the deaOi of
Opitz, wbile in a tbird ba vnilB bis onn qpitaph.
Following tin pRvailing fadiim, be,
wrote nmch in cehilaation of sanll fintive
bnAfl^ natriagea and cimwiffMngs. Yd^ i
to sjeopbane^, bas raba an eoBapiaaona far fratb
andfiodii^ — rising saperior to Opitz in ttnt nopeetk

Ftfimiirai "nm Jjogass (bon 160^ died 1655 at
Tiegnita) nsa tne prmnpal J^ipmm writer of Ifte

Flnfc Rjiwaan acbool, naj, pfiliatw tbe best of aaj
Grennaa acbooL For ffBiiw'Minn and tnA of feeing
he is not winmwffd hf GoAisgi, Kiwinei. Hsag,

68 SIXTH FEBIOD.

Fleming, or Opitz : while in conciseness of expression
he is superior to most. He wrote 3553 epigrams, most
of which reveal keen insight and power. Of a less
pliant and pushing nature than Opitz, Logau was soon
forgotten, and that the more easily because, actuated
by modesty, he wrote under the assumed name of
Salomo von Golau. Lessing and Kamler rescued his
memory from oblivion, and published a collection of
his writings.

Encouraged by Martin Opitz, a sort of Poets' Club
was formed at Konigsherg, the members of which
cultivated music as well as poetry. The head of this
circle was Eobert Eoberthin, a Government counsellor,
who died in 1648 ; while its most celebrated members
were Heinrich Albert and Simon Dach. Heinrich
Albert, who was organist at Konigsberg, had attained'
considerable popularity as a composer when he died in
1668. His Songs are both secular and religious, one of
the best being ** God of Heaven and Earth." It was
at Albert's house that the poets held their meetings.
Simon Dach, who died in 1659, was professor of
poetry at the University of Konigsberg. His writings
possess both warmth and truth of sentiment, the style
is pleasing and the sense pellucid. A truly heart-
searching poem is *' The Song of Friendship *' :

There's nothing hall so human, so well-becoming man,
Ab feeling for his fellows, and helping when he can.

His simple, touching little love-song, " Aennchen von
Tharau," has become universally knowa Dach wrote

ALBEST. DACH. SPKS. SCHEFFLER. GEBHARDT. 69

this in the Low German, and Herder transcribed it
into the High dialect

In religious as in secular verse, the influence of
Opitz led the poets to aim chiefly at neatness and
correctness ; yet some few, besides Fleming and Albert,
allowed free play to warmth of feeling also. Such
was Friedrich von Spee, a Jesuit, whose noble life
w£is a succession of untiring efibrts, independent of
creed, to alleviate the sufferings of his fellow creatures.
He died in 1635 of a fever caught while tending the
wounded in a hospital after the capture of Treves.
His Hymns and Pastorals he published under the title
of " Trutz Nachtigall " (in Spite of the Nightingales).
Such, too, was Johann Scheffler, the son of Protes-
tant parents, but who turned Catholic, and is known
by the name of "Angelus Silesius." The chief col-
lection of his spiritual songs entitled " Heilige Seelen-
lust," was followed by another, "Der Cherubinische
Wandersmann," in which a morbid mysticism reveals
itselt

The greatest of Protestant Hymn-writers after
Luther, Paul Gerharut, was bom, 1607, at Grafeu-
hainichen (near Wittenberg), of which his father was
mayor. He was educated at Grimma, and afterwards
at the University of Wittenberg; but the troubles of
the Thirty Years' War did so much to check his career
that in his 45th year he was still only a tutor at
Berlin ; in 1651 he became pastor at Mitten walde, and
in 1657 was appointed as deacon to the Nicholas
Church at Berlin — working always steadily and

70 Sixth period.

earnestly under circumstances of great discouragement
In 1664, the Great Elector, who was a Calvinist, for-
bade the Lutheran preachers to argue disputed doc-
trines from the pulpit, and required a written promise of
obedience. With this edict Gerhardt refused to comply,
and was forced to leave his post, but at the earnest
request of his congregation he was allowed to re-
turn. The Elector, while dispensing with the written
promise, still expected its spirit to be observed, and
Gerhardt, finding compliance impossible, was super-
seded in his office. He remained a year longer in
Berlin, and in 1668 was appointed arch-deacon at
Llibben, in the territory of the Duke of Merseburg.
Here he stayed seven years, and died on the 7th June,
1676. His Hymns are written in a high and cheerful
spirit, and are instinct with fervent faith. They
exactly hit the popular vein, and at once found their
way to the hearts of the people. Among the 131
hymns written by Gerhardt we may notice as some
of the best: ^O sacred Head once wounded" (an imi-
tation of St. Bernard's Passion Hymn, "Salve Caput
cruentatum ") ; "Commit thy way, 0 weeper^;" "Oh,

* Cmnmit thy way, O weeper,
The cares that fret thy
soul,
To that Almighty Keeper
Who makes the worlds to
roll ;

And 80 on, the first words of all the verses when put together
forming the fifth verse of Psalm xxxvii. : " Commit thy way unto the

Unto the Lord, who guideth
The wind and cloud and
sea;

Oh doubt not He provideth
A pathway too for thee.

GBRHARDT. SBCOND SILKSUN SCHOOL. 71

[)j\j Wt ^^ ^-< '--"r^j*-^
how shall I receive thee ; " the evening hymn, " Now all

the woods are sleeping;" and the glorious summer-
song, " Go forth, my heart." Other leading Hymn-
writers of this period are Johann Frank, Mayor of
Guben, who wrote some 100 hymns (d. 1677) ; William
II., Duke of Weimar (d. 1662) ; J. Heerman (d. 1647) ;
M. RiNKART (d. 1649) ; J. RiST (d. 1661) ; LuiSE Hen-
RiETTE, Electress of Brandenburg (d. 1667) ; J.
Neandkr (d. 1680) ; G. Neumark (d. 1681) ; S. Rodi-
GAST (d. 1708).

Second Silesian School

The poets of this school endeavoured to introduce
sweetness of^_style__a_nd gallantry of expression into
their writings, but so often degenerated into sickly
sentimentality and inflated expression, that the period
is also known as the Turgid or Bombastic. Like the
writers of the preceding school, they believed that the
poetic faculty could be acquired; hence the power of
writing poetry was regarded as a necessary finish to
every man of education. The poets bowed to the
licentious manners prevailing at Courts, and a decided

Lord ; trust also, and He shall bring it to pass ; " see " Tonic Sol-
fa Reporter," vol. iii., page 49. The " touching tale " told there,
connecting the composition of the hymn with Gerhardt's ejection
in 1666, is a slight anachronism, as the hymn was printed in
1659. Well, if not true of that trouble, it is true of some other,
and Gerhardt did not want for troubles in his day.

72 SIXTH PERIOD.

falling-oflf in the moral as well as the SBsthetic standard
is apparent.

Andreas Gryphids, born in 1616 at Glogau in Silesia,
occupies an intermediate position between the First
and Second Silesian Schools : in his lyrics he imitates
Opitz, while his dramas lean to the style of Lohenstein
and Hoffmannswaldau. A certain melancholy pervades
his songs, as the hymn, *' Grandeur of earth to dust
must come," and the *' Churchyard Thoughts." Tragedy
at that time was usually understood to be a play in
which princely personages made pathetic speeches and
encountered cruel fates. The Tragedies of Gryphius are
full of unnatural exaggeration, revolting description,
and bombastic language. They are remarkable for in-
troducing at the end of each act a Chorus made up of
priests and virgins, or of spirits and allegorical
figures ; and from the fact that the time comprehended
in the action never exceeds 24 hours. A tragedy
called " Herod, the Child-Murderer," which he wrote
when a boy of 15, is lost ; but the following five are
preserved : " Leo the Armenian," a Byzantine emperor
who was murdered; "Papinian," a Eoman lawyer
killed by Caracalla ; ** Karl Stuart," written directly
after the trial and execution of Charles I. ; " Catherine
of Georgia"; and "Cardenio." All are written in
Alexandrine verse. His model in tragedy was the
Dutch poet Joost van den Vondel. Gryphius's two
Comedies, " Peter Squenz " and " Horribilicribrifax,"
are far more successful than his tragedies. The first
is evidently taken from the "Midsummer Night's

GRYPHIUS. HOFFMANN SWALDAU. LOHENSTEIN. 73

Dream," which may have been acted in Grermany by
the " English Comedians " already alluded to ; it shows
up the folly of low amateurs meddling with such high
matters as Py ramus and Thisbe. The second ridicules
the swaggering and martial airs engendered by the
Thirty Years* War, A third comedy, "The Beloved
Thom-Rose" (Sleeping Beauty), is written in the
Silesian peasant-dialect, and is remarkable as the first
attempt to employ a provincial dialect for artistic
uses.

Christian Hoffmann von Hoffmannswaldau was
bom at Breslau in 1618 and died 1679. He had
travelled in France and Italy as companion to a prince ;
and as alderman of Breslau had been on diplomatic
missions to Vienna ; so that he was well acquainted
with the corrupt morals of Court life in many countries.
Though his private character is said to have been
blameless, his poems, written in the affected style of
the time, are shamefully profligate. Such are his
Erotic Songs, and the Her&ids or letters of heroes,
which he introduced into Grermany. In these letters,
written in imitation of Ovid, celebrities are made to
pour out their inmost thoughts to each other. Hoff-
mann also imitated the later Italians, especially
Guarini, whose celebrated poem "11 psistor fido** he
translated, and Marino, the author of Adonis.

Kaspab von Lohenstein, born in 1635 at Bri^,
died in 1683 as Counsellor of Breslau. His Lyrics bear
a strong likeness to Hoffmann's, while his Dramas re-
semble those of Gryphius; and he outdoes the faults

74 SIXTH PERIOD.

of both. The choruses in his tragedies are usually
symbolical figures, such as wisdom, happiness, time, the
Tiber, &c. The subject matter, which is taken
chiefly from Roman history of the Imperial period or
from Turkish history, treats of infamous actions of the
most horrible kind. His six tragedies are : " Ibrahim
Bassa " (murdered because the Sultan wants his wife) ;
"Cleopatra" (where Antony and Octavian are blood-
thirsty tyrants) ; " Agrippina " (murdered by her son
Nero) ; " Epicharis " (a Republican lady executed by
him) ; " Ibrahim Sultan " and " Sophonisbe." Lohen-
stein's best work is the Prose Romance "Arminius";
despite its tedious prolixity (3000 quarto pages with
double columns), it has the rare merit of having hit
upon a home subject

1^ Opponents of the Silesian Poets.

The Second Silesian School was not without its op-
ponents, first of whom was Christian Weise, Rector
of Zittau, died 1708. To the fustian of a Lohenstein
and Hoffmannswaldau he opposed rational thought
clothed in chaste and simple language. He was a pro-
lific writer, having composed over 100 Dramas, besides
Romances and Occasion^ Poems. In particular his ro-
mance of " The Three Biggest Fools in the World '*
gives a forcible picture of the manners of the time.
Weise was taken as a model by many, whose poverty
of thought and baldness of language caused both

WMSE. CANITZ. GUNTHBK. 76

him and his followers to be nicknamed the Water-
poets.

Another attack on the Silesian Schools was made
by the so-called Court-Poets, who sought to introduce
a correct tone. Of this order was Ludwig, Baron of
Canitz, who died in 1699. He was a courtier of
elegant taste and culture, who held the highest posts
under the Great Elector and his successor. Avoiding
the corrupt Italian School, he imitated the French,
and in his Satires took Boileau for his model His
friend Johann von Besser, bom 1654 at Frauenburg,
in Courland, died at Dresden 1729, was Court-poet at
Berlin under the Great Elector and Frederic I., and
held a similar post at Dresden under August II. The
language of his poems is pure and well-chosen, but it
is impossible to rank them higher than rhymed prose.
Two other Court-poets were his successors at Dresden,
Ulrich von Konig, died 1744, and Benjamin Neukirch,
tutor to the Crown Prince of Anspach, died 1729.
The latter took Fenelon, Archbishop of Cambrai, as his
model, and translated his great T^lemaque into verse.
Far superior in tone of mind and power of imagina-
tion to the writers just mentioned was Christian
GtJNTHER, whose brief, wild career lasted from 1695 to
1723. His ambition was to be Court-poet of Saxony ;
but his early excesses had excited his father's lasting
hatred, and his unsettled irregular life alienated his
best friends. Gunther wrote a poem on the peace be-
tween the emperor and the Porte 1718 ; and on this
and a student song, " Brothers, let us merry be," his

76 SIXTH PERIOD.

fame chiefly rests. Goethe rightly says of him: "He
knew not how to master himself, and his life and
poetry melted away to nothing."

A third group of poets (the Low Saxon) that
opposed the Silesian School had Hamburg for its head-
quarters, and Wernicke and Brockes for its chief mouth-
pieces.

Christian Wernicke, once a " Silesian " himself,
recanted that heresy, and turning upon his former
associates, especially belaboured the two Saxon poets
Postel and Hunold. In his mock-heroic poem of " Hans
Sachs," he takes that Meister-singer as the prototype
of poetasters, and crowns "Stelpo" (Postel), as his
worthy successor, in Hamburg Goose-Market, where
the opera-house then stood. Hunold, taking up the
cudgels for his friend, was served in like manner. In
his Epigrams, too, Wernicke frankly exposes in the
manner of Boileau the errors of the Silesians. Hein-
RICH Brookes, an alderman of Hamburg, who died in
1747, was a worshipper of Nature, and called the collec-
tion of his poems in nine volumes '* Earthly Joys in
(jrod." He admired the English writers, especially Thom-
son, whose "Seasons" he tianslated, and introduced
Descriptive poetry in Germany.

BOMANGE AND SaTIBB.

Romances, which had originated in the preceding
Period, made a considerable advance during the Sixth.
They may be divided into three kinds : —

WERNICKE. BROOKES. " SIMPLICISSIMU8." 77

1. Tales of Love and Heroism are numerous, such
as "The Adriatic Kosamund" and "The African So-
phonisbe," by Philipp von Zesen, a writer whose curt
sententious style distinguishes him from later novelists ;
" The Asiatic Banise," by Anselm von Ziegler und
Kliphausen, written in the affected style of the period,
and extremely popular in its day ; the " Arminius and
Thusnelda " of Lohenstein, which filled four fat quartos
bristling with erudition ; and, among novels by princely
hands, the " Octavia " and " Aramena " of Duke Anton
Ulrich of Brunswick.

2. The Tale of Ups and Downs, as it may be
called, owed its inspiration to the vicissitudes of the
Thirty Years' War. The hero of this kind of tale is
usually the " lucky (or unlucky) child," whose progress
to honour and riches, or to misery and want, consti-
tutes the interest of the narrative. The very type of
this kind of novel is the " Simplicissimus " of Christaph
von Chimmelshausen, who died 1676 at Renchen in
Baden. It paints in the liveliest colours the horrors of
the great war ; yet the most harrowing events are told
with such humour, that a cheerful tone is kept up
throughout The hero, who tells his own story, is the
son of a well-to-do farmer in the Spessart. Troopers
enter and plunder the village, and set the houses on
fire. The boy escapes into a wood, is sheltered and
tutored by a hermit, at whose death he is cast upon the
world again, is taken up by the Governor of Hanau,
christened Simplicissimus, and trained for a fool. He
makes one of those deep fools, who can give as

78 SIXTH PERIOD.

good as they get. Carried off by Croats, he is forced
into the Imperial service, witnesses and shares no end
of miseries, rises to wealth and honour, loses them
again, is taken prisoner, and goes through a new set of
the wildest adventures. At last, seeing "that all is
vanity," he retires into solitude, and gives the evening
of his days to the saving of his soul. Gervinus sees in
Simplicissimus a rude parallel to Parzival, and he is
right. Without a particle of the mystic glamour that
rests on the medieval epic, it is a sterling book, and in
a rough shell hides a golden kernel

3. The Kobinsonade, framed on the lines of Defoe's
" Robinson Crusoe," which was published in 1719, and
translated into German in 1721. This book excited
immense interest all over Europe. Numerous imita-
tions were written, and in Germany not merely every
province, but almost every trade and class of society, had
its particular Robinson, one of the best being the
" Swiss Robinson of Wysz," by Bonnet. It was Rousseau
in his " Emile " that first pointed out its educational
value. Upon this hint Joachim Heinrich Campe, then
director of the Philanthropin (training-school) at Dessau,
by largely cutting down, modernizing and otherwise
adapting the original work for youthful readers, pro-
duced his "Robinson the Younger." Its popularity
may be guessed by the fact, that the year 1779
saw its first edition, and the year 1883 its 109th.
Many other books have appeared which, although
not bearing the same name, are nevertheless written
on the same plan, notably Schnabel's " Isle of Felsen-

CAMPE. " P. VON SITTEWALD.' LAUREMBERG. 79

burg," remarkable for its vivid descriptions, to
which Tieck has recently written an Introduc-
tion.

Satire went hand in hand with the Eomance, and
often borrowed its guise. Of satirical writers one of
the first to claim attention is Moscherosch (d, 1669),
author of the "True and Wonderful Visions of Philander
von Sittewald." These visions are an adaptation of
the Suenos (dreams) of Quevedo, who died in 1645 ;
but they contain striking descriptions of the poverty
and misery of Grermany brought about by incessant
strife. The chapter on the life of a soldier gives a
powerful picture of the horrors of war. One charac-
teristic of this work is the frequent use of French,
Spanish and Italian words, and quotations of Latin
verse. The best satires of Johann Lauremherg,
a native of Rostock, who died in 1658, are his " Four
Playful Poems " in Platt-Deutsch, long and fondly re-
membered «is " de veer olde beromde Scherz-gedichte.'*
They are well and wittily written in mockery of the
affectations of the time in manners, speech and dress.
More correct in form, but less popular in tone, are the
verses of Joachim Rachel (born at Lunden, died at
Schleswig, 1669). He wrote in imitation of Juvenal
and Persius, his best satire being " The Poet."
Balthasar Schupjnus, pastor of Hamburg, was a pitiless
opponent of the pompous pedantry then in vogue, and
his own satires and sermons are models of simplicity.

Lastly, Father Abraham a Santa Clara (really
Ulrich Megerle, died 1709), was Court chaplain at

80 SIXTH P£RIOD.

Vienna; his witty writings and sermons gained
him great celebrity. One of his chief works
was "Judas the Arch-rogue"; his last was "A well-
stocked wine-cellar for thirsty souls." Part of the
Capuchin's sermon in Wallenstein's Camp (Schiller) is
taken almost word for word from a " Turk-Sermon " of
Santa Clara'a

Leipzig versus Zurich.

German Literature benefited much by the contro-
versy which broke out about this time between the
school of Gottsched of Leipzig, and that of Bodmer and
Breitinger of Zurich ; a contest which ended in German
writers forsaking their French models, and following
the English.

JoHANN Christoph Gottsched, bom at Judithen-
kirch near Kdnigsberg in 1700, and Professor of Philoso-
phy and Poetry at Leipzig University, where he died
in 1766, was long regarded as the leader of literary
taste. An essentially prosaic, matter-of-fact nature,
he assumed a right to sit in judgment on everything
that appeared in the shape of poetry. He established
a periodical called ** The Rational Censurers," in which
were published his criticisms on all new works. In
1730 he issued his "Critical Art of Poetry for Germans."
He regarded poetry as a thing to be learnt, and held
good sense and regularity of form to be the main fac-
tors in its composition. Nothing met with his appro-
bation which did not satisfy these requirements ; and

LEIPZIG V. ZUBICH. GOTTSCHKD. 61

80 greatly was Gottsched feared, respected and admired,
that for a long time his verdicts were looked upon as
finaL A considerable circle of admii-ers gathered round
him, among who were Schonaich, author of an epic
called " Hermann, or Liberated Germany," Dr. Triller,
a fable-writer, and Professor Schwabe. The last-named
founded a weekly paper called "Recreations of Wit
and Understanding," which became the organ of
Grottsched and his schooL Gottsched thought it his
special mission to reform the stage, and co-operated
with Frau Karoline Nevher and her company of the
Leipzig theatre in banishing " Jack Pudding " and the
broad farces of the day off the boards, together with
the doleful tragedies known as ** Haupt und Staats-
action." With the assistance of his wife Luise, he
translated various French plays, and adapted them, as
well as other pieces, to his own plans. His ** Dying
Cato," intended as a model of correct tragedy, he placed
at the head of a collection of model plays in six vols.,
entitled, " The German Theatre according to the Eules
of the Greeks and Romans." The most useful thing
he ever did is his " Necessary Materials for a History
of German Dramatic Poetry," containing as it does an
account of all the dramas he was acquainted with, and
extending over the period firom 1450 to 1760. Gottsched
deserves all praise for his assiduous efforts to bring
back a pure and simple style, and to free the theatre
from coarseness and impropriety. But when he
tried to suppress all rising talent that would not
be tied down to his rules, he met with men who

d2 StXTH PERIOD.

were a match for him, and the dictatorship came to
an end.

Gott8ched*8 principal opponents were Johann Jakob
BoDMER, born near Zurich, 1G98, who became Professor
of History at that place, 1725, and died 1783; and
Johann Jakob Breitinger, b. at Zurich 1701, d. 1776.
These two men, born critics both of them, edited in
the years 1721-23, a weekly paper called Discourses
of Painters, on the model of Steely and Addison's
Tatler and Spectator. They held that poetry was an
imitation of nature, a painting in words instead of
colours. They condemned the dry and common-place,
welcomed fresh fancy and feeling, and set more value
on beauty of ideas than accuracy of form. They were
much attracted by the later English writers, and, in
common with Addison, they recognised in Milton a
poet who satisfied their highest aspirations. These
views were in direct opposition to those disseminated
by Gottsched ; yet for a time the two parties left each
other in peace. The signal for strife was Gottsched's
criticism of Bodmer's Translation of the Paradise Lost
(1732). The controversy waxed hotter when, in 1740,
Breitinger brought out his Critical Art of Poetry in
answer to Gottsched's book with the same title, and
Bodmer published a treatise On the Marvellous in
Poetry, glorifying Milton. And it reached its height
when Gottsched most injudiciously attacked Klopstock.
That young poet, with his glowing inspiration and con-
tempt of pedantic rule, had won the heart of the nation ;
but when his admirers called him " seraphisch,"

BODMER. BBEITINOEli. HALLEB. 83

Gottsched amused himself with spelling it "sehr
affisch," very apish; and distorted the poet's name
into *' Klopf-stock," thurapstick. After descending to
these petty personalities, the war of wits ended very
decisively in favour of the Swiss, to whose banner all
aspiring youthful talent was attracted. On Leipzig
itself Gottsched was fast losing his hold: after a
thraldom of twenty years, Frau Neuber and the Saxon
poets revolted from his sway. The calm judicial ver-
dict of Lessing, and the biting satire of G. L. Liscow
contributed to hasten his downfall The last named
writer is best known for his satire on The Excell&nce
and Necessity of Wretched Scribblers.

Working simultaneously with Bodmer and Breit-
inger, but quite independently of them, Albrecht von
Haller sought the models for his poetry in English
literatura He was bom at Bern, 1708, and died there,
1777; in 1736 he became Professor of Medicine at
Gottingen, and was one of the leading savants of his
day. His poems are chiefly didactic and descriptive,
his greatest work, The Alps, being especially fine in
description. His longest didactic poem was The
Origin of Evil, while the best of his lyrics are the
Threnody on the Death of his Wife, and his stately Ode
on Eternity. Haller chose his subjects chiefly from
nature, morals and philosophy, striving to infuse
dignity and earnestness into poetry, instead of the
frivolity of Lohenstein and the Silesian school, to
which he had at one time leaned.

Whilst Haller in the south endeavoured to intro\luce

84 SIXTH PERIOD.

a new period into German Literature, his contemporary
in the north, Friedrich von Hagedorn, was aiming
at the same result in a very different way. Von Hage-
dorn was born in 1708, and died in 1754 at Hamburg.
He wrote in imitation of the French, and strove for
grace, freshness and vivacity. His poems take the
form of Song, Story, and Fahle. His best lyrics are
" To a Friend," " Wine," and " May " ; his best story
"John the Merry Soap-boiler" ; and his best fable, "The
Hen and the Diamond," in which department he imi-
tated Lafontaine.

Prussian Poets' Club.

The cheerful lyre of Hagedorn was taken up and
tuned to higher strains by the Prussian (or Halle)
Poets' Club, which was founded by a knot of students
at Halle University. As they wrote in imitation of
Anacreon,^ Horace,^ and Petrarch,' they are commonly
called the Anacreontics.

lAnacreon lived at the Courts of Polykrates of Samoa and
Hippeirchus of Athens, and died 474 b.o. Only fragments of
his genuine poems now exist ; the so-called Anacreontic Odes
are the work of different authors at different times.

•Horace, Rome's greatest lyric poet, was bom at Yenusia in
Lower Italy, b.o. 66. His Odes are chiefly written after Greek
models, and, together with his Satires and Epistles, are full of
grace, wit and charm.

•Petrarch was bom a.d. 1304 at Arezzo, and died 1374.
He introduced Minne-gesang from Provence into Italy. His
sonnets are chieflv dedicated to his ideal Laura.

PRUSSIAN POETS' CLUB. GLEIM. 85

JoH. WiLH. LuDW. Gleim was born in 1710 at Erms-
leben near Halberstadt, went to school at Wernigerode,
and studied law at Halle. He then became tutor
at Potsdam, and in 1744 went to the Second Silesian
War as secretary to Prince William. After serving
Prince Leopold of Dessau for a short time in the same
capacity, he was in 1747 appointed secretary to the
Chapter of Halberstadt, and died there in 1803. His
chief productions may be divided into War-songs, and
those of Wiiu and Love. By his " War-songs of a Prus-
sian Grenadier," written in glorification of Frederic the
Great, he acquired the fame of a German Tyrtaeus.
Somehow, though they excited much enthusiasm at
the time, and are highly praised by Goethe, Lessing
and Herder, they have none of them become folk-songs
Two of the best are the " Battle Song at the Opening
of the Campaign," and the *' Song of Triumph after the
Battle of Prague," which celebrates Schwerin's heroic
death. Gleim became the head of this school of writers
by the success of his " Poems after Anacreon " and
" Petrarchian Songs." But his versatile genius lent
itself to many other styles of composition, such as the
Fable, e.g., "The Gardener's Wife and the Bee," "The
Old Man and Death," " The Cricket and the Ant "; the
Narrative e.g., " The Milkmaid," " The Oak and the
Pumpkin," &c. His most extensive work in point of
size was a religious Didactic poem, " Halladat, or the
Red Book," which was inspired by a translation of the
Koran. Gleim was greatly beloved for his friendly
disposition, or, as Klopstock in his Ode to Gleim calls

86 SIXTH PERIOD.

it, " his burning thirst to be a friend to friends." He
did all in his power to sissist rising talent, and the good
deeds of " Father Gleira " were praised by alL

Christian Ewald von Kleist was bom 1715 at
Zeblin in Pomerania, and died a Prussian major at
Frankfort on Oder, of the wounds he had received
at Kunersdorf, 1759. While stationed with the garri-
son at Potsdam, he became acquainted with Gleim, who
instigated him to write. His principal work is a De-
scriptive poem, " Spring," written in the style of Thom-
son's "Seasons ". He £ilso wrote some Idylls, e.g. " Irin,"
Fables, " The Lamed Crane," &c., and a small Heroic
poem, ** Cissides and Paches," a story of two Thessalian
friends, who sacrifice themselves in resisting the
A.thenians.

JoHANN Peter Uz, of Ansbach, who died there in
1796, surpasses all the members of his school in clear-
ness and elegance of description. Fellow-student as
he was of Gleim, his early pieces are all Anacreontic,
about Love, Wine, and the like. Afterwards, in his
Odes, he struck a loftier key. Among the best are
" Theodicee " (with sun-red countenance I fly back to
God), " Oppressed Germany," and " On the Death of
Major Kleist."

Kael Wilhelm Eamler, who was bom at Kolberg
and died at Berlin in 1798, was more the critic of his
school than an original writer. He formed himself on
Horace, part of whose Odes he translated, as well as
Auacreon, Martial and Catullus. In his own Odes be
is loud in the praise of his great king.

KLEIST. UZ. LEIPZIG POETS' CHJB. 87

JOHANN Georg Jacobi, the most intimate friend of
Gleim, was a native of Diisseldorf ; he become Canon
of Halberstadt, and then Professor at Freiburg in the
Breisgau, where he died 1814. His earlier poems are
too maudlin and frivolous ; but latterly he adopted a
serious tone, as in his " Ash Wednesday Hymn," his
" Litany for All Souls Day," &c.

Anna Luise Karsch, who was born in very needy
circumstances, raised herself by dint of hard struggles,
aided by Gleim, Eamler, and others, to considerable
fame as a writer of Occasional PoemSf and was known
as the German Sappho. She died in 1791 at Berlin.
Some of her So7igs contain happy thoughts, for example
one addressed to a deceased uncle, the instructor of her
youth, and the Dedication Ode to Baron von Kottwitz.
Her daughter Baroness von Klencke inherited her
poetical talent ; also her grand-daughter Helmine von
Chezy (1783-1856), who wrote the libretto, to Weber's
Euiyanthe.

Leipzig Poets' Club.

The more talented of Grottsched's pupils, recog-
nising in time the weaknesses of their master, formed
a new club for themselves, and in 1744 set up a
paper of their own, entitled " New Contributions
to Pleasures of the Mind," which, from being pub-
lished at Bremen, was commonly called Bremen
Contributions. Its editor, OdrtneTy then living at
Leipzig, was bom at Freiberg in Saxony, and educated

88 SIXTH PERIOD.

at Meissen, where he became acquainted with Gellert
and Eabener. He died a professor at Brunswick, 1791.
To insure excellence, and avoid onesidedness, every
article was first submitted to the criticism of all the
club members. Their writings are tinged with a tear-
ful sentimentalism, which derived rich nutriment from
Eichardson's novels and Young's '* Night Thoughts."
The principal members of the club, besides Gartner
(their best critic), were the following : —

Friedrich Wilhelm Zacharia, bom at Franken-
hausen, studied at Leipzig, died 1777 a Professor at
Brunswick. He wrote Humorous Epics after the
manner of Pope : " The Bully," " The Handkerchief,"
" Phaeton," " Murner (the Monk) in Hell," &c.

Gottlieb Wilhelm Eabener, born at Wachau near
Leipzig, died 1771 at Dresden. He wrote mild Satires
in a clear and pleasing prosSj

JoH. Adolf Schlegel, born at Meissen, died 1793
at Hanover. He wrote Fables, Tales, and Hymris, and
was the father of the romanticists A. W. and F. Schlegel.

Johann Ellas Schlegel, the elder brother of the
preceding. He wrote both Tragedies and Comedies;
the best of the former being " Canute," while Lessing
praises his " Triumph of Good Wives " as the best of
the latter class. He died in 1749.

Johann Andreas Cramer, born at Johstadt in the
Erz-gebirge, became Chancellor of Kiel University, and
died 1788. He was the author of Odes and Hymns,
and also of a biography of Gellert.

Christian FiJRCHTEGOTT Gellert was bom in 1715

LEIPZIG, poets' clob. gelleet. 89

at Hainichen near Freiberg in Saxony. He was the
son of a minister, who sent him to school at Meiszen, and
afterwards to study philosophy and theology at the
Leipzig University. Fearing he had no vocation for
the ministry, he resigned that career, devoted himself to
lecturing on rhetoric, poetry and morals, and died Pro-
fessor of Philosophy at Leipzig, 1769. An over-strict
education, straitened means, and a daily battle with
bodily infirmities, bred in him a painful bashfulness
which never left him. Gellert, though not a strong
creative genius, could boast of many and varied talents ;
and he had a sweet and genial temperament, a pure and
spotless character, that made him loved and respected
alike by the highest and lowest in the land. Thus
Frederic the Great, after a conversation with him in
1760, said : " C'est le plus raisonnable de tons les
savants Allemands." And at the beginning of a severe
winter, a peasant brought a cart-load of firewood
to Gellert's door, and begged him to accept it in pay-
ment of the pleasure with which he had read his
Fables.

Gellert's forte lay neither in Bomanee nor in Drama.
His Novel, "The Life of the Swedish Countess G.,"
which introduced the sentimental Domestic Eomance
into Germany, was suggested by Richardson's "Pamela,"
which he confesses to have "cried over for some of
the sweetest hours of his life." Gellert tries to teach
goodness by displaying badness, and to evolve calm
resignation out of the frightfullest moral conflicts.
He does not succeed, chiefly because he has no deep

90 SIXTH PERIOD.

knowledge of human characters, and his descriptions
get monotonous and tedious.

EKs Comedies are written in the manner of Gott-
sched: scene follows scene without any plot being
developed. The poet himself says that he cared more
to draw sympathetic tears than laughter. This
accounts for their being simply moral treatises cast
into the form of dialogue, the better to reach the
heart. One of them, " The Tender Sisters," is alluded
to by Klopstock in his " Ode of Wingolf" The best,
as having the most action, is *' The Ticket in the
Lottery." Two others are called "The Oracle" and
"The Sick "Wife." Gellert rendered great service to
many students by his Moral Lectures^ which produced
a healthy and permanent influence.

It is through the Hymn and the Fable that
Gellert has reached the mass of the people. His
Hymns are not indeed the direct spontaneous cry
from the heart of nature that Luther's or Gerhardt's
are. Many of them are too didactic, and appeal to
reason rather than passion. Yet some are genuine
poetry, and speak warmly to the heart; «. g., "This is
the day that God has made," " I come to Thee, 0 Lord,
weary and heavy laden," "My earliest thought be
thanks and praise," " How great the Almighty's good-
ness."

Gellert's Fables are the best thing he has done. Their
language is a simple, spontaneous, idiomatic German ;
and there runs through them a quaint humour, a
delicate irony, and a spice of roguishness. Among the

GELLERT. FFSFFSL. 91

best known are "The Story of the Hat," "The
Ghost," "The Peasants and the Bailifif," "The Law-
suit," Ac Other fabulists who trod in his steps are :
LichiiCffr of Wurzen, author of " The Queer Folk," " The
I attle Tatoe," " The Cats and the Master " ; WUlamow
of Mohrungen ; Michaelis of Zittau, " The Bee and the
Dove " ; Burmann of Lauban ; and Pfeffd of Kolmar,
"The Glow-wonn," "The Scale." One of Pfeffel's
most popular poems is "The Tobacco-pipe: Good-day,
old man, how goes the Pipe?"

SEVENTH PERIOD.

Second Classical Period; from 1748.

Klopstock.

Fkiedrich Gottlieb Klopstock was bom at Quedlin-
burg on the 2nd of July, 1724. He went to school at
Pforta from 1739 to 1745 (see the significant " Oration
on Epic Poetry " with which he wound up his school
career). He studied theology first at Jena, then at
Leipzig, where he joined the Saxon club of poets. In
1748 he became a private tutor at Langensalza, but in
1750 accepted Bodmer's invitation to Zurich; and
the very next year was invited to Copenhagen by
Frederick V., that he might have leisure to finish his
" Messias." Here he lived from 1751 to 1777, when,
upon his patron Count Bernstorflf being driven from
office by the favourite Struensee, he withdrew to
Hamburg as Danish Councillor, and died there on the
14th March, 1803. He lies buried at Ottensen, a
village near Altona.

Klopstock's masterpiece is the " Messias," a Beligious

Epic, written in hexameters, and consisting of twenty

_canta@i The First Three Cantos, on which his fame

KLOPSTOCK. 93

was chiefly founded, appeared in 1748 in the " Bremen
Contributions," and the whole was finished in 1773.
While jet at schooMn Pforta, he had conceived^the
project of glorifying Crermany by an ^pic poem. At
first he thought of Henry the Fowler for a subject,
but that plan gradually gave place to the higher one
of making the Saviour of Mankindhis hero. (In his
ode, " My Fatherland," he says : '* Early I gave myself
to thee. Soon as my heart first felt ambition's throb,
I singled out for song Henry, who set thee free. But
soon I saw the higher path, and, moved by more than
mere ambition, chose it. It leads up to the Father-
land of Man.") No doubt, Milton^S-^aradise Lost,"
which he knew from Bodmer's translation, had great-
influence in deciding his choice of subject. In the
"Messias," Klopstock meant to produce the highest that
tl\g_human mind could create or comprehend ; for that
reason he chose a supremely sublime subject. It was
to be the utterance of his devout belief. (In the
" Ode to Fanny," he calls it, " fruit of my youthful tears
and love to thee, Messiah!") And he looks upon its
completion as the task of his life : " To sing it. Saviour,
let me have but breath, then go my way triumphant
over death." He explains the theme of the "Messias" in
the very first lines : —

" Sing, deathless soul, of sinful man's salvation
Which the Messiah as Man achieved on earth.
Whereby He, suffering, slain, cmd glorified.
Raised Adam's race into God's love again."

In elaborating this subject, the First Canto places us

94 SEVENTH PERIOD.

in heaven, the Second in hell, the Third on earth
(Mount of Olives, Judas), while the Fourth represents
the plotting of the priests, and the institution of the
Last Supper. The other Cantos contain the agony
in Gethsemane (5th), the treachery of Judas (6 and 7),
the crucifixion at Golgotha (8-10), the Resurrection, and
so on till the Ascension (19-20). Thus the Jj^essias" eni-
braces the remarkable events in the life of the Saviour
from His entry into Jerusalem until His Ascension.
With these the poet has entwined some episodes, as the
stories of Mary seeking Jesus, of Pilate's wife, Portia,
of Semida and Cidli, and others.

Grand though the plan may be, the poem has faults
which cannot be overlooked. Klopstock views the
history of Redemption from one side only ; his starting-
point is God, not man. The action is placed chiefly
in regions inaccessible to thought ; imagination halts
midway, and the poet's language fails to find it wings :
he has attempted to paint the inconceivable. The
Cantos treat largely of the Messiah's intercourse with
God and the angels ; of celestial spirits, who aid in
the work of Redemption ; of departed spirits, notably
Adam and Eve, who brought sin into the world ; nay,
of unborn spirits, whom hope links with the Redemp-
tion ; and again, of evil spirits plotting in hell. Most
of these characters lack individual features ; and
Schiller is not far wrong when he complains : " What-
ever Klopstock touches he divests of body, to make a
spirit of it ; " his personalities fade into formlessness,
and become mere abstract ideals. There are a few ex-

KLOPSTOCK. 95

ceptions : Abaddon, the fallen angel, who repents and
is saved ^; Portia, the wife of Pilate; Cnaeus, the
Eoman centurion, and Caiaphas. The poem has, in
place of action, long speeches, descriptions, dialogues,
and songs. Thus the £pic received from Klopstock's
hands a too decidedly Lyrical character. The sub-
limest passages are in the first ten Cantos; here is
bold flight of fancy and depth of feeling. The second
half has not the same fiery inspiration as the first ; but
the " formlessness " complained of is most apparent in
the last five Cantos.

KlopstQckX.highi2^7imZ talent _shows_ itself to full
advaiitage_m_his Odes. Here the loftiest thoughts
wellout in gushes of unbidden inspiration. The
principal subjects of these poems are Religion, Friend-
ship, Love, and the Fatherland, but so treated that
religion runs like a thread of gold through nearly all
of them. Among his Eeligious Odes are: "To the
Saviour"— "To God"— "A Psalrn^' (Moons go round
the worlds, worlds around the suns, &c.) — " Celebra-
tion of Spring " (Not in the ocean of worlds would I
plunge, nor soar where the firstborn of creatures, &c.
But just round this drop on the bucket, this earth,
would I hover and worship). Love, which in Ellop-
stock has a high intellectual character, and is closely
intertwined with religion, may be seen in: "To
Fanny"— "To Cidli," that is, Margareta (or Meta)
Moller of Hamburg, who married Klopstock in 1754,

> Compare Bams's Address to the Deil, last Terse.

96 SEVENTH PERIOD.

and died in 1758. Warm from the heart of youth is
his " To my Future Love " ; true and tender his ** Bond
of Koses." Friendship he treats of in the following:
" Win-golf" (an expression taken from the Edda, and
meaning temple of friendship), a poetic monument
reared to his Saxon friends, Cramer, Rabener, Gellert,
&c. He celebrates his Swiss friends in " The Lake of
Zurich." In his Patriotic O^qq he glorifies Germany,
as in " My Fatherland," «&c. The merits of the Ger-
man Language (to him a sacred relic, and the only
bond that held the nation together), he praises in
" The German Bible " and " Our Language," as well
as in ** Sponda," &c. The value of German Literature
as compared with the Ancient, he extols in " The Hill
and the Grove," ^ and in " The two Muses " (a foot-
race between the English and the German Muse). Itw
Klopstock's high merit to have awakened the slumber-
ing national consciousness ; and well may Eiickert say
m his Three " Tombs at Ottensen " :

" When thraldom's living death
Wrapt OS in thickest gloom.
Freedom's reviving breath
First fanned us from this tomb."

Klopstock was a great admirer of outdoor exercises,
and has written odes on skating, on the pleasures of
company, on Rhine-wine, &c. There is, however, a
marked falling-off in the poems of his latter years.

*Der H&gel and der Hain; this last word became a badge of
the ardent Gtermanists, who banded themselves into a Hain-
Imnd or QroTe-leagne.

KL0P8T0CK. WIELAND. 97

They are for the most part cold, laboured and obscure.
While Klopstock in his Epic and his Odes discarded
Rhjine as childish, he stoops to it for once in his
Hymns; but, even thus, few of them are sufficiently
simple and popular for congregational use. Among
those that have found their way into hymn books
are : " Happy are the heirs of heaven " — " When once
I wake out of the slumber we call death " — and the
great Protestant Funeral Hymn, " Eise thou shalt, yes,
rise again thou must. Yet sleep awhile, my dust ! " ^

His Dramas derive their subjects either from the
Bible or Old Genn«>»\ >ii«»^rr The three biblical
pieces are : '* The death of Adam " — " Solomon " —
and "David." The three national pieces are: "Her-
man's battle," dedicated to Joseph II., 1769 — "Her-
man and the princes " — and " Herman's death." His
use of the term " bardiet," i.e., barditiis, for the chorus
in these dramas, is a patriotic blunder common to that
age, and has been exposed above (pp. 6-7).

Among his prose works must be mentioned "The
Republic of Letters."

> WlELAND.

Christoph Mabtin Wieland, bom on the 5th Sep-
tember, 1733, at Oberholzheim, near Biberach, was
the son of a Swabian clergymaa Three distinct

» " See Tonic Sol-fa Reporter," toI. ili., p. 66.
O

98 SEVENTH PERIOD.

periods can be traced in his life ; these may be classi-
fied as the Religious, the Sensuous, and the Serious.

1. The Beligious bent was given him by the piety
prevalent in his father's house, and matured by the
instruction he received at Klosterbergen near Magde-
burg, as well as by his enthusiasm for Klopstock's
''Messias". At the age of 17, he came home, fell in love
with Sophie von Guttermann, a girl of superior mind
and character, and wrote a didactic poem, " On the
nature of things, or the most perfect world," which was
suggested by a walk with Sophie after church, and in
which he attacked pantheism and materialism from a
biblical point of view. In the autumn of the same
year (1750) he went to Tubingen University, a riper
scholar perhaps than most students were on leaving
it. Here he wrote his ten "Moral Letters," all ad-
dressed to Sophie, and his "Anti-Ovid." His piety
was heightened by staying at Zurich with Bodmer, at
whose house he wrote " The Trial of Abraham's faith,"
and " The feelings of the Christian," in which he
attacks Gleim and the Anacreontics, preferring the
worst of hymns to the most delightful song of Uz.
But all this pietism, perhaps somewhat morbid and
artificial from the first, was soon to topple over into
its opposite, and give place to frivolity and lubricity.

2. The Sensuous (not to say sensual) period was
heralded by an ardent study of the English and French
illuminati, especially the works of Shaftesbury, Rous-
seau, Voltaire, Diderot, and d'Alembert. And when
in 1760 he returned to Biberach, found his old love

WIELAND. 99

married to Von Laroche, and was introduced by them
to the gay society of Warthausen Castle, where the
retired minister of state, Count Stadion, was spending
the evening of his life in elegant leisure, Wieland
was carried away by the delights of a luxurious life
illumined by French wit and taste, and came to think
that the true wisdom was an enlightened sensualism,
and the true morality a humouring of each other's
inclinations. So at least he taught, though his bio-
graphers assert that the purity of his life remained
untouched by the new tone of his writings. He
begins this tone in his " Nadine," which describes the
voluptuous character of Greek paganism, and in several
similar stories. The reckless gaiety of his new manner
gained for Wieland many opponents, particularly the
members of the Hain-bund (see Note, p. 96), who met
on Klopstock's birthday and burnt Wieland's works.
To express his sentiments, he chose the form of the
Novel, following in the steps of French and English
writers, especially of the great humorists, Swift, Field-
ing and Sterne. The scene is generally laid in Spain,
in the East, or in Greece ; and his thoughts are pre-
, sented in a foreign garb. In "Don Sylvio von Ro-
salva" he has imitated Cervantes. As Don Quixote
suffers by his fond quest of knightly adventures, so
Don Sylvio, in the full belief that fairies exist, sets
out to find them, but is at last cured of his hallucina-
tioiL The contempt here poured on Fairy Tales (on
which W. himself was afterwards fain to draw foi
some of his finest inspirations) is meant to express the

100 SEVENTH PERIOD.

triumph of sober sense over mystical enthusiasm. In
two of his most celebrated novels, "Agathon" and
** Musarion," he apparently describes his own conver-
sion to his new way of thinking. At length the
pleasant life at Warthausen came to an end with the
death of Count Stadion; and Wieland was glad to
accept the post of Professor of Philosophy at Erfurt,
offered him by the Elector Emmerich Joseph in 1769.

3. The Serious part of his life may be said to begin
now. The result of his study of Political History
he embodied in a Political Romance, " The Golden
Mirror, or the Kings of Scheschian," Under the form
of an Eastern tale, he expresses his views on forms of
Grovemmeut, Home and Foreign Politics, &c. He left
Erfurt in 1772, on the invitation of AmaUa, Dowager-
Duchess of Weimar, to come and be tutor to her
two sons, one of them Karl August, who afterward
became so illustrious a patron of literature and art.
When that prince came to the throne in 1775, Wie-
land settled down at Weimar with the title of
Court Councillor, and enjoyed the society of Goethe,
and afterwards of Herder and Schiller. Here he
wrote the " Abderites," a Satirical Novel, in which the
philosopher Democritus, after seeing the great world,
returns to Abd^ra, and tries to enlarge the petty
notions of his fellow-townsmen. Striking features in
the novel are : the Costly Fountain, the Reception of
Euripides, the Ass's Shadow, Latona's Frogs. It
first appeared in a monthly journal set up, and for
many years conducted, by Wieland himself.

WIELAND. 101

In the same periodical was published Wieland's
most celebrated Pym "Oheron" (1780). The subject
he has taken mainly from the Midsummer Night's
Dream, and the old French romance of Huon de Bor-
deaux. With, masterly skill he hasinterwQven- three
plots into one : Huon's Adventures, his Love for
Rezia, and the Quarrel of the Fairy King and Queen.
Huon, to atone for having slain a son of Charlemagne
in battle, must go to Bagdad, enter the palace, cut off
the head of the man on the Caliph's left, and bring
home not only the Caliph's daughter Rezia, but four
of his double teeth and a handful of his beard. All
this he achieves by the aid of Oberon's magic horn
and goblet But he and Rezia, having offended Oberon
by breaking a vow which was a condition of their
success, undergo many sharp trials of their constancy,
including the threat of being burnt to death. After
which he is reconciled to them, and at the same time
to Titania ; for, she having once befriended a faithless
wife, he had forsworn her company until he should
find a pair willing to face a fiery death sooner than
renounce their love. Such is an outline of the in-
genious plot. GoeJlLe, in a letter to Lavater, sava:
" As long as poetry remains poetry, gold gold, or cry-
stal crystal, Oberon will be cherished as a masterpiece
of poetic art." Tta fantastic descriptions, choice lan-
guage and easy flow of versification make it pleasant
to every reader. Tb^ metre ia^ f]r^ "|"'^^^^^'""^"^ *^^^»
ottava rim a.

After a rest of ten years, "Wieland brought out

102 SEVENTH PEKIOD.

hw "Peregrinus Proteus," a novel in the form of a
dialogue. The hero is a religious fanatic, who, as-
piring to the company of gods and heroes, throws
himself into the flames at the Olympic games. Wie-
land finished his literary career with " Aristippus,"
— a novel in which he gives us a picture of Athenian
life at the time of Pericles, The whole is put in
the form of a correspondence between Aristippus of
Gyrene and famous men and women of his time,
— Kleonidas, Diogenes, Lais, &c. Letters 6-10 contain
a charming description of Socrates, It must be con-
fessed, as elsewhere, Wieland has transferred much of
modem, especially French, life and manners to an-
tiquity.— Wieland's activity as a Translator was very
great He may be said to_haye made Shakespeare for
the first time known in Germany. He translated
twenty-two of the play_s, all in prose, except the Mid-
summer Night's Dream, which is in the metre of the
original. He did the same service to Lucian's works,
for the Epistles and Satires of Horace and Cicero's
Letters. On the 20th of January, 1813, "Wieland died
at Weimar, and was buried on his estate of Osman-
stedt next to his wife and Sophie Brentano (sister of the
poet Clemens Brentano and grandchild of his old friend
Sophie Laroche). His grave is surmounted by a
tombstone bearing the following epitaph : " Love and
friendship joined these kindred souls in life, and
one stone covers them in death." If Wieland has
been rightly censured for his frivolity, his merits must
not be overlooked. They may be enumerated thus: —

WIELAND. THE HAIN-BUNl). 103

/ (a) He lent smoothness, gracefulness, and ease to
the language, which, being now as elegant as their
favourite French, commended itself to the nobility.

(6) He re- introduced the Rhyme despised by Klop-
stock, though his metre and versification are rather
negligent of rules and art.

(c) He installed the delicate irony, wit and humour
proper to the German character in their right place
again.

(d) To Grerman poetry he re-opened the world of
romance.

The chief imitators of Wieland's style are Musdus,
author of " Grandison the Second," " Physiognomic
Journeys," and "Fairy Tales"; Von Thilmmel, "Journey
to the South of France"; Heinse, "Ardinghello and
the Happy Isles "; Sophie von Laroche, "History of
Fraolein von Sternheim."

(jSttingkn Poets' Club.

Some gifted young men at Gottingen, like those at
Leipzig and Halle, had severally contributed lyrical
poems to the "Gottingen Muses' Almanack" started
by lioie and Gotter in 1770. In September, 1772,
these poets formed themselves into a regular club,
which fervently admired Klopstock the Christian, and
denounced Wieland the worldly. The club was some-
times called the Hain-hund, or Grove-league ; some
say, because the young members (Vosz, Holty, Miller,
&c.), formed their league of friendship in an oak-

104 SEVENTH PERIOD.

grove ; but more probably because Klopstock used the
expression Hain for the national poetry as opposed to
the Ancients (see Note, p. 96). The most eminent
poets of this circle are : —

GoTTFKiED August Burger, bom near Harzgerode,
in January, 1748. From Halle he went to Gottingen to
finish his studies, and there attracted the notice of
Boie by his excellent poetical talents. Through Bole's
influence he obtained the post of bailiff in the circuit
of Altengleichen, but soon resigned it, and became first
a tutor, then a professor, at the University of Gottingen.
He died in 1794, regretting the dissipated life he had
led, and despairing of his fame as a poet, because of
Schiller's unfavourable verdict. Goethe's words about
Giinther may be almost equally applied to this unfor-
tunate poet : " He knew not how to govern himself,
and his life and life-work ran well-nigh to nothing."
It was Percy's collection of old English Ballads that
led Burger to the particular field of composition In
jwrhich, for a time he reigned without a rivaL He
introduced the Ballad into German literature, and
knew how to manage it with dramatic vividness. His
master-piece in this kind is " Lenore," which appeared
in the "Muses' Almanack" for 1774. This ballad is
founded on an old legend, still known in Scotland and
Scandinavia, and formerly in Germany, of the Dead
Lover returning from the grave to fetch his bride
away by moonlight. What suggested it to the poet
was his hearing the following words sung as a refrain,
whilst at Altengleichen : " The moon shines bright,

\

BURGER. vos;J. l05

the dead ride fast ; Sweet love, art not afraid ? " It
was a happy thought of Burger's to make his hero a
soldier who has fallen in the Seven Years' War, and
who comes as a ghost to keep his promise to his lady-
love. In the first half of the ballad Lenore's grief is
most pathetically painted, and the ghastly night-ride
occupies the second part. The curtness, the rapid
transition from point to point, are quite in the spirit
of the Folk-song, which rather likes leaving reasons to
be guessed, and details to be imagined, by the sym-
pathetic listener. Of his other ballads, the best are : —
"The Song of the Brave Man," "The Wild Huntsman,"
and *' The Emperor and the Abbot." Biirger's Songs,
such as " Sir Bacchus," and "The Hamlet," are quite
in the popular vein, and great favourites. Lastly, his
Sonnets are among the best in the language, e.g.,
"Loss," "Homeless Love," "To the Heart." Even
Schiller, who judged Biirger's poems somewhat harshly
as " devoid of higher aim," admits that his sonnets are
models of their kind, and melt into music on the re-
citer's lips. Burger was the anonymous translator of
the " Wonderful Journeys and Adventures of Baron
Miiuchhausen," which first appeared in English, though
the real author was B. JS. Baspe of Cassel.

JoHANN Heinrich Vosz, bom at Sommersdorf in
Mecklenburg, 1751, was the life and soul of the Club.
The son of an impoverished farmer, he was enabled
through the kindness of Boie and other friends to
attend the University. He took the editorship of the
" Muses' Almanack " off Boie's hands, and married his

l06 SEVKNTft tEKlOt).

sister Ernestine. In 1778, he became Rector of Otten-
dorf School, but soon accepted a more lucrative en-
gagement at Eutin, where his friend Leopold Stolberg
resided, to whom, indeed, he owed the place. Thence
he proceeded to Jena, where, however, he did not stay
long, to the great sorrow of Goethe, but soon after
became Court-councillor at Heidelberg, where he died
in 1826.

Vosz's character is that of a thorough North German ;
with a sound understanding he united a certain dogged
tenacity ; good-natured and loving to his friends, he
was hard upon his opponents, especially where he saw
any leaning toward " Hierarchy and Squirearchy," as
appeared in his championship of perfect liberty of
thought against Stolberg, Creuzer, and Heyne. Vosz
tried all branches of Lyric poetry, succeeded better
in the Song than in the Ode; but in the Idyll he
found the true field for his genius. Vosz's Idylls are
something very different from Solomon Geszner's, who
took from Klopstock the hint of a simple patriarchal
life, and then dashed it with the simpering Arcadian
shepherds of the French: a world unlike anything
real, and, moreover, almost devoid of action. Vosz
gave the Idyll a firm footing on reality, by painting a
faithful picture of North German life down to the
smallest details, and awakening a sense of the beauty
of home life and home joys. Such is the "Seventieth
Birthday," and such his greatest work " Luise," which
had the high honour of inspiring Goethe's Hermann
and Dorothea. Vosz wrote some of his Idylls in the

VOSZ. THE STOLBERGS. 107

Low Saxon dialect, which prompted others to use
various dialects, e.g., Hebel, Usteri, and afterwards
Groth, Renter, &c.

Vosz did still more for literature by his Translations.
He translated the Odyssey and Iliad, VirgO, Ovid,
Tibullus, Hesiod, Horace, Theocritus and Aristophanes ;
and not only are these versions models of the trans-
lator's art, but Vosz, a great master of language, has
increased the flexibility of the German tongue, and
enriched its vocabulary.

Count CHRisTiAjf of Stolberg (b. 1748, d. 1821)
was the elder of two brothers, students at Gottingen,
who, being friends of ELlopstock, were heartily wel-
comed into the Hain-bund. As a poet he did not
come up to his brother, much as he tried.

Count Frederic Leopold of Stolberg, bom at
Bramstedt, 1750, had, in his youth, a most fierce
hatred for tyrants, but later his political and religious
views changed. In June, 1800, while at Eutin, he
and his entire family, excepting only his eldest
daughter, were received into the Catholic Church,
doubtless influenced by Princess Gallitzin. By this
step he lost the friendship of his old acquaintance
Vosz, who wrote a pamphlet in 1819 entitled, " How
came Fred Stolberg to turn slave ? " In the same
year Stolberg died on his estate at Sondermiihlen,
near Osnabruck.

As a poet, Stolberg kept pretty close to Klopstock,
and chose the same three classes of subjects, viz..
Antique, Patriotic, and Christian. To the first class

108 SEVENTH PERIOD.

belong his Dramas with chorases, modelled on those
of Sophocles, but with nothing dramatic in them ; and
his Translations from ^schylus, Sophocles, and Homer.
Of the second class are his Songs, Odes, Hymns, Ballads
and Romances: "The Harz," the "Song of a German
Boy," and the " Song of an old Swabian Knight to his
Son." His Christian principles are shown in the
** History of the Eeligion of Jesus," and a " Life of
Alfred the Great." His language also is like Klop-
stock's, high flown and intense.

LuDWiG HoLTY, born in 1748 at Mariensee in Han-
over, was the son of a country clergyman. While
studying at Gottingen, he became a member of the
Hain-bund ; but, being from his youth weak and sickly,
he was not so boisterous as his friends. His Songs,
Odes, and Elegies are remarkably melodious, and be-
tray a warm love of nature, of innocent pleasures, and
the peacefulness of country life, yet also a deep
melancholy, and a longing for death. He had his
wish, for he died at Hanover in 1776, when barely
twenty-eight. Much like Holty are the sentimentalists
Matthisson, Salis and Tiedge.

Martin Miller, born 1750, died 1814. He disliked,
as much as Holty, the wild and boisterous, and beca me
in his Novels, the chief exponent of a mild, sentimental
enthusiasm. His " Siegwart, a convent story," ac-
quired as great celebrity as Goethe's " Werther," and
became the model for a multitude of Monastic Tales.
Some of his Songs, e.g., " What care I much for goods

HOLTY. MILLER. LEISEWITZ. CLAUDIUS. 109

and gold, so long as I'm content," have become de-
servedly popular.

JoHANN Anton Leisewitz was bom at Hanover in
1752, and studied law at Gottingen. The only work
we have of his is " Julius of Tarentum," a tragedy,
which even Lessing thought must be by Goethe. The
opposite characters of the two brothers are cleverly
sketched : both love Blanca, whpm the prince, their
fond father, to end their strife, shuts up in a convent ;
both come to carry her off, but one kills the other, and
the father, like an old Eoman, slays the murderer on
the corpse of his victim. Leisewitz had hoped by this
piece to obtain the prize ofifered by the famed actor
Schroder, then director of the Hamburg National
Theatre; but it was adjudged to Klinger's "Twins."
After that, Leisewitz gave up poetry, and devoted his
time entirely to jurisprudence. He died at Brunswick
in 1806.

Matthias Claudius was bom in 1740, at Eeinfeld
in Holstein. He studied at Jena, and then settled at
Wandsbeck, where, under the nom de plume of
Asmus, he set up a people's weekly paper, " The Wands-
beck Messenger." He died in 1815 at Hamburg, at the
house of his son-in-law, the publisher Perthes. Though
he had not studied at Gottingen, he was intimate with
Klopstock, Vosz, and the Stolbergs. He shared Klop-
stock's enthusiasm for religion and country, and Vosz's
endeavours to simplify poetry. In his Songs he has
hit most happily the true popular tone : " Evening
Hymn "— " Ehine Wine "— " Fatherland "— " David and

110 SEVENTH PERIOD.

Goliath" — "Urian's {i.e. Old Nick's) Journey round
the World," &c.

Among writers influenced by the Hain-bund, and
having much in common with it, are Overbeck of
Lubeck (died 1821), who wrote the Song, " Why are
Tears so many here beneath the Moon ? "

UsTERi of Zurich (died 1827), author of a Song, ** Life
let us cherish," which has made the round of the
world ; also of a Town and a Country Idyll in the
Swiss dialect, distinguished by their truth to nature.

Above all, John Peter Hebel (1760-1826), the son
of a poor weaver at Basle; his Alemannic Poems as
well as prose Tales, in the dialect of his native dis-
trict, give a faithful picture of its language and
manners.

Lessino.

GoTTHOLD Ephraim Lessing, bom on the 22nd of
January, 1729, at Kamenz in Upper Lusatia, was the
son of a clergyman. At Meissen School his favourite
subjects were classics and mathematics. He proved
himself so apt a pupil, that the Head Master said " the
lessons of his schoolfellows were not suitable for him ;
he was a horse that needed a double portion of fodder."
In 1746 he proceeded to the University of Leipzig to
study theology, in accordance with a desire expressed
by his parents ; not caring for this study, he directed
his attention to medicine, but with little better
success ; he then applied himself to poetry, philosophy

nSTKRI. REBEL. LESSING. Ill

and languages. He was especially fond of the Drama,
which till then he had only known from reading
Plautus and Terence. Instead of associating with
savants, he mingled in the society of actors, and
learnt by frequent visits to the theatres "a hundred
important trifles which a dramatic poet must know,
and cannot learn by reading about them." He be-
came intimate with Schlegel, Zacharia and Weise, who
shared his passion for the Drama ; one of his best
friends was Mylius, a highly educated though most
unsettled and restless man. Lessing accompanied him
to Berlin, whence, after a stay of four months, he went
to Wittenberg in 1748. From this time a certain
restlessness seemed to drive him from one place to
another. He returned to Berlin, and, after staying at
Potsdam, he went back to Leipzig, where he became
friendly with Kleist. In 1760 he became secretary to
Greneral Tauenzien in Breslau, and, shortly after, re-
turned for the fourth time to Berlin. Here he enjoyed
the society and friendship of Moses Mendelssohn,
Friedr. Nicolai and Ramler. {Mendelssohn died in
1786 ; his ripest work is " Phaedon, or Immortality."
Nicolai, who died in 1811, was in the front rank of
Grennan illuminati ; his organ, the " Allgemeine
Deutsche Bibliothek," was all for sober sense, and
would have banished the beautiful out of religion and
poetry ; his novel, " Magister Sebaldus Nothanker,"
made a great stir for a time.) In 1767 Lessing under-
took the task of transforming the Hamburg Theatre
into a model one for the whole nation ; but, being

1 12 SEVENTH PERIOD.

frustrated in this design, he accepted in 1770 the post
of librarian at Wolfenbiittel, which he held until his
death. After*along^^ journey to Italy with a Prince
of Brunswick, he returned to Wolfenbiittel in 1776,
and married Eva Konig, He died at Brunswick on
the 15th of February, 1781.

Leasing possessed extraordinary erudition, and an
insatiable desire for research. It was not knowledge
that made him happy, but the search for knowledge,
and in one of his polemic treatises he says : " If God
held in His right hand all truth, and in His left only an
eternal craving for truth, coupled even with the cer-
tainty of erring, and bade me choose ; I would humbly
touch the left hand, and say: 'Father, give; pure
truth is doubtless for Thee alone.' " This explains his
excursions into all branches of science, philology, theo-
logy, philosophy, archaeology, aesthetics, etc.. and his
lingering only for a while in each. Above all things,
he was cut out for a Critic. Nothing in German liter-
ature could escape his quick eye. In his " Escapes
of Horace," he says : " I can find no pleasanter occu-
pation than to review the lives of celebrated men,
examine their claims to immortality, remove blemishes
that do not rightly belong to them, expose any false
patching up of their weaknesses; in short, to do
morally what the diligent curator of a picture-gallery
does physically." Thus he freg(i_German literature
from the slftviah a,fin^irfttinn for .JQfp.jgn. .Jaodfils.
Lessing criticizes everything with great precision an,d
severity. He i^as guided mainly by this principle:

LBSSING. 113

" A bad poet is not to be censured at all, a middling
poet requires gentle treatment, but with a great poet
one must be inflexible." And whilst he had a keen
eye for the faults of others, he was equally severe
upon himsell He confessed that he had not within
him the living spring of poetry which gushes up
spontaneously ; on the contrary, everything had to be
squeezed and pumped out of him. His great powers
as a critic were first shown in the " Literature Letters "
which he began publishing jointly with Nicolai* and
Mendelssohn at Berlin in 1759. Li these he reviews
the whole literature of the time, and do€» not spare
his friends more than other poets. He sees at a
glance the faults of Klopstock's " Messias," of Wieland's
works, of Kleist and Gleim's poetry. One result of
the lack of human interest in the "Messias** he sums up
in an Epigram : —

" Who praisM Elopsioek ? AIL Who reads him? IWw.
Pd rather ham lew pndae, and be read thtaa^"

He was most severe upon Grottsched, and pointed out
that the French theatre did not suit the German mode
of thinking, the Germans oeing fit for something
better than to imitate French levity and lewdness.
Grettness, sublimity and power, as seen in Shake-
speaie, were better suited to the German character.

1 Goethe and Schiller haye a Xenium on this :
** What, joa don't mean to say Nicolai had a hand in it 7
Now I remember, there do some stapid things stand in it."
H

114 SaVKNTH PERIOD.

In 1766. stimulated by Winckelmann, Lessin
" Laokoon^"

{J. J. Winckelmann, born 1717 at Stendal, was the
son of a shoemaker. He studied at Halle and Jena, and
was pro-rector of a school from 1743 to 1748. His
embarrassed position was somewhat improved when
he obtained a situation near Dresden, where he had
the opportunity of studying works of art. He had a
burning desire to visit Italy, and for that purpose
joined the Catholic Church. At Florence, Naples and
Rome, he continued his studies, as a result of which he
published in 1764 a " History of the Art of Antiquity."
After he had been for some years Overseer of the
Antiquities in and about Rome, he returned to Germany
in 1768, but had only got £is far as Vienna when an
impulse seized him to turn back. He did so, and was
murdered at Trieste by the Italian Arcangeli.)

Lsssinq's '* Laokoon " has for its starting-point that
remarkable group — the work of the Greek sculptors
Agesander, Polydorus and Athenodorus — which re-
presents the Trojan priest Laocoon, and hia t^wo sons,
at tEe^moment when they are being strangled by the
serpents. This punishment was inflicted by Minerva
because Laocoon had predicted misfortune from the
admission of the Wooden Horse into Troy. Now a
poet, Virgil, has handled the same subject in the 2nd
book of his JEneid. After relating the successive
stages of the tragedy he makes Laocoon raise an
agonizing cry to the gods. But this is not seen in the
sculpture ; and why ?

4

, . LESSING. 115

This is how Lessing answers the question : — Greek
poetry allows its heroes to cry, and does not forbid
^ them tears; but the plastic art could not allow this,
for its highest aim is beauty, and a cry would dis-
tort the features, so the sculptor was obliged to
change the cry into a sigh on the countenance of the
luckless priest. Further, the artist must be moderate
in expression, because he is limited to one single
moment in the successive stages of an action, for in-
stance, to only one of the many varying expressions
that flit across the face, and that moment must not be
one of extreme emotion, especially a purely painful one.
From these arguments Lessing proceeds to distinguish
between the plastic and rhetoric arts. He attacks
Breitinger's definition that, " Poetry is a speaking
painting, and Painting a dumb poetry." He shows
that poetry and painting, in spite of the relations
existing between them, are stiU two distinct branches
of art. The domain of painting (t.«,, of the pictorial
arts, including sculpture) is spa^e : the domain of poetry,
on the contrary, is the succession of time. Hence bodies
with their visible properties are the subjects of paint-
ing, and actions those of poetry. Painting can repre-
sent actions too, but only suggestively through bodies ;
poetry can describe bodies, but only suggestively and
through actions. Homer followed this rule by describ-
ing the shield of Achilles, not as a finished work, but as
one growing up before our eyes. Schiller has observed
the same rule in his poem of The Walk, and Goethe in
Hermann and Dorothea.

116 SEVENTH PERIOD.

Another difference, already hinted at, between paint-
ing and poetry, is, that poetry is not confined to a
description of the beautiful ; it may choose the ugly,
nay, the disgusting, as its subjects— a thing that paint-
ing must not do. When Professor Klotz of Halle
attacked Lessing, the latter answered him so severely
in his "Letters of Antiquarian Import," that Klotz's
reputation was gone. To the same controversy we
owe the critical dissertation, *' How the Ancients
pictured Death,"

In 1759 Lessing published his treatise on ** The
Fable," and in 1771 one on "Epigrams." Though
his definition of the one is too wide, and of the
other too narrow, they are good examples of his
safe and natural method of inquiry. For models
of epigram he went back to the classical authors,
especially Martial, and considered the Fables of iEsop
unsurpassed in the essential qualities of conciseness
and precision. Thus he reformed the Fable, as the
Swiss Frohlich has lately done in another direction,
namely, by bringing the whole of inanimate nature
within its range. Lessing himself wrote a number of
Fables and Didactic poems.

But his most anxious attention was bestowed on the
Befprm of the German Theatre. In his eighteenth year
he already began to compose Comedies, much after the
style of Gottsched, but with more natural and viva-
cious dialogue. These are : " The Young Scholar,"
"The Misogyne," "The Jews," "The Free-thinker," 'and
"The Treasure"; the last is a free adaptation from

LESSING. 117

Plautus, whose biography he wrote, and whose Captivi
he pronounced the best of plays. These comedies
were followed by two works which bear some re-
semblance to the sentimentality of Gellert and Klop-
stock. They are the Tragedies of " Miss Sara Sampson,"
and " Philotas." By writing the former in prose, and
laying the scene in England (the subject is evidently
taken from Richardson's " Clarissa "), he already broke
away from French traditions. The heroine is enticed
away from the bosom of her family by a rake, Melle-
font Marwood, Mellefont's mistress, avenges herself
by poisoning her rival. Sara's father overtakes and
forgives his dying daughter, and Marwood saves her-
self by flight. The piece is marked by lively action,
and is true to real life, but lacks inward elevation.
"Philotas " is a tragedy in one act, possessing a masterly
dialogue, in which Lessing glorifies the love of country.
In 1767 appeared the so-called Comedy of "Minna
von Barnhelm : ^r, Soldier's Luck." During the
Seven Years' War, a Prussian ofl&cer. Major von Tell-
heim, comes into Saxony to raise war contributions.
As he finds it impossible to extort all the money re-
quired from the impoverished people, he makes up the
deficiency out of his own pocket. This generous act
gains for him the love and admiration of a wealthy
Saxon heiress, Minna von Barnhelm, and they become
engaged. They see no more of each other till the end
of the war, when Tellheim finds himself discharged,
with a lamed right arm, besides other wounds, and
un(|er the odious suspicion of having been bribed by

118 SEVENTH PERIOD.

the Saxons. He goes to a small inn at Berlin, and is so
reduced in circumstances that he is compelled to give
his engagement-ring in pawn to the inn-keeper. Minna,
not having heard of her lover, goes to Berlin, and by
chance puts up at the same inn where Tellheim is
residing. She first learns of his distress through the
ring, and is desirous of helping him ; but Tellheim
feels too keenly the incongruity of a cripple and one
robbed of his honour, though unjustly, being wedded
to the wealthy heiress. Minna resorts to deception,
and makes her lover believe that, because she would
not give him up, she has been disinherited by her
nncle, and is come as a suppliant to cast herself on his
truth and honour. This entirely changes the aspect of
affairs, and the conflict between love and honour is
happily adjusted. Soon after, the decision of the Court
and a letter from the King replace Tellheim in the posi-
tion he richly deserves. As for the other characters,
Minna's affectionate, cheery, chatty companion, Fran-
ciska, bestows her hand on the gallant Werner, who at
last gives up his whim of going to Persia to find Prince
Heraclius. The major's man, Just, is the type of a rough
but honest servant, who will no more give up his master
than his poodle will him ; and mine host of The King
of Spain turns out to be the pitiful rogue that Just had
always felt him to be. Lessing gave vent to his Franco-
phobia in the ridiculous figure of Riccaut de la Mar-
lini^re — coxcomb, coward, gambler, cheat — to whom
cheating is merely "corriger la fortune." One of
I/^ssing's objects in writing this drama, in which \h^

LB8SING. 119

two chief characters, a Prussian ofl&cer an4 a Saxon
lady, vie with each other in generosity, was to remove
the provincial hatred stirred up between Prussians aud
Saxons by the Seven Years' War, and to awaken the
higher idea of a common. Fatherland. In this sense
"Hdinna von Barnhelm " may be termed the first national
drama. Its brilliant success was followed up by a long
train of pieces dealing with martial life. Goethe says
the first two acts are an unrivalled specimen of how to
lay out the plot of a play.

Lessing's efforts to reform the, theatre at Leipzig were
fruitless, and the poet turned his attention to Vienna
and Hamburg, where matters looked more promising.
He was appointed theatrical poet at the latter place ;
but, declining this post, he became theatrical critic.
In this position he published the " Hamburg Drama-
turgy" (1767-1769), containing Analyses of fifty-two
theatrical pieces. But two-thirds even of these were
translations from the French ; which did not look
promising for Lessing's plan of founding a National
Drama. His hopes for the Hamburg Theatre were
unfortunately not fulfilled ; the actors were too
touchy, and the public unable to judge. He concluded
his " Dramaturgy " with the bitter complaint that " the
public had done nothing, nay, worse than nothing;
well-meaning men had started a German National
Theatre without reflecting that as yet there was no
German Nation ; one might say, it was the character
of the Germans to have no character."

Yet Lessing's work at 5am burg was not all thrown

120 SEVENTH PERIOD.

away. His " Dramaturgy " became a standard work.
He had defined, with a precision hitherto unattenipted,
the Principles of the Drama. He had shown that the
French models the (two Comeilles, Voltaire, and
Diderot) were not suited to form the basis of a national
German drama, being not only contrary to the German
spirit, but to Art itself. The French maintained that
their drama was formed on the ancient models, and in
accordance with the rules of Aristotle; but Lessing
showed, in relation to the Three Unities which the
French strictly observed, that the Unity of Action
was the only one to be insisted on — those of Time and
Place being of use only so far as they helped the first.
He also demonstrated the wide difference between the
Greek and French dramas, especially in his criticism
of Voltaire's Merope. He pointed to Shakespeare as
being vastly superior to the French poets, and, together
with the Greek poets, the best model for the Germans.
The contents of the " Dramaturgy " are not limited to
the inner laws of the drama, but embrace the questions
of Scenery and the aid of Music, with valuable hints
on the art of Acting.

A few years after (1772), Leasing brought out his
Tragedy of " Emilia Galofcti." in which he clothes
Livy's tale of Virginia in a modern garb. The scene
is laid at a small Italian Court. The Prince of Guastalla,
once the devoted slave of Countess Orsina, is seized
with a sudden passion for Emilia, the daughter of
Odoardo Galotti. Hearing that she is betrothed and
about to b^ married to Count Appiani, he uses all

LESSIN6. 121

possible means to get the count out of the way. He
finds a willing tool in his chamberlain Marinelli, who
first offers Appiani a distant embassy ; and, on that
being refused, concocts a plot, in pursuance of which
the count — on his way to be married — is murdered by
brigands, and Emilia is conveyed from the tragic
scene to the prince's country-seat at Dosalo, Thither
also come her parents, Odoardo and Claudia. The
prince feigns surprise, and promises to investigate the
crime. But the despised Orsina, arriving just then
at the castle, discovers the whole shameful plot to
Odoardo, and hands him a dagger as the only means
of preserving his daughter's honour. Emilia herself
implores her father to kill her and save her from a
worse fate. Whether this doubly tragic termination
of their plans led to the prince's reformation and
Marinelli's punishment, we are left to surmise.

THo n}^^fn(f»^<t in »>^i° ploy aro rlrawn Tfith ^hft

akin^of a master. The prince is good-natured; he
loves art, though in a very different way from the
painter Conti ; but he has no sense of the duties and
responsibilities of his position, as shown in the con-
versation with his councillor, Eota, and is ready to
sacrifice everything to gratify his whims. Marinelli,
the chamberlain, is the cunning courtier, heartless,
dead to all truth and right, and desirous only of pleas-
ing the master, under whose protection he can attain his
ends by lies and deceit. Countess Orsina is the passion-
ate Italian, urged on by injured love and jealousy.
The once powerful but now discarded mistress thirst?

122 SEVENTH PERIOD.

for vengeance, and would even stoop to murder, as
shown by the dagger she brings to Dosalo. Odoardo
is a nobleman in the highest sense of the word, one
who cannot flatter and cringe — a second Virginius, who
offers the greatest of sacrifices on the altar of virtue.
The beautiful Emilia has much of her father's energy,
though her special characteristics are piety and
obedience. Claudia, her mother, is a vain thoughtless
woman, who feels rather flattered by the prince's
attentions to her daughter, and must bear some of
the blame of the catastrophe. " Emilia Galotti " is the
first great German tragedy, a model of regularity in
planning and execution ; but instead of the Greek
Fate, it is Human Action that ties and unties the knot.
Whilst librarian at Wolfenbiittel, Lessing published
a series of " Contributions to History and literature
out of the treasures of the Library." Among them
appeared the famous " Wolfenbiittel Fragments," from
the pen of Eeimarus, Professor of Mathematics at
Hamburg, which contained an attack on the Christian
Revelation. This involved Lessing in a long Theo-
logical Controversy with Goze, Head-pastor of Ham-
burg, who charged him with approving the pro-
fessor's views. Lessing naaintained, for one thing,
that Christianity could stand without the New Testa-
ment, as it had existed before that was written. His
own_Confe8sion of Faith he lays down in the Drama
of " Nathan the Wise," which he wrote in reference to
these discussions. In this he uses the five-foot Iambic
(blank verse), which from that time became the regular

LESSING. 123

metre of dramatic verse. The centre of the whole
piece is the parable of the Three Rings, taken from the
Decameron of Boccaccio. The Three Monotheistic
Religions are placed on an equal footing ; what is true
in each of them is tolerance, humanity, love, and pure
morality. (As the divine origin of any of them is not
proved, the highest duty of man does not consist in
faith, but in virtue.) In choosing his types of the
three religions, Lessing has not been quite fair to the
Christian. The representatives of the Jewish and Islam
faiths are ideal characters, each perfect in his own way.
One is Nathan, in whom Lessing has raised a monu-
ment to the pure and lofty character of his friend
Mendelssohn ; Nathan has the secret of the ring — that
of winning hearts ; he typifies humanity, the religion of
reason acting through love, and placed above all positive
revelations. Saladin again is an ideally noble nature.
No one of the three or four Christians is to be com-
pared with these. The Friar is a devout and humble
Christian ; pity, charity, self-denial are to him the
essence of piety ; but he is far too feminine, shrinks
too much from contact with the world, to represent
the aggressive and victorious might of the Gospel. The
Templar is a true and noble character, heroic and full
of contempt for death, but melancholy, reserved, and
religiously indifferent. Daja's Christianity is of a
narrow cast. The Patriarch, to whose character Head-
pastor Goze has contributed some features, is the oppo-
site of true religion, an intolerant, conceited hypocrite
apd self-seeker. Justice demanded a Christian charac-

124 SEVENTH PERIOD.

ter of equal weight with Nathan and Saladin. The
scene is laid at Jerusalem, and the time chosen that of
the Crasades, though the spirit of humanity and toler-
ance pervading the chief persons belong to the poet's
own period. Of like import are Lessing's Philosophical
Dialogues : " Ernst and Falk," " John's Will," and " The
Education of the Human Eace."

Lessing's striving for truth and clearness extended
to Form; and he may be called the originator of a
sterling German Prose. He has no pretended pathos,
no straining for sublimity, no jerks and quirks of ex-
pression ; but always chooses the simplest, fittest word
to express his thought.

Moses Mendelssohn was bom at Dessau in 1729.
His father was very poor, being a teacher and writer
of the scrolls of the law (Torah) for the Jewish com-
munity. The boy betrayed, at a very early age, an
intense love for learning. The Bible, the Talmud, and
Maimonides attracted him most. Incessant labour
brought about that weak health which afflicted him
all his life. His father's poverty, and the removal of
his teacher Eabbi Frankel to Berlin, caused Mendels-
sohn to leave the place of his birth and go to Berlin in
1743. There he lived in a garret, and copied Hebrew
manuscripts for his living. When he bought a loaf
he had to divide it into portions to serve him for
several days. A Polish Jew, who was looked
upon by the Rabbinate as a free-thinker, instructed
him in mathematics ; another Jewish friend, with the
help of an old (dictionary Ijoupht for a few pence,

MBNDELSSOHN. 125

taught him Latin, of which he soon knew enough to
read Locke's " De Intellectu Hominis." Dr. Gumpertz
encouraged him to study modern literature, including
the German. In 1750 his position was much improved
upon entering the house of a Jewish silk manufacturer,
Bernhardt, as tutor to his child. Four years later, he
became clerk in his employer's office, and after
Bemhardt's death, by virtue of his will, he became
joint partner with the widow. He remained in this
occupation till his death, January 4th, 1786.

The first thing that led Mendelssohn to think of
popularizing Philosophy was reading Reinbeck's " Re-
flections on the Confession of Augsburg". The study of
Locke, Shaftesbury, Spinoza, and Wolf, had a still
greater effect on his mind. Then his acquaintance and
friendship with Lessing, to whom he was introduced
in 1754 as a famous chess-player, was of the very
greatest value to him. Though differing on many
points, their souls were congenial. It was Lessing that
first introduced him to the public as a writer. His
first publication (1755) was entitled " Philosophic Dia-
logues," one of which, on " The Best of Possible Worlds,"
is a defence of Leibnitz's optimist view of the world
against Voltaire's sarcasms in the " Candide ". Other
works : " Letters on the Feelings" — "Reflections on the
Sublime and the Naive," &c. It seems that Mendels-
sohn had already, in 1757, discovered and expressed
the principal truth which forms the basis of Lessing's
" Laokoon ". His treatise, "On Evidence in the Metaphy-
sical Sciences," won the first prize from the Berlin
Academy in 1763, while Kant's competing treatise

126 SEVENTH PERIOD.

only received the second prize. He attained the acme
of his fame by his " Phadon : or the Immortality of
the Soul " ; so that travellers are said to have come to
Berlin merely to see the greatest king in the world and
the author of Phadon.

HERDER.

JoHANN Gottfried Herder, born on the 24th
August, 1744, at Morungen in East Prussia, was the
son of a poor teacher, and had to work his own way
up in life. A shy, sensitive lad, he was patronized by
Pastor Willamow and his successor Trescho. A Eussian
surgeon took him to Konigsberg, where he meant to
teach him surgery, and then send him to Petersburg
to study medicine. Fainting at the sight of the first
operation, he relinquished the study of medicine for
that of theology. By the kind assistance of his
patrons, and by giving lessons, he was enabled to
pursue his studies without any help from his parents.
At Konigsberg he attended the lectures and drank in
the ideas of the celebrated philosopher, Immanuel Kant.^

^ KaDt (1724-1804) was the founder of a new philosophical system,
the so-called Critical Philosophy. His three principal works are the
"Critique of the Pure Reason" (1781), " Critique of the Practical
Reason " (1787), and " Critique of the Judgment " (1790). He main-
tains that it is impossible to know supersensual things by the Pure
Beason. The ideas of God, Freedom, Immortality are postulates of
the PracticiJ Reason (moral sense). Religion rests mainly on the
Categorical Imperative (moral law). His philosophy soon found its
way into every branch of science and literature, poetry and life.
Men like Herder, Hamann, Hippel, Goethe, and above all Schiller,
were devoted students, and for the most part ardent admirers, of
the sage of Konigsberg.

HERDER. 127

Herder was still more influenced by Haniann, who
surpassed his contemporaries in depths of religious
thought, and was called the Magus of the North on
account of his dark mysterious style. Through him
Herder became acquainted with Shakespeare and
Ossian, and was seized with a great liking for fopular
poetry. From 1764 to 1769 he lived as tutor and
preacher at Eiga, but gave up this position to visit
the chief educational institutions abroad. He sailed
from Riga to Nantes, and then went up to Paris.
This journey was the turning-point in his life. At
Paris he was oflFered the post of travelling-companion
to the Prince of Holstein, who was of a melancholy
disposition, and was going on a tour to Italy. Herder
having set out by way of Hamburg, where he made
the acquaintance of Lessing, arrived at Kiel, and was
presented to the prince. It the summer of 1770 they
began their journey and proceeded to Hamburg, then
to Hanover, Grottingen and Darmstadt. At the last
place Herder met his future wife, Karoline Flachsland,
at the house of War Councillor Merck. He continued
the journey as far as Strasburg, where, having given
up his situation, which he heartily disliked, he re-
mained for six months to be cured of a disease of the
eyea The treatment proved ineffectual ; but he made
the acquaintance of young Goethe, who was there
studying law, and who gladly placed himself under
the influence of the riper mind of the embittered
and irritable poet. In 1771 Herder was appointed
Court-chaplain to Count Wilhelm of Biickeburg, and

128 SEVENTH PElilOD.

remained there until 1776, when, through Qoethe's
recommendation, he received the appointment of super-
intendent-general at Weimar. He was the third poet
of note who made that little capital his home ; but he
attached himself principally to Wieland. In 1778 he
fulfilled his long cherished project of visiting Italy,
which he did partly in company with the Duchess
Amalia. He was appointed President of the Consistory,
and was ennobled by the Elector of Bavaria. He
died after some years of sufifering on the 18th of
December, 1803. His death was the first break in the
circle of poets living at Weimar.

Herder's labours as an author spread over the fields
of Religion, Theology, Philology, Philosophy, History,
Poetry, and -^thetics ; everywhere with a quickening,
furthering influence. They began with Criticism in-
cited by Lessing, whose thoughts he wished partly to
limit, and in another direction to extend. While at
Riga, he wrote two books, with the object of taking
stock of what had been done in Literature, and opening
new vistas for future development. The^e were :
"Fragments on Grerman. Literature "(1767), and Cri-
tical Woods." (1769), of which the first pages were
prompted by Lessing's ** Laokoon," and the rest by some
pamphlets of Klotz. Herdfir's criticism differs widely
from liCssing's. While the latter builds solidly on the
understanding, the former appeals largely to imagin-
ation and feeling. Lessing's style is clear and simple ;
Hejder, an apt pupil of Hamaun, is tooj'ond of high-
flown^uratiye^ language. In the place ofTCessing's

HESDER. 129

objectiveness, a decided subjectiveness predominates in
Herder; hence, where Lessing demonstrates, Herder
declaims. He is often too bitter when he blames, and
too partial when he praises.

Though not a severe logician, Herder had _fine
thoughts, and often just ones. As early as in his
" Fragments " he asks for a purely German National
and original way of writing. "Why," he asks, "are
we always to imitate what is foreign, as if we were
Romans or Greeks ? We will paint ourselves as we
are, without borrowing fictitious colours from a foreign
soil" He then distinguishes the Poetry of Nature
from that of Art. The infancy of language, he says,
was poetical ; then language was bold, rich, rounded,
full of imagery and without writers. In the manhood
of language, poetry became artificial and strayed far
from nature ; the language of song became a language
of books. The most perfect bard of Nature is Homer,
whose poetry he places far above the Art-poetry of
Virgil, Again, in his " Critical Woods," he rejects the
method of judging the ancient poets by the manners
of modern times, and attacks the French interpreters
who do not enter into the Spirit of Antiquity. In
discussing Lessing's "Laokoon," he arrives at partly
different results. The proposition that poetry can
only relate actions, and not paint, seemed to him to
exclude the Northern and Oriental poetry, and here
he thought Ossian triumphed over Homer. But jn
polemics Herder was no match for Lessing.

Besides Homer, Herder finds true natural poetry in

130 SEVENTH PERIOD.

Ossian, in the old Folk-songs and in Shakespeare. In
1773 he published with Goethe " Leaves of German
Ways and Art," in which are two essays by Herder, one
on Ossian and the Ancients, the other on Shakespeare.
Here again he points out the infinite superiority of the
People's Poetry — its truth, tunefulness, individual por-
traiture, unfailing effect, &c. — to the tinkered product
of the Schools.

His_ next two works treated of Hebrew poetry.
One is the " Oldest Record of the Human Race," deal-
ing with the first few chapters of Genesis from an
aesthetic point of view ; the other, " The Spirit of
Hebrew_5oetiy." Here he characterises the poetic
language of the Bible as that of direct perception and
feeling. He shows how nearly every kind of poetry
is represented in the Bible : epic in the historical
books, lyric in the songs of battle and victory, the
hymn in the Book of Psalms, erotic poetry in Solomon's
Song, and the elegy in Jeremiah's Lamentations. He
further calls attention to the parallelism in poetry,
the metre, the rhythmic balance in the structure of
sentences, and so forth.

From Criticism, Herder advanced to Poetic Bepro-
dudion. In 1778 he published a collection of songs of
various nations at different periods. The " Voices of
Nations in Song " comprises not only French, Greek,
Italian, English and Spanish, but Peruvian, Finlandic
and other songs. But they are no mere translations ;
they have sunk so deep into the author's mind that
they come out again equal to original. Herder had a

(

HEKDER 131

wonderful faculty of losing his own individuality in
that of another mind ; and when he says of the Grerman
character, that " it hath the power to gather from each
nation's topmost bough that flower of human mind, its
poetry," he was himself the most conspicuous example
of this all-sidedness. The same faculty of Recep-
tion and Reproduction appears in " The Cid," which he
finished in the year of his death. Here a number of
romances relating the deeds of Rodrigo Diaz, surnamed
Cid el Battal (lord of battle) and Campeador (cham-
pion), are skilfully strung together into an Epic whole,
divided into four parts: (1) The Cid under Ferdinand
the Great, (2) under Sancho the Strong, (3) under
Alphonsus the Brave, (4) the Cid at Valencia, and his
death in 1099. In spite of the rudeness of his time,
the Cid appears as a pattern of all knightly virtues,
of courage, faith and love of freedom. The romances
are not taken straight from the Spanish, but from a
French account of them in " La Biblioth^que Univer-
selle des Romans 1783." Of Herder's Philosophical and
Historical writings, one of the most important is,
" Ideas on the Philosophy of the History of Humanity, "
another is, " Letters on the Advancement of Humanity,"
in which he maintains that man is capable of endless
progress.

Herder's Poems, most of which are not in rhyme,
are chiefly of an instructive chciiacter, e.g., "Dreams
of Youth," " The Lark," " Dance on the Ice," " Dawn, a
Parable," &c. He deserves great credit for his Legends,
a long forgotten form qI. composition, which he .welr_

132 SEVENTH PEKIOD.

corned back into literature^ "The Saved Youth,"
"The Sons Found," &c. His " Pararayths " are Greek
myths adapted to allegoric purposes. Herder was no
originating genius, but he had a deeply poetic
nature, he could feel whatever was beautiful, make it
his own, and reproduce it. He thus opened the sense
of his countrymen to true poetry. The ultimate aim
of all his work was the culture of humanity, and the
inscription on his grave truly sums up his labours on
earth: ** Light, Love, Life."

Storm and Stress Period.

In the seventies of the last century, about the time
when the Gottingen club of poets was formed, a great
revolution was going on in poetry, science and art. In
religion everything positive was to be set aside, and
give place to a religion of reason which man, self-poised,
was to " spin out of his own inside." On matters of
education, Eousseau, with his return to nature, was
now the prophet. Winckelmann and Lessing had laid
down new rules for Art. " Originality and Genius "
was the cry. The period was therefore called that of
" Original and strong Geniuses," or, from the title of
Klinger's drama, the "Storm and Stress" period. The
highest models were Shakespeare, Homer and the
Folk-song. Macpherson's "Ossian" and Percy's "Reliques"
ware" hailed with enthusiasmT In many men, these
ideas degenerated into pure licence. With the old
laws that shackled Art, they shook off those of Morals ;

LENZ. KLINGER. P. MULLER. 133

they led wild dissipated lives, and many a fine
poetic faculty went to sheer waste and ruin. The most
celebrated of these " strong geniuses " were the
following : —

Jacob Reinhold Lenz, born in Livonia 1751,
was one of Goethe's Strasburg friends. He possessed
considerable talents, but his reckless life ruined
him, and he died in 1797 at Moscow, mad, and
in the greatest poverty. In his Dramas, " The
Steward," &c., he mixes up the comic and tragic,
the ludicrous and horrible. They are mere caricatures,
and in lawlessness have not their like.

Maximilian Klinger, the son of poor parents living
at Frankfort-on-the-Main, was born in 1752. He
raised himself to the position of lieutenant-general and
curator of Dorpt University. His death took place in
1831. He too was one of Goethe's early friends, and
is ably critiiiised in the latter's " Autobiography." His
Comedy, "Sturm und Drang," gave its name to the
period. He acquired more celebrity by his Tragedy,
" The Twins," with which he gained the prize
offered by Schroder of Hamburg for the best actable
play, and missed by Leisewitz. He wrote many other
dramas, in which he piles up horrors, and treats them
as everyday things. A few of them, as "The Oath," and
" The Gamblers," show observation and knowledge of
society. Klinger wrote some Novels^ the best perhaps
being, " Faust's Life, Deeds, and Descent into HelL"

Feiedrich MiJLLER, generally called Maler (painter)
Muller, was bom at Kreuznach in 1749, and died 1825,

134 SEVENTH PERIOD. SCHUBART.

having attained the position of Bavarian Court painter.
He was not without talent, but it was a wild undis-
ciplined power. He likewise wrote a " Faust," the
subject being an especial favourite at that period. It
has nothing in common with Goethe's " Faust," except
the greed for enjoyment; it is an inartistic descrip-
tion of wild, debauched life. His two other Plays,
the "Golo and Genovefa" and the "Niobe," have scenes
of terrific truth to nature, which betray the influence of
Shtikespeare. The Idylls, " Sheep-shearing " and " Nut-
shelling," are faithful pictures of peasant life in the
Palatinate, though not without some coarse and ugly
features. His Song, " The Soldier's Good-bye," will
always be remembered ; it begins, " To-day I part, to-
day I wander."

Christian Schubart was bom in Swabia in 1739,
and died in 1791. For his hatred of tyrants he
suffered ten years' incarceration at Hohenasperg. The
" Sepulchre of Princes " glows with love of freedom
("There they lie, proud princely ruins," &c.). • Besides
this, the best known of his poems are, " The Wandering
Jew," the " Hymn on Frederick the Great," and "The
Prisoner," in which he describes in simple, touching
words his own unhappy lot. His poems, as well as his
fate, made a deep impression on Schiller's youthful mind.

The fermenting elements of the " Storm and Stress "
period are to be traced even in the best poets of the
time, in Herder no less than in Schiller and Goethe ; but
these got over the temporary madness, and even when
in it knew how to give it an artistic shape.

GOETBS. 135

GOETHE.
First Period, 1749- 1 775.

JoHANN Wolfgang von Goethe was born, August 28,
1749, at Frankfort-on-the-Main. His father was a
wealthy man, and his mother a daughter of the town-
magistrate, Textor. What Goethe owed to his parents
he expresses in the lines : —

'• From him I have my sober way
Of steadfastly advsmcing,
From her my temper free and gay
And passion for romancing."

His native town, with its extensive commerce, its
annual fairs, its historic associations and monuments,
had much to excite and impress the poet's youthful
genius. He received many new ideas when Frankfort
was occupied by the French, during the Seven Years'
War, and the King's lieutenant, Count Thorane, was
lodged in his father's house. The count, a lover of art,
had a number of clever painters at work under his
eyes : he also set up a French theatre, which first led
Goethe to read the works of the French dramatists
and study the principles of the French drama. In
1764, Joseph II. was crowned king in the Romer-
saal, an event that widened the boy's mental horizon.
His instruction was superintended by his father, who
sought to excite self-activity in his son, and to train
his understanding rather than to load his memory.

136 SEVENTH PERIOD.

The boy wrote a kind of novel consisting of letters
in seven languages, French, Latin, Greek, English,
Italian, German, and the Jewish dialect of Frankfort.
This Jew-German led him to the study of Hebrew, and
to a keen appreciation of both the Old and New Testa-
menta He says : "I, for my part, loved and prized the
Bible, for almost to it alone did I owe my moral cul-
ture." Of the writings of German poets, Klopstock's
" Messias" took a powerful hold upon him. He himself
wrote a number of religious odes and songs, among them
" Christ's Descent into Hell," while " Joseph and His
Brethren " was a result of his Hebrew studies.

Having grown up under favourable circumstances
and the careful supervision of his parents, Goethe went
to Leipzig in 1765 to study law. He took no great
liking to the lectures, even Gellert's failed to interest
him. But he was greatly pleased with the society he
met, from which he derived great profit. He applied
himself with enthusiasm to Art; Oeser, director of
the Art School, taught him much, and helped him
to understand Winckelmann's works and Lessing's
"Laokoon." A visit to the picture gallery at Dresden
gave him a greater insight into Art. At Leipzig Goethe
wrote the first of his preserved dramatic works : ** The
Lover's Humour" in 1767, and "The Accomplices" in
1768. Both are still after the French taste, and
written in Alexandrines, but unmistakable signs of
originality and great poetic power are evident in both.
The two pieces testify this fact, that whether Goethe
was exuberant with joy or oppressed with sorrow,

GOETHi. 137

he gave vent to his genuine feelings in fiction, and
thereby eased his overcharged emotions. For this
reason he calls all his poems "fragments of one long
confession." At the close of the summer of 1768,
Goethe returned to Frankfort to repair his shattered
health. During his convalescence he was furnished
by Fraulein von Klettenberg, a friend of his mother's,
with many cabalistic and alchemistic works, which led
him to make experiments, traces of which may be re-
cognised in " Faust." Having thoroughly recruited
his health, he went to Strasburg in the spring of 1770,
by the express desire of his father, to finish his study
of law. But he also attended lectures on medicine
and physical science, most of his table-companions being
medical students. Among his friends at Strasburg
were the unfortunate Lenz; the amiable Lerse, whom
he immortalized in his " Gotz," and Jung Stilling.*

What had the greatest influence on Goethe was his
acquaintance with Herder, who though only five years
his senior, was much his superior in experience, inde-
pendence and stability of character. Goethe says his
connexion with Herder was of the utmost consequence
to the development of his mind and character. He

* Stilling W81S the son of a poor charcoal burner. He became a
tailor, and then a schoolmaster. At the age of 30 he began study-
ing medicine at Strasburg, and gained much fame as an oculist.
Lastly he took up finance, and became Professor of Political Economy
at Marburg and Heidelberg He died in 1817 at Carlsruhe. TTia auto-
biography, "Heinrich Stilling's Boyhood, Youth and Travels," is
characterised by simplicity of expression, warm feeling and deep
religious experiencei.

I3d SEVENTH PERIOD.

now began to see that the poetic art was a gift belong-
ing to the world and to nations, and not the heritage
of a few highly-cultured men. Herder drew his
attention to national poetry, to Hebrew poetry, to
Homer and to Ossian, (the song " Selma," he translated
and embodied in his "Werther",) to the world of wealth
in Shakespeare, and to Goldsmith's "Vicar of Wakefield"
(published in 1766). Goethe soon found just such a
family picture as Goldsmith had depicted, in the house
of Pastor Brion von Sessenheim, near Strasburg.
Some of Goethe's most pathetic poems express his
love for the youngest daughter, Frederike. It was
then that he wrote: "My throbbing heart said, 'Quick,
to horse ! '" " Hand in Hand," " Little Flowers, Little
Leaves," And the beautiful May song, " How Gorgeous
Nature Looks to Me ! " Strasburg Cathedral made a
deep impression on him, though previously prejudiced
against Gothic architecture ; and he embodied his new
ideas in the essay, " On German Architecture."

After taking his degree of LL.D., he went home to
Frankfort, where he met his old Leipzig friend Schlosser,
afterwards his brother-in-law. Schlosser introduced
him to Merck, counsellor-of-war in Darmstadt, whose
unsparing criticism was invaluable in teaching him to
bridle his genius and " know where to leave ofiF. " To
master the German Civil and State Law, Goethe went
to Wetzlar in the spring of 1772, and worked for about
four months in the Imperial Court of Exchequer.

In 1773, after his return home, he published his
Drama of "Gotz von Berlichingen," which laid the

(SOETflE. 130

foundation of his fame as an author. In 1774 it was
followed by the "Sorrows of Young Werther," written
for the most part in the form of letters.

" GOTZ VON Berlichingen " is a product of the
Storm and Stress period. Goethe took his material
from an autobiography of the old Franconian knight,
who died in 1562. He imitates Shakespeare in form, but
outdoes even him in laxity of rule. He had already
while at Strasburg dramatized the story of " The Knight
with the Iron Hand," but this he re-modelled in 1773,
making use of the additional insight he had gained at
Wetzlar into the feebleness and rottenness of the German
Empire. (The play was yet further re-modelled when
brought on the stage at Weimar in 1804.) The
piece represents the collision between the old indepen-
dent order of Knights of the Empire and the new
order of things. In Gotz we see the departing Middle
Ages, with their simple knightly virtues of faith and
honour; and in the episcopal Court at Bamberg the
dawn of a new world of learning and polish, with its
intrigues and its falseness. Gotz is a knight of the
old stamp, to whom the new Imperial Courts are an
abomination, and who with his own right hand protects
the oppressed and avenges wrong. But the age of
chivalry is past; and Gotz, in striving to arrest its
decay and resist innovation, comes to the ground.
He is besieged in his castle of Jaxt-hausen by the State
troops, and taken prisoner. On his promising to live
peacefully at his castle, and taking an oath that he
will not seek vengeance, he is set at liberty. The

140 BEVKNTH fKRIOD.

Revolt of the Peasants now occurs : and, thinking he
will be able to appease them and thus render the State
a 8ei"vice, Gotz, at the pressing invitation of the
peasants, puts himself at their head. This is taken
advantage of by his enemies, who accuse him of
treason, and bring him under the ban of the empire.
He is wounded and taken prisoner, and ends his life
in a dungeon, conscious of having saved his honour,
but knowing also that the knell of knighthood has
sounded.

Beside the strong chivalrous Gotz, stand his wife
Elisabeth, a true and noble woman, a reflex of Goethe's
mother; his sister Maria, somewhat akin to Goethe's
love, Frederike ; and honest Lerse, who has the char-
acter of his Strasburg friend. On the other side,
Weislingen, once the hero's playmate and bosom friend,
now deserts him, and seeks to satisfy his ambition in
the service of the Bishop of Bamberg and in the favour
of the emperor. In Grotz's feud with the bishop,
Weislingen is taken prisoner, renews his friendship for
Gotz, renounces the bishop's service, and is betrothed
to Gotz's sister Maria, But he is enticed back to the
bishop's court, succumbs to the charms of Adelheid von
Walldorf, and turns traitor at once to his friend and to
his bride. A miserable end is the reward of his per-
fidy, for he is poisoned by his wife's passionate young
lover Franz, The Bishop of Bamberg and the Abbot
of Fulda, who cannot leave off tippling, represent the
ignorant worldly-minded priesthood, against whom
Brother Martin stands in bright contrast. The em-

GOETHE. 141

peror is a powerless puppet, who desires to do right,
but is unable to maintain order.

All the characters are bright and drawn to the life ;
yet the whole piece lacks the economy of the drama. As
Goethe dispenses with Unity of time, of place, and, in
some measure, even of action, the drama is somewhat
disjointed ; but he has painted a masterly picture of
that important time. The simple household at the
castle of Jaxt-hausen, the pomp at the bishop's court,
gipsy life, the ill-led army of the empire, the horrors
of the Peasants' War, the secret tribunal of the Fehme
— all pass before us in vivid colours, and with astonish-
ing truth to nature. As the subject is national, so is the
language thoroughly popular. It was received with
immense enthusiasm, and begat a vast progeny, mostly
worthless, of chivalry novels and chivalry plays.

The "Sorrows of Young Wkrthkr" is another
product of the Storm and Stress period, one of whose
characteristics was a morbid and dreamy sentimentality.
The immediate occasion of Goethe's writing this Novel
wag the news of the death of young Jerusalem (the
son of the celebrated Abbot of Eiddags-hausen in
Brunswick), whose acquaintance he had made at
Wetzlar, where he was secretary to the Brunswick-
Liineburg embassy. He committed suicide on account
of a hopeless attachment to a friend's wife. Goethe,
at Wetzlar, had had a similar love for Charlotte Buff,
the intended of his friend Kestner ; and had also for
a time meditated self-destruction. His method of
shaking off these morbid feelings was to throw them

142 SEVENTH PERIOD.

intx) an artistic form in this novel, which he calls his
High Shrift. There " Albert" stands for Kestner, and
" Lotte " for his intended ; while, in the melancholy
" Werther " Goethe describes his own struggles, and
partly the leading incidents of Jerusalem's death
(Werther shoots himself). The plan of the whole is as
simple as can be, and the language most lovely and
melodious. That sentimentality which only revels in
feelings without corresponding realities, which dis-
turbs inward peace, and leads to self-destruction, is
most accurately depicted. The immense influence of
this work on contemporaries may be judged from the
number of imitations, amplifications, translations, criti-
cisms, satires, and parodies (Nicolai wrote one called
"The Joys of Young Werther"), which altogether form
an extensive Werther Literature.

Related to "Gotz " and " Werther" are two short Trage-
dies, " Clavigo " and " Stella." The hero of Clavigo is
an effeminate and faithless character, an imitation of
Weislingen. Merck said of it : " You shan't write
any more of this rubbish ; others can do that."
"Stella" is a weak pendant to Werther. In several
pieces of this period, Goethe shows his humorous talent,
such as : " Gods, Heroes, and Wieland," " The Annual
Fair at Plundersweilern," and his skit on the Rev. K.
F. Bahrdt and his new-fashioned Christianity. With
these may be mentioned, though written somewhat
later, the " Triumph of Sensibility " (in which a prince
travels about with an artificial landscape of woods,
moonlight, songbirds, a big doll, his lady-love, stuffed

GOETHS. 143

with the sentimental books then in fashion, &c.) — and
the " Birds, after Aristophanes."

The last creation of Goethe's first period was the Songs
dedicated to " Lili " (Elisabeth Schonemann, to whom
he was for a time engaged), e.g., " New Love, New Life,"
"On the Lake," " Lili's Park," also "The Violet,"
" The Rose on the Heath," and " The King of Thule."

The fame dt the author of " Gotz " and " Werther "
attracted several noted persons to Frankfort, who were
received as guests in Goethe's home. Amongst them
were Klopstock and Lavater. (Joh. Kaspar Lavater,
who died in 1801, was a preacher at Zurich, and a
deeply Christian character. As a poet he continued
the religious and patriotic tendencies of Klopstock in
his hymns and Swiss songs. His work on Physiognomy
excited much interest.) The two Count Stolbergs also
visited Goethe, and with them he made his first tour
in Switzerland. He became very friendly with
Friedrich' Heinrich Jacobi, whom he met at Diisseldorf,
a novelist and philosopher, the younger brother of
J. G. Jacobi. But the friendship that had the most
important bearing on Goethe's life was that with the
Hereditary Prince Karl August of Weimar, whom he
first met at Frankfort, and then at Carlsruhe. As soon
as the prince became grand duke, Goethe received an
invitation to visit him at Weimar, which he accepted.

Goethe's Second Period, 1775- 1 794.

Arrived at Weimar, Nov. 7, 1775, he soon became
the centre of the intellectual circle presided over so

144 SEVENTH PERIOD.

gracefully by the Dowager Duchess Amalie (a Princess
of Brunswick, d. 1807 at Weimar), by the reigning Duke
Karl August (b. 1758, d. 1828), and his wife Luise (a
Princess of Hesse-Darmstadt, d. 1803). To this circle
belonged the following persons of note : — ^Wieland,
tutor to the duke ; Major K. L. von Knebel, tutor to
the younger Prince Konstantin, a classical scholar, and
a man of no mean poetical talent, who ' wrote small
poems and translated Lucretius and Propertius ; the
chamberlain Hildebrand von Einsiedel, who was a good
musician, played the 'cello exceedingly well, and had
composed a number of operas, comedies and farces for
the ducal amateur theatres at Weimar, Tiefurt and
Ettersburg : Sigismund von Seckendorfif, a very
talented musical composer, who translated " Werther " into
French. Also worthy of mention are the fairy-tale
writer Musaus ; Bertuch, secretary to the Cabinet, and
treasurer to the duke (d. 1822 at Weimar), who on
quitting office, devoted himself to book-selling, edited
several newspapers, and translated " Don Quixote "; Bode
of Brunswick, who furthered the study of English
literature by his translations of Smollett, Fielding,
Sterne and Goldsmith : Corona Schrdter, Court-singer ;
Charlotte von Stein, lady-in-waiting; and the quiz
Thusnelda von Gockhausen.

Herder was invited to Weimar in 1776, and Schiller
took up his abode there in 1799. Goetlie, who at first
stayed only as a guest, soon entered the duke's service,
and became his most intimate friend, companion and
adviser, accompanying bim to Switzerland (this was

GOKtHK. 145

Goethe's second visit). He came Privy Counsellor
and then President of the Chamber, the highest ofi&ce
under the duke, at whose suggestion the Emperor
Joseph II. raised him to noble rank.

In spite of his ever increasing duties and the many
enjoyments open to him, Goethe's poetical activity did
not slacken. From 1775 to 1777, a number of his
most beautiful Ballads appeared : " The Fisherman,"
"The Erl-king," "The Minstrel." Also Songs: "To
the Moon," and those of yearning desire sung by
Mignon and the Harper in " Wilhelm Meister " ; that
evening song composed on the Gickelhahn near
nmenau. Sept 7, 1783, " On all the hill tops is rest,"
and that other in which the poet longs for inward
peace: —

" Thon who from heaven art.
Who every pain canst heal.
Canst bid all sorrow oeaae,
Gentle peace,
Steal, ah, steal
Into this heavy heart! **

In the poem, " Hans Sachs's Poetical Mission," he raised a
monument to the Old Meister-sanger, and afterwards
wrote, in his style, the Legend, " When all unknown and
low of birth, Our Lord yet walked upon this earth." His
journey to the Harz Mountains in the winter of 1777,
gave rise to the poem, " Winter Journey to the Harz."
Before his journey to Italy he wrote the piece called
" Ilmenau," and the " Dedication " which serves as
preface to his Collected Poems.

K

146 SEVENTH PKRIOD.

Another group of poems are those written by the
poet to gratify and elevate the poetical taste of the
ducal Court. To these Court Poems belong " Triumph
of Sensibility" and "Birds"; the pretty Operas, " Lila,"
" The Fisher's Wife," " Funning, Cunning, and Re-
venge," " Claudine von Villabella," " Jery and Bately "
(the last composed on his second Swiss tour in the
autumn of 1779 with the duke, in returning from
which, via Stuttgart, they met Schiller, then a student
at the Karl-«chule), "Edwin and Elmire," written
earlier, but only now set to music ; and the one-act
Drama, " The Sisters and Brothers." The merry
" Epiphanias-lied" was also written for one of the
many entertainments at the Court.

In these effusions, the effspring, as it were, of the
moment, we must not, of course, look for the highest
forms of art ; but Goethe was all the while pondering,
planning, and trying to begin several works that de-
manded deep and undivided thought : " Iphigenie,"
" Tasso," " Wilhelm Meister," and " Egmont." He was ill
at ease, feeling distracted from his true life-work. In
vain he took up the studies of mineralogy, anatomy,
and botany, as well as drawing and painting ; he could
not get rid of his self-dissatisfaction. To ease his
mind and recover his poetic nature, he resolved to
leave Weimar for a time, and go to Italy. His longing
to see that classic land had become so powerful that
he could withstand it no longer. He went from
Carlsbad, in the summer of 1786, to Rome, stayed
there some considerable time, visited Naples and Sicily,

GOBTHJ. 147

and retamed in 1788 to Weimar. His impressions
and experiences he has told ns himself in his " Italian
Journey." In his " Roman Elegies " he describes the
powerful influence Italy had on his mind and heart,
and recalls with regret the happy days spent in Roma
The elegies are dedicated to Christiane Vulpius, who
became his friend in 1788, and his wife in 1806. The
graceful song "Found" refers to her, and for her he
wrote the poem, " Metamorphosis of Plants."

This Journey to Italy was a turning-point in
Goethe's life ; he says himself that his sojourn under
the southern sky was for him a spiritual second-birth.
He now understood the spirit of Greek Art, and the
more he understood it, the more he despised the form-
less productions of the Storm and Stress period. The
true principle of Art he found, not in the slavish
copying of commonplace nature, but in the classical
idealizing which robes an exalted subject in the most
perfect form. He felt bound therefore to remodel
the Three Plays commenced before his journey.

He began with " Iphigenie," which he had already
finished in Prose ; but, finding that form too mean for
the subject, he re-wrote the whole in Blank Verse, all
but Iphigenie's Monologues (at the end of Act I. and
at the beginning and end of Act IV.), which, serving
very much the purpose of a Chorus, are in a more
lyrical metre. Iphigeneia, the daughter of Eling
Agamemnon, saved by Diana from the sacrificial
knife, is living at Tauris in the land of the Scythians,
hospitably entertained by their King Thoas, and

148 SSVBNTH PEtUOD.

honoured as a priestess of Diana. Her brother
Orestes comes there, with his friend Pylades, to carry
off the image of Diana, so that, according to the
Delphic oracle, he may atone for having killed his
mother Clytemnestra. But he and his friend are
taken prisoners, and doomed (such is the custom of
the country) to suffer death at the hands of Diana's
priestess, in whom Orestes recognises his sister. To
avert this tragic fate and at the same time fulfil
Apollo's behest, all three determine to flee with the
image. The plan, however, is discovered, the fugitives
are overtaken and exposed to the rage of the king.
At this crisis the Goddess Athena appears, pacifies the
king, and at her command the Greeks are allowed to
depart with their prize.

This material, which Goethe has borrowed from
the Greek poet, he works out in an entirely original
manner. In Euripides, the connection between Diana's
image and the pardon promised to Orestes is purely
external and arbitrary; in Goethe, Iphigenie herself
is the centre of the action, and the tragic conflict
takes place in the soul. Her character, too, is totally
different in the two poets. The Iphigeneia of Euri-
pides is a selfish being : she quarrels with Fate, and
desires to be avenged on those who are the cause of
her misfortunes; above all, she prays that Menelaus
and Helen may fall under her axe, which has already
drunk the blood of many a Greek. And she is sly, a
sort of female Ulysses ; and, to effect her purpose,
weaves a tissue of lies. Such a character, having no

GOBTHK. 149

element in itself of atonement or peace, could not
have the slightest ennobling influence. The Iphigenie
of Goethe, on the contrary, humbly submits to the
will of the goddess, and finds true freedom in her
service. With this piety she combines kindness,
humanity, gratitude, love of kindred, and a sacred
regard for truth ; and, at every point, it is the charm
of this fair female spirit that harmonizes all the harsh,
conflicting elements. She has cheered the king's sad-
ness, taught the barbarians humanity, and softened
their rough manners. Under her gentle influence, the
cruel law against strangers has gradually fallen into
oblivion. Above all, it is she that, by her purity and
moral elevation, cures her brother's insanity and ex-
piates the old curse which rested on their house.
Thus the pivot on which the whole drama turns is
the sentence : " All human failings are atoned by pure
humanity." A character like this cannot skulk away
like a coward, no matter how great the longing for
home ; she tears asunder the web of lies, she conquers
King Thoas by her integrity and truth, and he lets
her depart in peace. Thus the character of Iphigenie
is not Greek, but altogether Christian and German.
And Goethe was right : was it worth while writing a
new play, to say over again what the Greeks had said
80 perfectly before ? At the same time the construc-
tion of the piece is of antique simplicity, and the true
classic tone pervades it. It has the three unities:
that of Time, for the whole action takes up only a few
hours of one day ; of Place, for the scene of the whole

150 SEVENTH PERIOD.

is the grove before Diana's temple ; and of Action, all
the events being developed out of the characters.

In the same year that " Iphigeuie" appeared (1787),
Goethe put the finishing touches to "Egmont," which
he had hastily sketched at Frankfort twelve years
before, and had almost completed at Weimar before
his travels. The piece was retouched in Italy, but
retained its prose form.

Egmont is described as a true Netherlander, fond
of life, gay, frank and free; a true knight, dauntless
on the battlefield, respected and beloved by citizens
and soldiers alike. Duke Alba, the man of fate, the
hollow-eyed Toledan, is sent by Philip II. with secret
orders to supersede the Regent Margaret in the
government of the Netherlands. The Prince of
Orange, a far-seeing politician, warns his friend of
the danger from Alba. But Egmont fears nothing;
even when taken prisoner, he relies on the king's
justice, on the regent's friendship, and, in the last
resort, on Orange and the nation. That nation, not-
withstanding the efforts of his lover Klarchen to rouse
them, are too cowardly to attempt the rescue of their
champion. Egmont perishes, a victim to his over-
confidence at a crisis which called for prudence and
policy. Before he dies, the Spirit of Freedom in the
guise of Klarchen appears to him in a dream, tells
him that his death will yet win freedom for the
Netherlands, and hands him the wreath of victory.
The character of Klarchen is drawn with special par-

GOETHE. 151

tiality. She is a simple, warm-hearted girl of the
middle class, bnt in the scenes with the citizens (in
the manner of Shakespeare and highly effective) she
rises to the height of a heroine. On hearing that
Egmont is sentenced to death, she takes poison.
Schiller, in his review, praised the historical and local
colouring, but could not help wishing that i^mont
had been made equal to the emergencies of the time,
a successful hero, whom we could reverence. But
Goethe desired to create an Egmont whom we should
love, pity and lament. Even Goethe's Egmont is not
strictly historical : to be an ardent lover better suited
the character he was drawing than to have, like the
lament of history, a wife and children.

" Torquato Tasso," a play, appeared in 1789. The
subject runs as follows : Tasso has just finished his
epic of "Jerusalem Delivered," and given it to Duke
Alphonso of Ferrara, at whose Court he lives. The
duke's sister, Leonore of Este, crowns him with the
laurel wreath. The morbidly-sensitive poet feels hurt
at the coldness of the State-secretary Antonio, and, an
altercation ensuing, he draws his sword in the ducal
palace. Though only punished with a slight im-
prisonment, he insists on quitting Ferrara, to which
the duke reluctantly agrees. He goes to take leave
of Princess Leonore, but is hurried into a declaration
of love, which she apparently rejects. At this junc-
ture, Tasso, believing all to be in league against him,
turns for support to Antonio, whom hp had thought his

152 SEVENTH PERIOD.

worst enemy. The too passionate poet finds that he
must curb his passion and bridle his fancy. In this
piece, as in the " Iphigeueia," there are only five char-
acters, Tasso, Antonio, the duke and the two Leopores.
Leonore of Sanvitale expresses the prime thought of
the drama in the words : " These two are enemies, just
because nature did not make one man of them."

The work contains, no doubt, many allusions to
Goethe's personal experiences. In the two opposite
characters of Tasso and Antonio, Groethe represents his
own dual existence as poet and statesman, the con-
flicts between idealism and realism, and their final
adjustment. The Court of Ferrara is easily identified
with that of Weimar, and Duke Alphonso is unmis-
takably Carl August : '* It is her dukes have made
Ferrara great ; a good man draws good men, knows
how to keep them." It is not so easy to recognise in
the two Leonores the Duchess Luise of Weimar, and
Frau von Stein. Leonore of Sanvitale, with her brisk
gaiety, acts as foil to her more melancholy friend and
hostess; but she plays a double game; she is intriguing
to get the " lion " away from her friend's menagerie to
her own.

The French Revolution could not fail to make some
impression on Goethe, and he produced three Dramas
referring to it. The first, " The Grand-Kophta," treats
of the famous Diamond Necklace, and shows the
utter corruption of the French Court and nobility.
The second, "The Citizen General," makes fun of
patriotic braggarts, and tells of a scurvy trick played

GOETHB. 153

by the village barber on a good-natnred peasant, on
pretence of his being in league with the Jacobins. The
third piece, "The Agitated," is a fragment much to
the same purpose. The same period saw his delightful
rendering of "Reinike Fuchs," the Unholy Bible as he
calls it, in Hexameters ; also the " Venetian Epigrams,"
composed on his journey to Venice to meet the Duchess
Amalia, in which French affairs are often touched
upon. The time was not favourable to poetic pro-
duction, and Groethe took refuge in Natural Science.
He says : " I clung to my sciences, as to a plank in a
shipwreck " ; and again : " To get on at all, I have tc
get right out of the spirit of the times." Besides he
was frequently called away by the exigencies of the
war. He accompanied his duke to the Prussian camp
in Silesia, and in attendance on him made the Prussian
campaign of 1791 under Brunswick, as described in
his "Campaign in France." The following year he
was again with the duke, and witnessed the siege of
Mayence.

Goeth^s Intercourse with Schiller.

Groethe met Schiller for the first time at the Earlschule,
and again at Eudolstadt in 1788. It was not till 1794
that the great friendship sprang up between them.
From that time they corresponded unceasingly ; and
when Schiller in 1799 came to live at Weimar, they
visited almost daily. They discussed what each was
about to write, criticized each other with the utmost

154 SEVENTH PERIOD.

frankness, and each, by explaining his ideas to the
other, made them clearer to himself. Goethe was a
Eealist, rising from the particular to the general ;
Schiller an Idealist, who from the general idea deduced
the individual instance. Thus " a bond of comple-
ment," as Goethe says, was formed between them ; and
for Goethe himself there arose " a new spring-time, a
second youth," in which his soul put forth new germs.
The first outlet for their joint activity was the
periodical " Die Horen " (The Hours), which Schiller
was setting up in 1794, and in which Goethe's " Roman
Elegies" first appeared. With it was associated the
" Muses' Almanack," and Goethe's "Venetian Epigrams"
were among the contents. They hoped by these
journals to raise the taste of the public; but, disap-
pointed in their expectation, they resolved to criticize
the doings of the tiuie in the form of JSpigrams, which
they called " Xenien " after the title of Martial's thir-
teenth book (Xenia, guests' gifts). The idea first
occurred to Goethe", who furnished Schiller with the
first dozen for the "Almanack" of 1797. They worked
with so much zeal, that the twelve soon grew to a
hundred, and at last to a thousand. Wendelin von
Maltzahn has endeavoured, from the original manu-
scripts, to assign each Xenium to its respective author ;
but in many cases that is impossible, as sometimes one
wrote the hexameter line, and the other the pentameter.
In these epigrams they wielded the pen of satire
against everjrthing mediocre and mean in Literature.
The particular targets for their scorn wpre Nicolaf's

GOETHE. 155

Universal German Library, and Weise's New Library of
the Fine Sciences. The " Xenien "caused much excite-
ment, embittered opponents vented their wrath in coun-
ter attacks, and it was long before the storm subsided.

In the " Pluses' Almanack " for 1798 appeared a string
of the loveliest Ballads by both authors. Among
those of Goethe were " The Treasure-seeker," " The
Bride of Corinth," "The God and the Bayadere."
Schiller's will be enumerated later on.

While Schiller went back to his Dramas, Goethe,
turned his attention to Narrative composition in prose
and verse. In 1796 he finished his Novd, " Wilhelm
Meister's Apprenticeship," which he had commenced
20 years before, and of which the first six books were
finished before his Italian journey. The many years
he had been working at it were detrimental to the ar-
tistic unity of the whole. It takes us among all sorts
and conditions of men, the existing nobility, the various
classes and professions, especially the theatrical ; un-
folding new views of Art and the Drama, Shakespeare
and Hamlet, touching on the principles of education
religious questions, and the secret societies then spread-
ing through Germany. Many characters are deline-
ated with a master's hand : Marianne and old Barbara,
Philine and Laertes ; the dreamy Wilhelm, eager to
belong to Art and to mingle in the world ; in contrast
with him the prosaic Werner, and tough wide-awake
Jarno ; Mignon, the melancholy waif mourning her lost
home, and the old Harper bewailing the sin and sorrow
which are the lot of man.

156 SEVENTH PERIOD.

The spring of 1797 brought out a masterpiece of
Narrative Poetry. A story of how the son of a
wealthy citizen of Gera married one of the poor per-
secuted outcasts from Salzburg, gave Goethe the hint
for that gem of Idylls, and most charming picture of
German home-life, " Hermann and Dorothea." To give
the poem an important historical background, Goethe
makes his fugitives flee before a French invading army
in the Revolutionary War. This entirely and even in-
tensely German subject is related in rather stately
Hexameters, quite in the tone of Homer ; yet there is
nothing forced, nothing unnatural. Mine host of
the Golden Lion, in a small manufacturing town
near the right bank of the Rhine, has some-
thing patriarchally genial about him; having ac-
quired wealth by his own industry, he is charitable,
and says : " *Tis the rich man's to give." He is a
good husband, and the well-being of his son is his
chief care; though at times hasty and passionate, it is
soon over, and all is right again. Mine hostess is a
careful thrifty housewife, yet benevolent and bountiful ;
she is the mediator between the easily offended father
and the son, who can only unbosom himself to his
mother. That son, Hermann, is honest, warm-hearted,
but slow and shy. Dorothea is all that is womanly,
has true nobility and proper self-respect, is thoughtful,
helpful, and thrifty; and the poet has given her a touch
of high heroism too. The good pastor, the "or-
nament of the town," is thus described : —

GOETHE. 157

" Life was well known to this man, known too were the wants of

his hearers;
Deeply his mind was imbaed with the sacred sense of tht

Scriptures,
Those that reveal to us man's high fate and his wonderful

nature;
Nor with the best of worldly books was the man unacquainted."

There is much humour in the way this wise parson
and the pompous conceited apothecary are deputed to
the Fugitives' Encampment, to spy out what manner
of maiden this may be, that young Master Hermann
was so struck with, when sent with a cartload of good
things to distribute among them ; and in their cunning
devices to watch her from every point of view. The
book consists of nine Cantos, named after the Muses.
Goethe composed about this time an Elegy called
" Hermann and Dorothea," as a kind of introduction to
the IdylL

In 1797 he went for the third time to Switzerland,
and there wrote the poem called " Euphrosyne." He
also conceived the plan of writing an epic poem on
" William Tell," but this was soon abandoned. At the
end of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th century
— ^years in which Schiller was bringing out his greatest
dramatic creations — Goethe wrote but little. Among
minor poems may be mentioned " The Shepherd's
Lament." In order to have a rich repertoire for the
theatre at Weimar, he translated Voltaire's " Mahomet "
and " Tancred " ; at the same time he commenced a
Trilogy on the French Revolution, entitled the

158 SEVENTH PERIOD.

" Natural Daughter," but he only finished the first
part : it is full of deep thought, but the characters are
too symbolical to have the individuality and distinct-
ness of drama.

Goethe's Old Age, 1805- 1832.

Goethe was deeply affected at the death of Schiller,
and time healed but slightly the wound thus caused.
He paid his deceased friend a lasting tribute of justice
and affection in his " Epilogue to the BelL" Goethe
outlived his friend by 27 years, and actively busied
himself with various subjects connected with natural
science, but did not do much in literature proper.
His first considerable work was the " Elective Affini-
ties." This Novel, perfect in artistic form, shows how
all happiness is destroyed when once the bonds of
morality are loosened. This is shown in the case of
Wedlock, "the foundation and topstone of Culture."
Edward and Charlotte, early betrothed and married,
live a humdrum life till they come across Ottilia and
the captain, to whom they are " naturally akin." But
they pursue opposite courses, and come to different
ends.

After finishing this novel Goethe commenced his
Autobiography, which he entitled " Out of My Life :
Truth and Poetry." The first part appeared in 1811,
and others were added from time to time. In a classical
form he relates how he lived, erred and struggled as a
man, and how he developed himself as a poet. The

GOETHK. 159

work goes on as far as his 26th year and his stay at
Weimar ; but it is somewhat completed by the descrip-
tion of his " Italian Journey," his " Third Journey to
Switrerland," the " Campaign in France," the "Siege
of Mayence," and the "Tag-und Jahreshefte" (Daily and
Yearly journals).

During the War of Liberation Groethe withdrew
from the whirl of passing events, and fixed his gaze on
the East. He began to study Persian and Arabic, and
made a large number both of free translations and of
original pieces in an Eastern dress, which he published
in 1819 under the title " The West-Eastern Divan."
(The original of the " Zuleika " there celebrated was
Frau Marianne von Willemer of Frankfort) Though
Groethe took no part in the great uprising of the nation,
he celebrated the freedom of Germany in the triumphal
Play of " Epimenides's W«iking," acted at Berlin, March
30, 1815.

The aged poet was still able to continue and finish
two works which had long occupied him. " Wilhelm
Meister's Travels" is a series of episodes, strung
together round the central idea of a moral and religi-
ous education of man. This was to proceed from the
family, and lead to a civic organisation including and
blessing all mankind. He confesses that the work
lacks unity, but his object was to present as full a pic-
ture as possible of the many sides of life.

In his 82nd year, Groethe at last finished his Tradegy
of " Faust," at which he had laboured 60 years. His
alchemistic studies during his slow recovery under the

160 SBVENTH PERIOD.

parental roof at Frankfort, proved no bad preparative
for his work. Soon afterwards he picked up the old
chapbook of Dr, Faust, and was struck with its deep
significance ; at Strasburg the mysterious legend " kept
buzzing about his brain " ; and when he saw it acted in
a puppet-show at Frankfort fair, in the spring of 1773,
he resolved to put his own spiritual life into the frame-
work of the Faust legend. He set to work in 1774,
and wrote the introductory Monologue, Faust's
Dialogue with Wagner — ^that type of a formal pedant
— and the scenes with Gretchen. During his first
journey to Switzerland he put some more scenes on
paper. Even in Italy the work did not slacken : the
scene of the Witches' Kitchen was composed in the
garden of the Villa Borghese. At one time he despaired
of ever finishing the work, and had it printed in 1790
as a fragment But at Schiller's entreaty he took it
up again and added some new parts, the Dedication,
and the Prelude in the theatre. In 1806 he wrote the
Prologue in Heaven ; and in 1808 the " First Part of
Faust " was printed. Twenty-three years more elapsed
before the " Second Part " was concluded in 1831. As
the time between the beginning and end of Faust
covers almost the whole of Goethe's poetical career, the
work is a reproduction of his intellectual life ; it is his
own experience made into a brilliant picture of the
world and mankind. In a long series of scenes, in
which the lofty, pure and lovely alternate with things
demon-like and horrible, we see the most various
shades of human thought and feeling. The struggle

P''

GOETHE. 161

between faith and knowledge, between the sensual and
- the spiritual nature of man, are vividly portrayed.
r Faust is Eaan, filled with an unquenchable thirst for
all knowledge. He has studied everything, but not
found inner peace. Even magic, to the study of which
he has devoted himself, fails to lead him to the source
of being. Although he is privileged to commune with
spirits, and can conjure up the Spirit of the Earth, it
knows nothing about the supersensuous, and twits him
with : " Nay, thou art like the spirit thou compre-
hendest, not like me ! " He, therefore, resolves by a
draught from the poison-cup to free himself from the
ties of earth which hinder him from knowing all. He
has just raised the glass to his lips, when minster bells
peal out and he hears the Easter hymn : " Christ is
Arisen ! " The tones call back the happy days of child-
hood, when the soul found peace in believing, and he
desists from his deadly intention. He tries hard to
revive his belief in divine revelation, but doubt again
takes possession of his heart ; he cannot take in the
revealed Word in its simple greatness. He loses him-
self in subtle inquiries, and falls a prey to the Devil,
who had long been laying his coUs around him. Faust
is followed home by a black poodle, out of whom he
conjures up the evil spirit by magic formula. Mephi-
stopheles is evolved, and describes himself as "the
Spirit that evermore denies," and throughout the poem
he is the negation of all that is good, true, beautiful,
pure and sublime. He is oily, pliable, adroit and
gallant, but inwardly he is the incarnation of mean-
ly

162 SEVENTH PERIOD.

ness, malice and mendacity. He promises to make
Faust truly happy in this life, if only he will sign
away his soul to him. Faust signs the compact with
his blood, as in the legend, and says the words : —

' When I to any moment say,
Oh, thou art fair, pass not away /
Then free and welcome shall you be
To work your wicked will on me."

Mephistopheles leads him to different spheres of
sensual pleasure; but neither the wild carousing in
Auerbach's cellar nor the weird doings in the Witches'
Kitchen will content him. It is only when Mephisto-
pheles shows his Margaret's image in the magic mirror
that his heart is all aglow with passion. One of the
loveliest of Goethe's creations is Marg'rete or Gret-
chen, a charming, simple, innocent young maid.
When Faust first finds his way into her decent, though
humble home, a sense of the holy and inviolate steals
over him, and he seems not far from the goal of his
highest aspirations. But, with the evil spirit at his
elbow, he sinks to sensuality, and does not rest till he
has ruined her. Once dragged into the mire of guilt,
blow after blow is dealt her by the devil. Her mothei
dies poisoned by a sleeping potion administered to her
at Faust's bidding ; her brother Valentine is killed by
Faust, and dies cursing her. She stands with her
burden of sorrow before the image of the Virgin, and
implores her help :—

60ETHB. 163

** Bich in sorrows thou, and rich in grace.
To my sorrow bow pityingly thy face."

We find her again in the cathedral, crushed by the
weight of her sorrow and the whispers of the evil one,
while the organ thunders out the Dies Irae. Faust,
in the meantime, is revelling with Mephistopheles on
the Blocksberg, celebrating the Walpurgis Nacht
(night of the 1st of May) ; but amidst all he remem-
bers Gretchen, and hears with horror that she is in
prison, condemned to die as the murderess of her child,
though her mind has given way to madness. Faust is
enraged with Mephistopheles, and would gladly tear
himself away from him, but sheer desperation bids him
cling to him, and he implores him to save Gretchen.
Mephistopheles gains possession of the prison keys —
Faust sees her in her dungeon — she hesitates when
escape is offered, but just then catching sight of the
evil face that she has always loathed, she will not take
deliverance at such hands. So Gretchen perishes on
earth, but is forgiven in heaven for her peni-
tence, and a voice from above declares : " She is
saved." Faust is hurried away by Mephistopheles,
but still hears the sweet warning voice : " Heinrich,
Heinrich ! " With that the First Part concludes,
Faust has surveyed all science without satisfying
curiosity, he has tasted all pleasure but has not found
peace.

In the Second Part, Faust plunges with Mephisto-
pheles into political life. They are at an emperor's

164 SEVENTH PERIOD.

Court, where right bends to might, bribery reigns
supreme, the national debt is enormous, and the ex-
chequer empty. Mephistopheles helps His Majesty out
of the difficulty by inventing paper money, and Faust
rises to high favour by his lucky speculations. But
he soon sickens of this life; he wanders through the
classical worid to seek ideal beauty, which he finds in
Helena. This character had figured in the old Faust
Legend, but her connection with Faust is here turned
into an allegory, to suit a purpose of the poet's own.
The marriage of Helena and Faust represents the blend-
ing of Ancient and Mediasval Poetry, and their son
Euphorion (supposed to mean Byron), is the re-
presentative of Romantic Poetry. But the Greek
ideal disappears, leaving only its vesture behind ; Art,
though it has ripened and enriched his mind, cannot
satisfy Faust, and he now turns to Practical Industry.
He reclaims land from the sea, plants colonies, fits out
a commercial fleet, in short, develops a great and
beneficent activity. This heroic working for the weal
of others brings Faust to a peaceful old age ; now for
the first time he finds the contentment he has long
desired. In a burst of noble rapture over the vision of
Toiling Humanity, he exclaims : —

" Wisdom has this last word to sayi
He only merits life and freedom

Who has to earn them day by day.
Might I but see those millions toil,
k peof le free on a free soil,

GOSTHI. 165

Then to that moment I would say,
Oh thou art fair, pass not atoay /

And in the foretaste of such bliss

Hy happiest hour of life is this."

These words bring us round again to his compact
with the devil, and with these words he dies. There
is a scramble for his soul, but the heavenly host
" bears off the immortal part of Faust," singing :—

•• Brave brother of our spirit band.
Thou shalt not perish 1
To him that strives, help is at V^"^"^,

Him we will cherish.
If too some human love

Have watched him from on btgb,
The shining gates above
To him wide open fly."

The First Part of Faust is of much greater poetical
value than the Second. Fresh, warm, individual life
throbs everywhere in the First Part, while the Second
has a strong leaning towards allegory and symbolism.
Gretchen is a real God-fearing girl, sweet, simple and
sensible ; Helena is a mere personification of Classical
Poetry. Goethe himself says he has "wrapt many
things in mystery " in the Second Part; there are dark
passages which all the essays, treatises, &c., on the
subject cannot explain.

When Goethe had finished " Faust," he felt he had
discharged his poetical mission, and told Eckermann,
who had given him much assistance in revising his

166 SEVENTH PERIOD.

works, that the time still granted him to live was " a
pure gift." He died March 22, 1832, after a short
illness ; his last words were " More Light ! " He lies
buried in the grand ducal vault at Weimar.

SCHILLER.
Schiller's Youth, 1759- 1785.

JoH. Christoph Friedrich von Schiller was bom
November 10th, 1759, at Marbach, a small town in
Wiirtemberg. His father, who had formerly been a
surgeon, had at the commencement of the Seven Years'
War entered the Wurtemberg army as a lieutenant;
he afterwards became captain, and then superintendent
of the gardens at the duke's country-seat of Solitude.
His mother was Elisabeth Kodweisz, daughter to the
innkeeper of the Golden Lion at Marburg. She had
a deep, devout, poetical nature, and many of her traits
are found in her son. As his father was quartered at
many dififerent places, Schiller received a somewhat
desultory education. At Lorch on the Rems, where
his father was recruiting officer, the boy was taught
by Pastor Moser, whom he has immortalized in " The
Robbers." From Lorch he went to the Grammar
School at Ludwigsburg, and remained there when his
father removed to Castle Solitude. Schiller's greatest
wish was to study Theology : his favourite books were
the Bible (especially the Psalms and Prophets), and
Luther's, Paul Gerhardt's and Gellert's hymns. But

SCHILLER. 167

hi8 studies were turned in quite a new direction
through the interference of Duke Karl Eugen (1728-
1793), a clever but conceited, meddlesome prince, who,
having founded a military school at Solitude, chiefly
for the sons of officers, insisted on Schiller's going
there. And there he went, and stayed from 1773 till
1780. He had to give up Theology, as that subject
was not included in the curriculum. At first he chose
Jurisprudence, but when the military school, under
the name of an Academy, was moved to Stuttgart in
1775, and a chair of Medicine was set up, he decided
for the latter. There the discipline was military, and
intercourse with the outer world very limited. Never-
theless, in spite of rules, Eousseau and Ossian, Klop-
stock's "Messias," Goethe's "Gotz," and "Werther," and
other new books found their way in, and were read with
enthusiasm. Schiller was so carried away by BLlop-
stock, that he determined to write an epic himself,
with Moses for the hero. But other books that he
read, especially Shakespeare (in Wieland's translation),
induced him to turn his thoughts to the Drama.

He laid the plans of many great tragedies, and
worked for a while at " The Student of Nassau " and
" Cosmo de Medici " ; but these came to nothing, and
in their place he began his first notable work, the
Tragedy of "The Robbers." He was only eighteen
when he commenced ; he wrote on, and finished it
veithout being detected, and dared not publish it till
1781, when he had left the school and assumed the
position of army-surgeon at Stuttgart. The folloxring

168 SEVENTH PERtOD.

year, it was adapted for the stage. " The Robbers " is
a product of the Storm and Stress period ; when Karl
says, "his soul for deeds, his breath for freedom pants,"
he utters the feeling of the time. The story, shortly
told, runs as follows : The reigning Count Maximilian
von Moor has two sons, Franz at home, and Karl at
the University. Karl has been guilty of some mad
freaks at college; he has owned them to his father,
hopes for his forgiveness, and trusts soon to return
and marry Amalia, whom he passionately Ipves. Franz,
long jealous of his more favoured brother, determines
to supplant him by a series of lies. His devilish plan
succeeds: Maximilian is persuaded that his son has
committed a low crime ; and Karl, believing his father
to have cursed him, is seized with hatred against man-
kind in general. He enlists in a Robber-band, and
rises to be their captain. He scours the country ;
guilty and guiltless alike fall under his sword. He
frees his father from the dungeon where his unnatural
son had doomed him to die of hunger. But it is too
late ; the old man dies, recognising in his rescuer his
son Karl. The latter now sees that he is not the man
to wield the sword of heavenly vengeance. To appease
the majesty of offended law, he delivers himself up to
justice, dragging with him another victim, Amalia,
who has always remained faithful to him, notwith-
standing the wicked artifices and insinuations of Franz.
Karl, a fundamentally noble character, has been led
into crime by taking upon himself to punish the
wickedness of men. Franz, on the other hand, is a

SCHILLEB. 169

thorough-paced villain and hypocrite, devoid of love
and pity. His end is terrible : conscience, awakened
at last, drives him not to repentance, but despair, and
he strangles himself with a golden cord.

This play, in spite of intense feeling and vigorous
action, has many faults, which Schiller himself was
not slow to recognise. He says : " Unfamiliar with
men and humanity in general, I missed the middle
path between angels and devils ; my pen delineated
such a monster as happily does not exist." But the
monstrous and exaggerated was the very thing to hit
the humour of the time; at the first performance of
"The Robbers" at Mannheim in 1782, under the
management of Baron von Dalberg of the National
Theatre, it was received with immense applause, and
excited universal interest.

The duke was deeply ofiFended : he had made
young Schiller a doctor, and a doctor he should be ; if
he published anything, it should be medical treatises.
When Schiller went to Mannheim to see his piece
acted, he was arrested by the duke's order, and for-
bidden to write poetry. But the youthful poet, who
already had another play in hand, and felt he had
found his true vocation, sacrificed to it his position,
relations, and fatherland, and fled to Mannheim with
his friend the musician Andreas Streicher. He
hoped that Dalberg, who was in favour with the
Court, might effect his reconciliation with the duke,
and give him pecuniary assistance ; but Dalberg left
him in the lurch, and, to escape persecution, he

170 SttVENTII PERlOt).

accepted Frau von Wolzogen's invitation, and took
refuge on her estate of Bauerbach near Meiningeu.
Here he lived in strict seclusion ; but he gained one
friend Reinwald, librarian at Meiningen, who after-
wards married his sister Christophine.

Meanwhile he had finished (1783) his second Drama,
" The Conspiracy of Fiesko : a Republican Tragedy " ;
which also belongs to the Storm and Stress period.
The scene is Republican Genoa, which, raised to pros-
perity by Andrea Doria, is fast degenerating under
his nephew, the libertine Gianettino, and is threatened
with the loss of its free constitution. Discontent is
brewing among the patriots, and Fiesko, Count of
Lavagna, makes use of this feeling to form a con-
spiracy for the overthrow of the Dorias. But the
power he obtains fills him with the hope of winning
the ducal crown for himself. His wife Leonora begs
him to desist from his ambitious designs, so does
Verrina, an ardent patriot and staunch Republican.
In vain ; he persists, but just as he seems to have
victory within his grasp, he is checked and overthrown
by Verrina.

Schiller says : " The piece is a large picture of
working and ruined ambition." He was trying for
the first time to paint historical characters, and so far
he was paving the way for his later and greater
works. As he had not much experience of political
life, there is something unfinished and unreal about his
characters. The piece has not the reality and warmth
of "The Robbers," and it did not receive the same en-
thusiastic welcome on the stage.

SCHILLER 171

A third product of the same period, " Cabal and
Love " (originally named " Luise Miillerin "), appeared
in 1784, Schiller had commenced this work during
his fortnight's imprisonment at Stuttgart, had worked
at it in the wretched little inn at Oggersheim, and
now finished it at Bauerbach. The piece shows up
the upper classes and corrupt manners of the Court,
in contrast with the better morals of the middle
class. The play was acted with boundless applause,
and long exercised a great influence.

Schiller published several lyric poems in the
" Anthology " edited by him. They are pervaded by
the stormy spirit of the period. The best are : " The
Greatness of the World," "Count Eberhard, the
Weeper," and especially "The Battle," which is full
of dramatic life.

In 1783 Schiller was recalled to Mannheim by
Dalberg, and appointed director of the theatre. He
founded a journal, dealing chiefly with theatrical
matters, called at first "The Ehenish Thalia," and
afterwards " The New Thalia," in the first number of
which appeared his Essay on " The Stage as a Moral
Agency." He was now working at a second Historical
Drama, " Don Carlos." The commencement appeared
in his joumaL He read the first act to Karl August,
Duke of Weimar, during his stay at Darmstadt. The
latter shortly afterwards created him a Saxon
Councillor.

Schiller soon grew weary of his stay at Mannheim,
especially as he could uot fulfil his contract to bring

172 SEVENTH PERIOD.

out a new drama by the end of the year. He was in-
vited to Leipzig by Korner (father of the poet Theodor
KSpner), who relieved him of his anxieties, and proved
a true friend, helping him much by his clear and
sound judgment.

Period of Scientific Activity^
1785-1794.

Schiller left Mannheim in April, 1785, and after a
short stay at Leipzig settled down at the adjoining
village of Gohlis, where he composed his " Song to
Joy." In the summer of 1785 he followed his friend
to Dresden ; and in the summer-house of Komer's vine-
yard at Loschwitz, on the Elbe, he finished his " Don
Carlos." With this work Schiller tears himself away
from the reckless and destructive tendencies of the
Storm and Stress period. It is marked by clear re-
flection, intense love of the ideal, and a striving for
perfection of poetical form. Politically, it gives his
idea of what a free State should be. The substance
of it is as follows : —

Carlos, the son of Philip II. of Spain, loves his
father's young and beautiful wife, who had previously
been intended for him. The king is informed of this
by Princess Eboli, who loves Don Carlos herself, but
on hearing from him a confession of his passion for
the queen, determines to revenge herself, breaks open
the queen's jewel-box and discloses the secret to the
king. Then the prince's bosom friend, the heroic

rCHILLER. 173

Marquis Posa, concocts a letter, and contrives that it
shall reach the king, stating that he, Posa, is the
queen's lover. Thus he sacrifices himself for his
friend, and is shot. But Carlos's plan of escaping to
the Netherlands and rousing the Flemings to revolt,
is betrayed ; and he also is arrested and executed.
Opposed to Carlos and the queen, are two notable
characters, Domingo the king's confessor, and the
ruthless Duke of Alba, ready at all times to do the
king's bidding.

The dramatic unity of the play has suffered from
the overlapping of two plans; the original one, that
of a family picture of Philip and his wife and son
having broadened out into the cosmopolitan idea of a
conflict between Despotism and Liberty. Hence, as
the play goes on, the prince falls into the background,
and the marquis, with his glorious ideas for the weal
of man, comes to the front. Schiller, in his " Letters
on Don Carlos," confesses that he was carried away by
his own creation, and his interest was transferred from
Carlos to Posa.

In 1787 Schiller went to Weimar, where he found
a new home. He visited his sister, now married to
the librarian Eeinwald, at Meiningen; and Frau von
Wolzogen, at Bauerbach. On his way back, at
Rudolstadt, he renewed his acquaintance With Frau
von Lengefeld and her daughters, the younger of whom,
Charlotte, bom in 1766, eventually became his wife.
To be near them, he spent the summer and autumn of
1788 at Volkstadt, close to Rudolstadt. Here he met

174 SEVENTH PERIOD.

Goethe casually, but they did not become intimate.
He writes to Korner : " Goethe's whole nature is con-
stituted differently from mine ; his world is not mine,
and our ways of thinking are different." And even
when Schiller returned to Weimar, and was living
close to Goethe, those " bright particular stars " of
German genius seemed determined for a time to keep
their distance.

Meantime Schiller grew very intimate with Herder
and Wieland. At Wieland's instigation he turned his
attention to the Classics, the immediate results of
which study were his Translations of Euripides'^
"Iphigeneia at Aulis," and several scenes in the
" Phcenissae," also of the second and third books
of the " iEneid " ; not in hexameters, but in stanzas
like those of Wieland's " Oberon." Another fruit of
his classical studies was Two Poems : one, " The Gods
of Greece," which so alarmed Fred Stolberg that he
felt bound to rush to the defence of Christianity ; the
other, "The Artists," in which he calls these the
Teachers of Mankind : — *

" 'Tis through the dawn-gate of the Beautiful we tee^sh the
land of Knowledge."

About the same time he began a Novel, "The Ghost-
seer," which he never finished.

Schiller now directed his whole thoughts to History.
Through Goethe's influence (set in action by reading
his " Revolt of the Netherlands," 1788), Schiller was
appointed to the Extra-Professorship of History at

8CHILLSR. 175

the University of Jena. He began his course by a
lecture on, " What Universal History is, and Why We
Study it" Schiller wrote brilliant Essays on the
"Migrations of Peoples," "The Crasades," "The
Middle Ages," "Europe at the Time of the First
Crusade" (a clear exposition of Feudalism), &c. His
two greatest Histories are that of the " Revolt of the
Netherlands," with which he began his historical
career, and that of the " Xhirty Years' War," with
which he closed it Schiller says of his own worth as
a historian : " I shall always be a bad authority for
any future historian who may consult ma History
is, in general, but a storehouse of materials for my
fancy, and a subject must take it<j chance of what it
may become in my hands." Schiller did not care to
pass for a minutely accurate inquirer; nevertheless
his works made an era in the writing of history.
This they did by their artistic arrangement, vivid
description, and classical style ; by the wealth of ideas,
the flashes of insight into the connection of events,
and the glow of sympathy with all that is good.
Schiller's historical point of view is enthusiasm for the
liberty, dignity, and rights of man. His works are a
running protest against political and religious oppres-
sion. Enthusiasm for Civic Freedom pervades his
"Eevolt of the Netherlands," and enthusiasm for
Religious Liberty his " Thirty Years' War." We have
characters like Admiral Coligny, William the Silent
and Gustavus Adolphus delineated with evident
gusto; but, as they drop off, the author's interest

176 SEVENTH PERIOD.

flags. Hence, the " Eevolt of the Netherlands" was
left a fragment, going no farther than the foundation
of Alba's rule ; and in the " Thirty Years' War," after
Gustavns's death and Wallenstein's murder, events are
compressed into a much smaller compass.

Schiller had not been long in his new office, having
in the meantime married Charlotte von Lengbfeld
(1790), and received the title of aulic councillor of
Meiningen, when he fell seriously ill. A long sickness
and slow recovery brought him to great want ; but he
was nobly helped by the Crown Prince Christian
Frederic of Holstein Augustenburg and the Danish
minister Count Schimmelmann with a yearly allowance
of 1000 thalers for three years.

On his recovery he applied himself to the study of
Philosophy y especially that of Kant, naturally dwelling
most on its moral and sesthetic side. As Goethe's
Italian Journey and study of Art were to him the be-
ginning of a new life, Schiller found the like exhilar-
ation in Philosophy and ^Esthetic research. He wrote
valuable Essays on the following subjects : " The Reason
of our Pleasure in Tragical Subjects" — "Tragic Art"
—"Grace and Dignity"— "On the Sublime." His
noble " Letters on the ^Esthetic Education of Man "
show the influence of the Beautiful on human life.
Perhaps the most important of all these Essays is that
" On Naive and Sentimental Poetry," in which he
claimed for the Sentimental (modern) an equal place
beside the Naive (ancient), and made clear the distinc-
tion between Classical and Bomantic.

SCHILLEfi. 177

Schiller* s Connection with Goethe, 1794- 1805.

In 1794 Schiller returned from the journey he had
made to his Swabian home for the benefit of his health.
The idea had matured in his mind of setting up a
monthly Journal of Literature, to be called " The Houri."
After many writers (including Wilhelm von Humboldt)
had promised their assistance, Schiller was anxious to
secure Groethe's help. Goethe agreed, and thus the
two great poets were at last drawn into a close friend-
ship.

Schiller had now returned to his first love: "The
Poet is the true Man," so he writes to Goethe, "the
Philosopher is but a caricature to him." His mind
teemed with poetical ideas that clamoured for utter-
ance; 80, in addition to "The Hours," which was chiefly
devoted to prose compositions, he began editing in
1796 a Poetical Journal, " The Muses' Almanack." In
both periodicals, but especially in the latter, he brought
out, first a series of Reflective Foems, each with a cen-
tral idea running through it, such as "The Walk," in
which the noblest elements of human life are suggested
by a succession of landscapes : — " Ideal and Life "
(ideas must penetrate and brighten the dulness of life)
— " Fortune " (human effort must be crowned by the
free gifts of this goddess, or in Christian language, by
the grace of God) — "The Dignity of Women" (woman's
moral beauty must harmonize what is harsh and hate-
ful in life), &c. Then the cold reception of "The

H

178 SEVBNTH PERIOD,

Hours '' by the public was avenged by the Xenien, in
which the two poets lashed their opponents and what-
ever they found faulty in the literature of the time.

Next came a splendid series of Ballads, in producing
which the two poets kept up a friendly competition.
Schiller's share of them includes "The Glove" (he found
the subject in St. Fein's "Paris" and at first altered the
conclusion from, "il lui jette le gant au nez" to "he
made her a low bow " ; but finally thought " he flings
the glove in her face " more consonant to the gentle-
man's mood at the moment) — "The Ring of Polycrates"
(the gods will not have men too prosperous) — " Knight
Toggenburg" (a legend found under many forms, and
in many places, e.g., on the Rhine, in connection with
Nonnenwerth and Rolandseck) — "The Diver" (the
King of Sicily's diver, Nicolas the Fish)—" The Fight
with the Dragon " (victory over the monster capped by
a nobler victory over oneself) — "The Cranes of Ibycus"
(gods protect or avenge the poet) — " The Walk to the
Forge" (in wondrous ways God helps the good) —
"The Surety" (faithful friendship surmounts all
obstacles) — " The Feast of Eleusis " (agriculture the
root of all culture). All these, and more, came out in
the "Muses' Almanack " for '98 and '99, while that of
1800 contained the glorious " Song of the Bell," in
which our poet's Reflective Muse attains her highest
expression. " The Feast of Victory " — "The Mountain-
Song," and "The Alpine Hunter" belong to a later time.

At length Schiller fell back on the form of composi-
tion on which his youthful genius had first tried itself,

8CHILLEB. 179

and in which he was now to achieve his greatest
triumphs — namely, the Drama, and in particular,
Tragedy. In 1799 he finished the Trilogy of " Wallen-
stein." The preparatory labours for this drama, or
rather series of dramas, were enormous. He plunged
into the minutiae of the Thirty Years' War, studied
astrology for his character of Seni, read Abraham at
Santa Clara for his Capuchin's Sermon, went to Eger
from Carlsbad to see the locality where Wallenstein was
murdered, examined the Austrian soldiery, &c. But
the materials grew under his hand till he saw himself
compelled to distribute them over Three Plays, yet so
as not to impair the Unity of Action throughout. The
First Part, a one-act play called " Wallenstein's Camp,"
is a striking picture of military life, and shows the
sources of the boundless influence that remarkable man
had obtained over his troops. Carlyle has pointed out
how each soldier is but a reflection of his particular
commander : the Irish dragoon standing for the soldier
of fortune, Col. Butler; the first cuirassier for the
nobler-minded Max ; the Troop-sergeant, a caricature
of Wallenstein himself, " Aye, and he mimics, bit for
bit. How the great man doth hem, and spit " ; and so
on.

The Second Part, " The Piccolominis," is a drama in
five acts. Wallenstein, having a large army (his own
creation) at his command, is ambitious, and aims at the
crown of Bohemia, which can only be compassed by
making friends with the enemy, the Swedes. He
lingers long before taking this step : he has many a

180 SEVENTH PERIOD.

grudge against his master the emperor, but downright
treason has an ugly look. His confidant Field-marshal
Illo, and his brother-in-law Count Terzky, undertake
to lighten his task. But the trick by which they ob-
tain the signature of the generals to the paper is noticed
by the second in command, Octavio Piccolomini, a sly
scheming Italian, in whom Wallenstein, to his ruin, puts
a blind and even superstitious faith. This Octavio is
commissioned by the Court of Vienna to watch and
circumvent his friend. His son Max finds himself in
a fearful strait: he must side either with his father,
whose falseness he hates, or with Wallenstein, whose
daughter Thekla he loves, whose military genius he
admires, and whose treason he will not believe in.
The piece closes with his words : " 'Twixt him and me
must all be clean ; Ere set of sun it shall be seen, Which
I must forfeit, friend or father."

The Third Part, " Wallenstein's Death," is a tragedy
in five acts. Wallenstein, playing with treasonable plans
has now gone too far to draw back. The threads
which he thought he held in his hand, are thrown as a
net over his head. The Swedish envoy. Col. Wrangel,
tells him he has no choice; his sister, the ambitious
Countess Terzky, urges him to take the decisive step.
He concludes the treaty with the Swedes, and severs
himself from the emperor. This treason, arising from
his liist for power, is the cause of his destruction.
Max vainly endeavours to dissuade him from his pur-
pose ; and after a severe struggle between honour and
love, tears himself away from Wallenstein and from

SCHILLER. 181

his beloved Thekla, and dies in battle. Octavio, now
by secret order appointed head of the army, gets the
generals over to his side. Whole regiments desert their
chief, who retires from the camp at Pilsen to the
fortress of Eger, there to fall by the assassin's hand,

" Wallenstein " combines lively action with statu-
esque repose, historic truth with perfect dramatic form.
Here the poet no longer puts his own sentiments into
the mouth of his characters, but projects them outside
of himself, and gives them an independent objective
life. In this sense Goethe could say of it : " Schiller's
Wallenstein is so great that we have nothing else like
it." From 1799 Schiller lived permanently at Weimar,
30 as to be near Goethe and the theatre. He developed
such dramatic fertility that nearly every year a new
original play appeared from his pen. He also trans-
lated foreign works, and adapted them for the stage,
as Shakespeare's "Macbeth," Gozzi's "Turandot," two
Comedies by Picard, "The Nephew as Uncle", and
" The Parasite " and Racine's "PhMre."

The first great Tragedy Schiller finished at Wiemar
was "Maria Stuart" in 1800. His historical sources
were Hume and Robertson, whom he follows pretty
closely, except in Leicester's attempt to reconcile Mary
with Elizabeth, and Mortimer's to save her by flight.
Schiller has depicted Elizabeth as a cold, heartless
hypocrite, and Mary as an amiable woman who has
erred in her youth, but has done ample penance for
her errors by a hard fate and true repentance,
Leicester is a despicable character, who flatters both

182 SEVENTH PERIOD.

qneens, and deserts Mary in her hour of need. Lord
Shrewsbury is the upright man, who sees in Mary's
sentence only a judicial murder, and throws up his
office. Burleigh demands her death, fearing her life
would be dangerous to the English queen and throne.
Mortimer is a young enthusiast, who is carried away
by the sensuous charm of the Catholic worship; he
devotes himself to Mary, but fails to save her, and
perishes himself.

The Romantic Tragedy of "The Maid of Orleans"
followed in 1801. Joan of Arc, a true and tender
woman, is fired with enthusiasm for the great work
entrusted to her by the Virgin. She renounces the
world, gives up her lover Raimond, and takes a sad
farewell of her home. like a destroying angel, the
patriotic maid, heaven's messenger, strides through the
battle-field. Neither love nor pity can be awakened in
the tender virgin breast; womanly feeling is drowned
in the wild din of war. She refuses the hand of her
country's bravest champions — Dunois and Lahire.
At young Montgomery's piteous pleading for his life
she wavers, but only for a moment ; the next he falls
by her hand. Then comes her hardest trial : she
conquers Lionel, the noblest of the English leaders,
but is conquered in turn by him ; for when she looks
in his face, she loves him, and cannot kill him. Thus
she is defeated in the struggle between her heavenly
mission and an earthly love. With deep grief she
recognises her guilt: "What have I done? I have
broken my vow." She is deserted and shunped as a

SCHILLER. 183

witch, and falls into the hands of the enemy, whom
fortune now favours. But by penitence and prayer
she recovers her strength and breaks her fetters. For
the last time she leads her people to victory, and is
mortally wounded. Her spirit departs with the words :
"The pain is short, the joy eternal;" and she is
glorified by death.

In 1803, after wavering between several subjects
—one of them "The Knights of Malta "—Schiller
finished a Tragedy with Chorus — " The Bride of
Messina, or The Hostile Brothers." The substance of
the plot is this : — ^The house of the Prince of Messina
is overshadowed by a curse pronounced by an ancestor.
Its approaching fulfilment is announced by dreams.
The prince sees in a vision two laurels, and between
them a lily, which turns into a flame and bums up
everything round it. An Ai^bian astrologer interprets
this to mean that a daughter about to be born to the
prince will prove the destruction of his two sons and
of the whole race. The prince, in alarm, orders his
daughter, who is born soon after, to be put to death.
But the princess also has her dream : a child of
wonderful beauty sits playing in a meadow, when a
lion and an eagle come and drop their prey in her lap,
and then lie meekly down at her feet. A monk who
has often advised the princess tells her that her
daughter is destined to unite the waning spirits of
her sons in ardent love. Trusting to this seemingly
good interpretation, she saves her infant, and has her
secretly brought up at the convent of St, Cecilia,

184 SEVENTH PERIOD.

There she remains concealed for many years, even
after the death of her father.

In the meanwhile the young princes have grown up,
and their animosity towards each other has increased ;
the land is threatened with war, but it is happily
averted by their mother's intercession, and a reconcilia-
tion takes place at the Castle of Messina. The princess
can no longer refrain from telling her sons they have
a sister alive, whom they shall presently see. They,
in their turn, disclose to her that they have chosen
their brides, and will present them to their mother
that very day. Unhappily, both brothers have fallen
in love with their own sister Beatrice. Don Manuel
has seen her in the convent garden, and Don Caesar
at the mass for their father's soul. Don Manuel has
already carried her off from the convent, and con-
ducted her to a lonely garden, where Don Caesar,
informed by a spy of her whereabouts, finds her in
Manuel's arms, and in mad jealousy kills his brother,
believing him to have played him false. Beatrice is
brought to the castle, and the whole horrible truth
comes out. Don Caesar can bear to live no longer ; to
expiate his fratricide and remove the curse from the
house, he kills himself. Thus the dreams are fulfilled
in a fearful way.

This play is antique, not only in much of its form,
but also in the motive springs of the action, especially
in that idea of an irresistible Fate, such as the guilt ol
an ancestor, dragging a whole race into ruin. Thia
]fate works independently of human will; it sends

8GHILLBB. 185

yon warnings, but you are none the wiser, for it
mocks at all your efiForts to thwart it — nay, turns
them into the very tools to effect its purpose. " For
none can flee from Fate's decree, And whoso ventures
to dispute it, Himself but helps to execute it."
Antique, too, is the introduction of a Chorus. It is
true that the chorus in a Greek tragedy usually
expresses the impartial opinion of the spectators, while
in this drama it is made up of the retinues of the two
brothers, and is therefore partizan. But their strains
lend the tragedy an ideal character, and have much
lyrical fire. While the characters are not very dis-
tinctly marked, there is the utmost pomp and splendour
of poetic language.

In 1804 Schiller closed his poetical career with the
National Drama of " Wilhelm Tell," Here he returns
to the objective-historical species of drama, and to his
favourite subject of Liberty. But he no longer cele-
brates the spasmodic efforts of individuals to upset
society ; he describes the deliberate majestic uprising
of a people to defend its ancient rights. The story is
that of the Revolt of the three Forest Cantons —
Schwyz, Uri and Unterwalden — from Duke Albrecht
of Austria (German Emperor from 1298 to 1308), who
wished them to give up their immediate dependence
on the empire, and become vassals to the House of
Hapsburg. He sends imperial governors, Hermann
Geszler of Bruneck and Beringer of Landenberg, into
their country ; but the Swiss reject the new yoke.
Their deliverance is effected, first by the Confederates

186 SEVENTH PERIOD.

who meet on the Rutli, a lonely meadow by the Lake
of Lucerne, and determine on an armed defence ; by
Tell, who rids the country of its most dangerous
enemy Geszler ; and, thirdly, by such of the nobility
as cast in their lot with the people — viz., the old
Baron of Attinghausen, the young heiress, Bertha of
Bruneck, and her lover Rudenz, whom she wins over
to the right side. (This pair of lovers are fictitious
characters ; some think their story an ornament to the
play, others an excrescence.)

Tell in the drama is purely the man of action ; his
heart beats warmly for his country, but he does not go
to the Eiitli. He says to the conspirators something
like ; " No, I had rather not join the palaver ; I can't
split hairs 'twixt right and wrong ; but when you have
need of some definite deed, call Tell, and you shall not
wait long," The poet has given this energetic man a
timid, anxious wife, while lingering Stauffacher has a
high-hearted Gertrude for helpmate. The three con-
spirators— Arnold von Melchthal, Werner Stauffacher,
and Walter Fiirst — represent the three Cantons that
strike for freedom and the three stages of adult man-
hood. John the Parricide, the emperor's nephew and
murderer, is introduced to show the contrast between
his crime and Tail's righteous vengeance. Though
Schiller had never seen Switzerland, he described the
scenery with wonderful accuracy. His historical
sources were Joh. von Miiller's Histories of the Swiss
Confederacy and the Chronicle of.(Egidius Tschudi.

Towards the last years of his life, Schijler's circum-

SCHILLER. JEAN PAUL. 187

stances greatly improved. At the suggestion of the
duke, he was ennobled by the German Emperor. In
honour of the marriage of the Crown Prince of
Weimar with the Grand Duchess Maria Paulowna, he
wrote "The Homage of the Arts." Schiller was re-
volving new projects, and had completed the plan of
a great tragedy, " Demetrius," perhaps the most am-
bitious of all his efforts, when he died on the 9th of
May, 1805, at the height of his poetical powers.

Jean Paul.

Jean Paul Friedrich Richter, generally known
by his nom de plume of Jean Paul, was born on March
21, 1763, at Wunsiedel in the Fichtelgebirge. His
father, at first a teacher, settled down as a clergyman
in the village of Joditz near Hof ; and the boy grew
up in the seclusion of village life and in poor circum-
stances. He thus "picked up," as he says, "a peculiar
predilection for the petty and domestic." At the Hof
public school he made rapid progress in study ; and as
he could not afford to buy books, he got into the habit
of taking notes of whatever he read that struck him,
and kept them in what he calls " Note-boxes." Before
he had finished his schooling, his father was sent to
Schwarzenbach on the Saale, and died soon after, leav-
ing his family in the deepest poverty. Jean Paul,
hoping to maintain himself by giving lessons, went to
Leipzig to study Theology, but devoted most of his
time to Literature. As the pinch of poverty grew

188 SEVENTH PERIOD.

sharper, and his first little book, consisting of satirical
sketches under the title of "Greenland Lawsuits," did
not materially assist him, he was obliged to leave the
university and share a very humble apartment with
his mother at Hof. Thus outward want and inward
impulse combined to make him a writer. His models
were Hippel, Eousseau, Swift, Sterne, Smollett and
Fielding. He displayed such fertility that his novels
and other writings fill 60 volumes. "What he lacks in
deep culture is made up by wit, humour, a rich imagi-
nation and deep feeling. Caustic satire goes hand in
hand with the tenderest sentiment ; and his works are
a hodge-podge of the loveliest thoughts and the wildest
absurdities. They have, therefore, been compared to
a heap of dross, in which the finest gold is to be found,
and only needs refining. Of his passion for writing
he says : ** If I say I will give mind and body a three
days' rest, on the second day this hatching-fever sends
me back to my nestful of eggs (or chalk) ; poor Paul
will keep it up till the last clod have cooled his burn-
ing breast." His next work was a " Selection from
the Devil's Papers." As neither of these received
much notice, he now ventured into the field of the
Humorous Novel, in which he won his greatest
triumphs. His first attempt was " The Invisible Box
(at the theatre)." Here we already find all those
quaintnesses of style which make the translation of
his works well-nigh impossible to be accomplished. He
found a publisher for his book at Berlin, and set out
late at night frona Schwarzenbach, where he was a

JSAN PAUL. 189

teacher, to Hof, where he found his mother at the
spinning-wheel, and handed over the 100 ducats he
had earned. " Happy he," writes Jean Paul, " to whom
his own mother has made all mothers holy." From
that time his circumstances improved, and " Jean
Paul " soon became a celebrated name. He lived for
a time at Leipzig, whence he visited Jena and Weimar,
and received a warm welcome from Duchess Amalie,
Charlotte von Kalb, Herder, Wieland and Knebel,
though he never grew intimate with Goethe and
Schiller. At length he settled down at Baireuth, and
devoted himself to his favourite occupation. With the
title of Legations-rath he received a handsome allow-
ance from the Prince-Primate von Dalberg, and after-
wards from the King of Bavaria.

His next volumes were " Hesperus : or the 45 Dog-
post Days ; " and " Quintus Fixlein," which describes
himself and his mother in the days of their poverty,
and, of all his fictions has the most consistent plot,
Another minute description of straitened housekeeping
we meet in his " Flower, Fruit and Thorn Pieces : or,
Married Life, Death, and Second Marriage of Siebenkas."
Siebenkas, poor's advocate at Kuhschnappel, a man of
elevated thought, sees the mistake he has made in
marrying the doll of a Lenette, whose ideas are limited
to clean boards and polished furniture. Both mean
well, but cannot understand each other, least of all
can she his wild flights of fancy ; she is much more
impressed by pompous Mr. Stiefel of the School Board.
Siebenkas hits upon a way to make them both happy.

190 SEVENTH PERIOD.

He pretends to die, gets buried, steals away, waits till
his widow has wedded Stiefel, then marries a gifted
English lady.

Jean Paul's next work was idealistic, " The Vale of
Campan: or Immortality." The subject, an all-im-
portant one to the author's mind, is discussed by a knot
of tourists in the Pyrenean Valley. There are strik-
ing thoughts in it. " What miracle," asks Karl, ** could
make a man live twice ? " Answer : *' A repetition of
the same that made him live once." — ^In the opposite
character of the two brothers in " Walt and Vult : or
Youthful Years," the author splits himself into two
men, giving his Idealism to the one, and his Eealism
to the other. But the dreamy enthusiast Walt, who
thinks all men as innocent as himself, is the favourite,
and get/S the good thing ; while dark scornful Vult,
who sees through men, goes bare. Jean Paul con-
sidered this work his masterpiece. A similar contrast
between two brothers runs through his " Titan," which
like many others of his works, has magnificent de-
scriptions of landscape, especially that of Lago Mag-
giore. The " Journey of Army-Chaplain Schmelzle to
Flaz," the " Life of Schoolmaster Wuz " and the " Life
of Fibel" are, like Fixlein, vivid pictures of the
woes and joys of poor country parsons and school-
masters.

His latest works are mostly scientific ; for example,
the " Preparatory School of .Esthetics," which has
many fine remarks upon the Ancients, Shakespeare
aud the German Classics, on Metaphors and the

JKAN PAUL. 191

Comic; "Levaua:^ or the Theory of Education,"
&c.

Jean Paul died at Baireuth, November 14, 1825.
In the " Note-box " of Quintus Fixlein he makes the
following remark, which may serve as a sample of his
style: —

" I never could make out more than three ways of
getting happier. The first, which is an uphill path,
is to climb so high above the cloud-land of life, that
you see the whole external universe, with its wolves'
dens and dead-houses and lightning-conductors, lie far
down in the distance, diminished to a tiny toy-garden.
The second is, to drop straight into the little garden,
and cosily nestle down in a furrow, so that, on peeping
out of your warm lark's-nest, you again see no wolves'
dens or dead-houses or thunder-rods, nothing but great
ears of corn, each of them a tree, umbrella and parasol
to the little biped. The third, which I take to be the
hardest and wisest, is to try the other two by turns."

Jean Paul was honoured, in his time, almost more
than any other author ; nay, he may be said to have
had a greater circle of admirers than even Goethe and
Schiller. Bome's memorial speech on him was an ex-
pression of this enthusiasm. After a time a reaction
took place, and the unbounded admiration gave place
to criticism of his faults. These lie on the surface ;
but the deep, " genuinely German truth, tenderness,

^ The Boman Divinity, who was invoked that the father might
lift (levare) the new-bom child, and so recognise it and have it
reared.

192 SEVENTH PERIOD.

innocence and love," that breathe in his writings, have
worked and will work as a noble corrective to all that
is false, frivolous and base.

The EoMAimc School.

The Romantic School was originally a reaction of
the more poetic minds against the so-called " Illumi-
nation," which sought to reduce everything to the dry
dead level of common-sense, and banish all poetry from
life. The Romanticists turned their backs on this
boasted enlightenment, and strove to make poetry the
centre and aim of their lives and thoughts. They
fixed their attention on those periods of history in
which the halo of poetry rested over life ; especially
on the German Middle Age, with its Chivalry and
Minne, its mysticism and belief in miracles, and with
the splendour of the Church which dominated all.
Many grew so enthusiastic for this period, that they
thought they could be safe from the prevailing Ra-
tionalism only in the bosom of the Catholic Church.
From Mediaeval Germany they passed on to the
Romance nations, and then to the East, and opened
up their poetry. In the North too they found much
that enUsted their sympathy, particularly Shake-
speare. For that very reason their activity was
rather imitative than original. The poets of this school
were men of great and varied talent rather than crea-
tive genius. They awakened a feeling for old poetry,
folk-songs, folk-tales, and legends; they made the

ROMANTIC SCHOOL. (nCHTE. SCHELLING.) 193

Italian poets Dante, Petrarch and Boccaccio, the
Spanish poets Cervantes, Calderon and Lope de Vega,
better known. From their midst arose a masterly
translation of Shakespeare, and the Teutonic philology
of the Brothers Grimm.

Great as were the merits of the Romantic School,
it had some grave defects. Not limiting itself to re-
cognised models, but taking into its horizon the litera-
tures of all nations, it lost the pure sense of beauty
and a healthy taste. Wishing to unite the beauties
of all nations, it brought in a jumble of contradictory
forms, and failed to find any harmonizing principle.
The influence of Fichte's and Schelling's ^ philosophy

1 JoHANN GoTTUSB FiOHTB, bom in 1762 at Bammenau, near
Tr«.rnftnK in Upper Lusatia, was the son of a poor weaver. He
became Professor of Philosophy at Jena and Berlin. He was a
man of lofty character, and an ardent patriot, whose " Speeches
to the German Nation " in 1808 sounded the first note of Ger-
many's uprising against foreign rule. He died in 1814. His
chief philosophical work is the " Foundation of all Scientific
Theory." Prom Kantism, which he fully accepted, he soon went
orer to pure Idealism. According to Fichte, the primary, the
absolute or original thing is what we call "I". The external
world of objects, the "Not-I," exists only through the "I."
Man, therefore, knows things, not as they are in themselves, but
only as they are reflected in this "L" It follows that Fichte
denies reality to external things. — ScHJBixg^, bom 1775 in the
duchy of Wiirtemberg, was a pupil of Fichte, and succeeded him
in the chairs of Philosophy, both at Jena and afterwards at
Berlin. He died in 1854 at Ragatz, in the Canton of St. Gall in
Switzerland. One of his greatest works is " Ideas on the Philo-
sophy of Nature," in which he endeavours to reconcile idealism

N

194 8EVBNTH PERIOD.

awakened a fondness for symbolism and allegory,
which led to much verbal hocus-pocus. It was a mis-
take too, instead of quickening the present into poetry,
to linger fondly over the spirit of a past age, and try
to revive it ; and to substitute a dreamy mysticism for
religion. Of the two great poets, the Eomanticists
swore by Goethe (who, in the second parts of his
" Meister " and " Faust," seemed to favour their views)
as against Schiller, in whose liberal ideas they saw the
seeds of " illumination " and revolution.

A precursor of the School was Friedrioh von Har-
DENBERG, better known as Novalis — a name taken
from a collateral branch of his race. He was born May
2, 1772, at Wiederstadt, in the county of Mansfeld, and
died March 25, 1801, at Weiszenfels. He studied law
at Jena, and became intimate with Fichte and Schlegel.
Both the good and bad sides of the School are visible
in him. Their religious-poetical glorification of the
world is manifest in his works. Novalis had great
lyrical talents, which are shown both in his Songs,
e.g., " The Miner's Song " : " He is lord of earth. Who her
depths can fathom ; " " The Wine Song " : " On the green
hills is born the god. Who brings heav'n down to us ; "
and in his Hyrrnis, some of them unsurpassed in deli-
cacy and depth of feeling, e.g., " If but Him I have. If
He be but mine " ; " If all the world forsake Thee, Yet
I will still be true," &c. And the same of his Hymns

and realism in a philosophy of Identity. The Absolute (Gk)d,
Spirit, Fichte's "I") is the true Being of the Apparent, while
the finite world, the transitory, is only a figure of speech.

NOVAUS. A. W. SCHLEGEL. 195

to Night. His Novel, "Heinrich von Ofterdingen," in
which he endeavours to make poetry and religion one,
is a fragment. With many exquisite passages, it lacks
clear development as a whole, and artistic finish.

The true heads of the Romantic School are the
Brothers Schlegel, sons of Johann Adolf Schlegel,
poet and superintendent-general at Hanover.

AuGDST Wilhelm VON ScHLEGEL, bom September
5th, 1767, at Hanover, studied philology under Heyne,
and became a great friend of Biirger, who instructed
him in the poetic art, and in a sonnet predicts a rosy
future for his poetry. Schlegel was a private tutor at
Amsterdam for a few years, and then Professor of
Literature at Jena from 1798. At this time he was
an ardent admirer not only of Goethe, but of Schiller,
to whose periodicals he contributed. Later his admira-
tion cooled, and he and his brother set up a rival
Review, the "Athenaum," thenceforth the organ of the
Romantic School. In 1802 he left Jena, and gave
Lectures on Literature and Art at Berlin. In 1805 he
travelled through Germany, Italy, Denmark, and lastly
Sweden, where he became secretary to the Crown-
prince Bernadotte, and was ennobled. In these travels
he accompanied Madame de Stael (daughter of Necker,
and author of "Corinne ou L'ltalie," and "De I'Alle-
magne "), and also stayed with her at Coppet, her country
seat in Switzerland. After studying Sanskrit at Paris, he
was from 1818 Professor of the History of Art and
Literature at Bonn, where he died May 12th, 1845. A.
W. Schlegel had almost universal talents, and a great

196 SEVENTH PERIOD.

mastery of style. In the Greek style he wrote a
Tragedy, " Ion," a weak imitation of Goethe's " Iphi-
geneia." He composed Odes, Elegies, Epigrams, Ballads,
Legends, Songs, and handled Southern forms with surpris-
ing skill. Glosses, Terzine, and especially Canzoni. He is
even more celebrated as a Critic and Historian of
Literature. His " Lectures on Dramatic Art and
Literature," delivered at Vienna during his stay there
with Madame de Stael, are remarkable. Above all he
shone as a Translator. He translated Calderon from
the Spanish, wrote " Nosegays of Italian and Portuguese
Poetry," edited an " Indian Library," and by his
excellent rendering of Shakespeare brought that poet
to the doors of the German public. The value
Schlegel places on his work may be gathered from the
poem, " The Poet on Himself," and in the sonnet,
" August Wilhelm Schlegel."

Feiedrich von Schlegel was born March 10th,
1772, at Hanover. He was first destined for a com-
mercial life, but afterwards studied philology at
Gottingen and Leipzig, and distinguished himself by
extraordinary linguistic powers and a deep knowledge
of Greek and Roman Literature. From 1794 he lived
some time at Jena as a tutor ; after which he moved
about from place to place, chiefly to find cultivated
audiences for his courses of Lectures. At Berlin his
most intimate friend was the theologian, afterwards so
celebrated, Friedrich Schleiermacher.* At Paris he

^ F. E. D. SoHiiEiGBMACHEB was bom in 1768 at Breslan. He
was the Bon of a Hefonued minister, and was educated in the

F. SCHLE6EL. (SCHLEIERMACHER.) 197

studied Sanskrit, like his brother. At Cologne he became
a convert to Eoman Catholicism, having always had a
fondness for mystery and symbolism. He now entered
the Austrian service, became secretary to the Chancery
of State, and was ennobled. Later on he was Secretary
of ligation at the Diet, and died January 11th, 1829, at
Dresden, where he was delivering lectures.

As a poet, he is inferior to his brother in point of
style. He was a Lyric poet : " In the Spessart," *' The
Sunken Castle," " Freedom," " Vows," &c. ; a Novd
writer : "Lucindfi-" ; a Dramatist : the Tragedy of
" Alarkos." But, like his brother, he shines most in
Translatwn^nd_^rv^i£isBit especially by his Lectures
given at Vienna on the "History of Ancient and
Modem Literature." His sonnet on ** Calderon " shows

Moiavian Schools at Niesky and Barbj, where he imbibed that
deep religiosity which clung to him all his life. He studied
theology at Halle, and was ordained in 1794. From 1796 to
1802 he was chaplain to the hospital at Berlin, and from 1802 to
1806 University chaplain and professor at Halle. Betuming to
Berlin he was appointed preacher at Trinity Church in 1808,
and Professor of Theology at the University in 1810. He worked
in both capacities with the greatest energy and success till his
death in 1834. Schleiermacher was one of the most origintJ,
talented and infloential divines of the time. He worked fruit-
fully in many directions, and opened new paths in some subjects.
Besides his longer Treatises (such as " Theory of Faith," «fec.)
and his powerful Sermons, he roused great attention by his re-
markable Monologues (self-confessicms of a deep pure spirit), bis
" DisoooTses on Religion " ; his " Christmas- time," &c. And
his masterly Translation of Plato prepared the way for a deeper
study of Greek philosophy.

198 SEVENTH PERIOD.

his enthusiasm for that poet, whom he ranks next to
Shakespeare among dramatists. Lastly, by his book
" On the Language and Wisdom of the Indians," he pro-
moted Oriental studies in Germany.

LuDWiG TiECK, born at Berlin, May Slst, 1773,
studied at Halle, Erlangen and Gottingen the languages
and literature of modern nations. His friend Wacken-
roder, born in 1772, was one of the founders of this
School, but died early, in 1798. Tieck, like most of
the Romanticists, spent some considerable time at Jena,
where he associated with the Schlegels, Novalis,
Schelling, Fichte, Goethe and Schiller. He travelled
m Italy, France and England, and from 1819 resided
at Dresden as aulic councillor and director of the
theatre. In 1841, Frederic William IV., a Romanticist
himself, invited him to Berlin, where he died April
28th, 1853. Unlike the Schlegels, Tieck is less cele-
brated for his Criticisms (collected under the title of
" Dramaturgic Leaves "), than for his original com-
positions. Some of his Songs are marked by deep
feeling : " Autumn Song," " Confidence," " Arion." But
his genius was especially fertile on the fields of the
Navel, the Drama, and the Novella. He commenced
his career with the two Novels, " Abdallah," and
"William Lovell," which, as first efforts, have many
faults. He did better in the Art-Novel, ** Franz Stern-
bald's Travels," evidently suggested by Goethe's
" Meister." His Dramas, it must be confessed, are fitter
for reading than for acting. In the Comedies, which are
fairy-tales dramatized, he attacks the follies and

TIECK. 199

heresies of the time. In "Blue-beard" he shows up
the Knight and Robber Romances of Spiesz, Cramer,
and their set. " Puss-in-boots " is aimed partly at
Iffland's plays, in which a feeble morality does duty
for depth of thought, and partly at Kotzebue's " 200
and more, all written for mere effect." Its continua-
tion, " Prince Zerbino's Travels in search of good Taste,"
is a skit against prosaic rationalism. Other Plays,
the " Life and Death of Saint Genoveva," the
" Emperor Octavian," and " Fortunatus," are drama-
tized from the chapbooks of the same name. A
beautiful selection of old Fairy-tales and Legends ap-
pears in his "Phantasus," including "Trusty Eckart,"
" Tannhauser," "Fair Magellone,"&c., in which he keeps
pretty close to the originals. In others he shapes the
material according to his own ideas, as in " Fair -haired
Eckbert," "The Hill of Runenberg," " The Elves," &c.
In his third period he produced many NovelUis^
which are among the best of their kind. The prin-
cipal are : "A Poet's Life," a charming study of
Shakespeare's youth ; and " A Poet's Death," mean-
ing that of Camoens. Both treat of the conflict

^ The Novella was so called because, as opposed to the Romance,
it dealt with modem times. We first meet with it in the " 100
novelle " of Boccaccio's " Decameron." In the same sense Cer-
vantes, the author of " Don Quixote," was a novella- writer. It was
introduced into Germany by the Romantic school, and gained a
certain perfection in Tieck's hands. Other novelists are Ach.
V. Amim, H. v. Kleist, Eichendorff, and more recently Paul
Heyse. The Novella is shorter than the Romance, and is mainly
a study of character and situation.

200 SEVENTH PERIOD.

between the world and the poetic soul. Another,
" The Rising in the C^vennes," showing the demonic
power of religious fanaticism, is very fine, but was
never finished. As a Translator, Tieck's powers are
of the highest order. He translated " Don Quixote,"
and continued Schlegel's translation of Shakespeare;
though the nineteen pieces that go under his name are
merely revised translations, six being by his daughter
Dorothea, and thirteen by Count Wolf Baudissin.
Lastly, Tieck gave a great impetus to the study of old
Grerman Literature, by working up " Minne-songs " of
the Swabian era, translating the " Frauendienst " of
Ulrich von Lichtensteiu, and editing several old German
works.

Other Poets of the Eomantic School.

Clemens Brentano was born September 8th, 1778,
at Thal-Ehrenbreitstein, near Coblentz. At the
University of Jena he became acquainted with the
Schlegels and Tieck, and at Heidelberg with Achim
von Amim, afterwards his brother-in-law, with whom
jointly he made the excellent collection of Folk-Songs
called "The Boy's Wonder-Horn," in three volumes,
1806-1808. He afterwards turned Catholic, and
buried himself in the contemplative asceticism of
monastic life. He died June 28th, 1842, at Aschaffen-
burg. Among his Lyric poems, mostly interspersed in
his tales and dramas, are : " The Churchyard Wall,"
" The Merry Minstrels," " To Seville," and "To a Sick
Woman." His Story of "Honest Kaspar and Pretty

BfiEKTANO. ARKDI. GORRES. H. KLEIST. 201

Annie" is touchingly naive, and his Fairy-TaU of
" Gockel, Hinkel, Gackeleia," overflows with rich
hamoar.

LuDWiG ACHIM VON Arnim (bom January 26th,
1781, at Berlin, died January 2l8t, 1831, on his estate
of Wiepersdorf) collected on his journeys those pop-
ular songs which he edited with Brentano. (His wife
was Bkttina Brentano, the " child " in her Novel of
" Groethe's correspondence with a Child," who died at
Berlin, in 1859.) His Novd of " Countess Dolores **
excited some attention. A historical novel, "The
Guards of the Crowns," is of higher value. Of his
shorter Novellas may be mentioned a serious one.
" The Mad Pensioner of Fort Kattonneau," and a humor-
ous, " Prince All-god and Minstrel Half-god."

Joseph von Gorres, an intimate Mend of the two
last-named, was born January 25th, 1776, at Coblentz,
and died JanuEiry 29th, 1848. Carried away in his
youth by the ideas of the French Revolution, he
afterwards became the most eloquent champion of the
Papacy and the real representative of strict Catholic
doctrine. He did much for early German Literature by
his edition of" Lohengrin," his " Old-German Folk-Songs
and Meister-Songs," and his " Essay on German Chap-
books." This man, whom Napoleon once called the
Fifth Great Power, wielded a potent influence over
his contemporaries in religion, politics, and literature.
X Heinrich von Kleist was bom October 18th, 1777,
at Frankfort-on-the-Oder, and committed suicide on
September 2l8t, 1811. His dramatic talent revealed

202 Seventh period.

itself in his very first Tragedy^ "The Schroffenstein
Family " ; and still more perfectly in his Comedy, " The
Broken Pitcher." The latter owed its origin to an
incident in the poet's sojourn at Bern, where he
associated much with H. Zschokke, and Ludwig
Wieland, son of the poet. All three agreed to treat
the same subject — Zschokke as a novella, Wieland as
a satire, but Kleist's drama carried off the prize. The
poet became known far and wide by his Chivalry Play,
"Kate of Heilbronn," a splendid picture of suffering
and at length victorious virtue. Kate, the supposed
daughter of the armourer at Heilbronn who Tias
brought her up, is really the emperor's child, and has
fallen in love with Count Wetter vom Strahl. When
her high birth is discovered, the emperor recognises
her, and gives her to the count. In 1809, when
Germany lay defeated and dismembered, sighing for
union and liberty, Kleist quickened the people's
patriotic aspirations by his Play of " The Herman
Fight," i.e., the young Cheruscan chiefs victory over
the Romans in the year 9 after Christ. " Varus and
his Legions" were visibly a disguise for Napoleon and
the French. He hit upon a less happy subject in his
Tragedy of " Penthesil^a," viz., that Queen of the
Amazons who desired to win Achilles, the bravest of
the Greeks, for her husband. Defeated by him and
humbled in her love, she is seized with a thirst for
vengeance, and treacherously pierces him with a
deadly dart ; then, horrified at her deed, kills herself.
A masterpiece in its kind is the Play, " Prince

H. KLEIST. FOUQUfi. WERNER. ^03

Friedrich of Horaburg," in which the Great Elector
plays a distinguished part. A good specimen of his
Novellas is " Michael Kohlhaas," in which he gives the
story and trial of that famous horsedealer of Luther's
time.

Friedrich Baron de la Motte Fouqd^ was born
in 1777, at Brandenburg, and died in 1843, at Berlin.
He endeavoured to revive the magic world of
fantastic chivalry. In his Dramas he shows a pre-
ference for Norse subjects. Of this kind, his " Sigurd,
the Serpent Slayer," is full of beauties. A vivid pic-
ture of the joyous time of knights and minstrels is
contained in his Novel, *' The Magic Ring." But the
pearl of all his works is the Fairyland Novella of
" Undine." As a Zyrtc poet he is distinguished by
deep feeling, rich imagination, and melodious
language. One of his sweetest songs is " Comfort,"
beginning with the words : " If everything would
happen exactly as you wished it." He also wrote
war-songs for the War of Liberation.

Zacharias Werner was born in 1768, at
Konigsberg, and died in 1823, at Vienna. In spite of
his zeal for religion, he was a frivolous character, and
a slave to his passions. His mystic pietism landed
him in the Catholic Church, where he hoped to find
peace for his enervated nature. His first work, " The
Sons of the Valley," is a Bomantie Drama, consisting
of 2 parts and 12 acts, and treats of the downfall of
the order of Templars. In his Protestant time he
wrote a Tragedy, " Martin Luther : or the Consecration

204 SEVENTH PERIOD.

of Power," which he answered himself, when a
secular priest, in ** The Consecration of Powerlessness."

A tragedy full of horrors is his "Twenty-fourth of
February " (a date supposed to be fruitful in murder-
ous deeds) ; and it is remarkable as having been the
first of a whole crop of plays, which we call Tragedies
of Fate. In these, Fate was depicted as a malignant
power, oppressing alike the guilty and the innocent.
This was distinctly a retrogression to the old heathen
notion of Fate, before which (if believed in) the mind
could only stand aghast, and extend a powerless pity
to the victims; whereas Christian tragedy, tracing
good and ill hap to Human Action, commands our
belief, and enlists our sympathy. Among these
Tragedies of Fate may be classed: *' The Twenty-ninth
of February " and " Guilt," by Adolf Mullner (died
1827, at Weiszenfels) ; " The Picture," by Ernst von
HouwALD (of Lower Lusatia, died 1845) ; and partly
" The Ancestress," by F. Grillparzer.

The Novels of Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann
(born at Konigsberg, 1776, died at Berlin, 1822) are
among the best productions of the Romantic School. ^
His "Elixirs of the Devil" and "Night Hours"
betray a morbid tendency ; but his " Serapion's
Brethren " contains capital stories in exquisite prose,
such as ** Master Martin the Cooper," a careful study
of citizen life in old Nuremberg ; " Arthur's Court,"

^ It is noticeable that of the eleven Bomantioists, ten were
bom within a dozen years of each other (1767-78), and the
eleventh only three years later.

WERNER. HOFFMANN. GRILLPARZER. ZEDLITZ. 205

"MdJie. de Scudery," &c. The unfinished "Tom Cat's
Viewf, of Life " is full of humour, with many glances
at the author's own life. The legendary War of the
Wartbarg is freely imitated in a Novella, "The Battle
of the Minstrels."

Austrian Writers.*

Of these the principal are : Franz Grillpabzer, ^
bom January 15th, 1791, and died January 22nd,
1872, at Vienna. Starting as a Romanticist in 1817,
he drew general attention by his Drama of "The
Ancestress," which, though a Fate-tragedy, is superior
to the others of that kind. But he soon broke away
from the Eomantic School, and treated classical sub-
jects, infusing a German spirit into them. In 1818
he brought out "Sappho," a pathetic picture of the
hopeless contradiction between poetry and life. Then
"The Golden Fleece," a trilogy, consisting of "The
Guest-friend," the "Argonauts," and "Medea." A
third play, "Sea-waves and Love- waves," deals with
Hero and Leander. In "King Ottokar's Fortune and
Death," the too ambitious King of Bohemia, on the
ruins of whose power the House of Hapsburg rose,
the author turns to the annals of his own native soil.

Joseph Baron von Zedutz, bom February 28th,
1790, at Johannisberg Castle, in Austrian Silesia,
and died March, 1862, at Vienna. Among the best-

* Of eleven Austrian Writers, eight were born within five
years of each other.

206 SEVENTH PERIOD.

known of his poems are " The Review by Night " and
" The Phantom Ship." He showed himself a master
of Elegy in his " Wreaths for the Dead," a cycle of
canzoni illustrating the truth, that no great deed is
accomplished without enthusiasm. That this en-
thusiasm is often a devouring fire, he recognises when
the Spirit of the Tomb leads him to the graves of
Wallenstein, Napoleon, of Petrarch and Laura, of
Eomeo and Juliet, Tasso and Byron. But that it is
nevertheless a divine gift, he experiences when he
stands at the graves of Canning, Joseph II., Shakes-
peare, and Goethe, who worked for the welfare of
mankind, and did not desecrate the God-given power.
" The Little Lady of the Woods " is a delightful Fairy-
tale.

NiKOLAUS Lenau, whose full name was Nikolaus
Nimbsch, Edler von Strehlenau, was born August
13th, 1802, in the Hungarian village of Csatad, near
Temesvar, and died August 22nd, 1850, in the lunatic
asylum at Oberdobling, near Vienna. The keynote of
his poetry is a rooted melancholy, which comes out in
the poems, " To Melancholy," ** Request," and " Sheer
Nothing." Lenau explains his own nature in his
"Faith, Knowledge, and Action." Among his sweet-
est songs are: "At Holty's Grave," "The Chapel at
Wurmling," "The Postilion," "The Alehouse on the
Heath," &c. A passionate love of freedom is ex-
pressed in his Songs of Poland : " The Polish Refugee,"
&c. His larger works are, "Faust," describing his
own struggle between faith and knowledge;

LENAU. GRiJN. HALM. 207

"Savonarola," treating that Florentine Reformer as
martyr, and Poj)e Alexander VI. as Antichrist; and
"The Albigenses," equally adverse to Innocent III.
and the Romish hierarchy. Lenau also wrote two
poems on the legend of the Wandering Jew.

Anastasius GrItn, a pseudonym for Anton (Alex-
ander Maria) Count of Auersperg, was bom April 11,
1806, at Laibach in Camiola, and died September 12,
1876, at Graz. He is a fearless combatant against in-
tellectual jmd_ political servitude. His enthusiasm for
liberty is expressed Tn his first work, "The Last
Knight," treating of several events in the life of
Maximilian I. ; one ballad in the series relates the ad-
venture of the " Martin's Wall." The same patriotic
feeling runs through his " Walks of a Viennese Poet,"
which excited great interest, and made his name
popular. A longer poem, " Schutt," consists of 4 parts,
the first being "The Tower on the Shore." "The
Priest of Kahlenberg " is humorous.

The most beautiful of his smaller poems are " The
Ring," " The Deserter," " The Last Poet," &c.

Friedrich Halm (Franz Joseph, Baron of Miinch-
Bellinghausen) was bom April 2, 1806, at Cracow, and
died 1871, at Vienna. His first Drama was "Gri-
seldis," in which he endeavoured to portray the ideal
of womanhood. It was received with great favour, as
was " The Son of the Wilderness," a romantic drama
which shows the victory of morals and love over the
strength of savage greatness. "The Fencer of
Ravenna " is doubtless the most important of Halm's

208 SEVENTH PERIOD.

dramas; besides splendour of language, it is dis-
tinguished by ardent patriotism.

Nepomuk Vogl, born November 2, 1802, was the
son of a wealthy merchant. He died November 16th,
1866, at Vienna. Besides Epigrams and rhymed pro-
verbs, he has composed Songs and Ballads, and his
countrymen have dubbed him Father of the Austrian
BaUad. Among the best known are : " Recognition "
(a young journeyman's return from his travels), " Sir
Henry Sat by his Fowling-floor ; " " The Two Coffins at
Weimar." An enthusiasm for all Germany speaks in
his "Hail to the Fatherland," "The Sweetest Sound,"
"The German Man," &c. An innocent childlike spirit
breathes in his collection of songs, ** From Childhood's
Paradise."

Gabriel Seidl was born on June 21, 1804, the son
of a lawyer at Vienna, and died July 18, 1875, an
Imperial treasurer and Court councillor. His love for
his native province speaks in his " Poems in the dia-
lect of Lower Austria." He is essentially a Lyric
poet ; some of his best Songs are : " The Little Bell of
Luck," "The Coiner," "Old Fritz's Dream," "The First
and Last Picture." There is deep pathos in " The
Dead Soldier."

Egon Ebert was born June 5th, 1801, at Prague,
and died October 24th, 1882, after having been for
many years librarian and archivist to the Prince of
Fiirstenberg at Donau-Eschingen. He is at his best as
a Lyric and Epic poet. He showed a preference for
Bohemian legends, and wrote a Bohemian national

VOGL. SEIDL. KBERT. 8TIFTKR, ETC. 209

epic '* Wlasto." A mass of rich thoughts is contained
in his last production, " Pious Thoughts of a Worldly
Man." Some of his finest Songs are : " The Minstrel
in the Palace," " Swerding, Duke of Saxons," *• Uhland,"
"Frau Hitt," "The Rhone Glacier," "The Masters"
(pt ii " The Lighthouse "), &c.

\ Eknst, Baron op Feuchtebsleben, was bom on
April 29th, 1806, at Vienna, and died there September
3rd, 1849. He was a doctor, philosopher, and poet.
His studies being chiefly in medical psychology, he has
left us his Confession of Faith as to morals in a re-
markable book, "Dietetics." He mostly followed in
the footsteps of the classical writers and Goethe. Of
his SoTigs the best known is the one commencing
" 'Tis God's decree that we should see The things we
love most tenderly departing."

Adalbert Stifter was born in 1806, at Oberplan
in Southern Bohemia, the son of a linen-weaver, and
died 1868 at Linz, where, from 1848, he had been a
member of the School Board for Upper Austria. As an
author he became known by his " Studies," a series of
thoughtful sketches, which he called studies because
he began writing them for his own practice. The
same delicate handling of nature and the human mind,
showing the deep sympathy between the two, we find
in his " After-Summer " and " Speckled Stones." His
story of "Witiko," taken from Bohemian history, is
marked by transparent clearness of form, and by skil-
ful arrangement

Robert HAMERLmo, bom in Lower Austria, 1832,

4^

210 SEVENTH PERIOD.

has written two noble Epics, "Ahasuerus at Kome,"
and " The King of Zion," which in glowing colours de-
scribe Rome under Nero, and the Anabaptists under
John of Leyden. Now and then he goes too far in
painting scenes of sensual pleasure. His tragedy of
"Danton and Robespierre" is more epic than dramatic.
"Amor and Psyche" is a lovely poem; and his " Prosa"
in 2 vols., published 1884, has sketches and studies
in excellent prose.

Echoes of the Romantic School; and
Opponents of it.

Ernst Schdlzk was bom 1789, at Celle, and died
there in 1817. His poems, with much melody and
sweetness of metre, are too soft and insipid. In his
Epicoi "Cacilie" he treats of the struggle of Chris-
tianity with the worship of Odin. The purpose of
writing such a poem was formed at the death-bed of
his betrothed, Cacilie Tychsen, who represents in it
the Christian's longing for the Eternal. The romantic
tale of "The Enchanted Rose" tells how a king's
daughter, imprisoned in a rose-bud, is released by the
song of the minstrel Alpin. Both poems are written
in the Ottava rima,^ and are unsurpassed in their
musical effect.

I The Ottava rima or Stanza consists of 8 Iambic lines of 5 feet
each ; the first six lines repeat the same two rhymes, while the
last two bring in a new rhyme, according to the scheme
abababcc. It is the metre of Tasso's *' Jerusalem " and Ariosto'a
•' Orlando."

SCHULZB. CHAMISSO. 211

Adelbert ton Chamisso was bora 1781, at the
family castle of Boncourt in Champagne, and died
August, 1838, at Berlin. Though a Frenchman by
birth, he was in language and sentiments a thorough
German. In his youth he wrote in the style of the
Romantic School, which afterwards he entirely dis-
carded Like the poets of that School, he chose a
subject from the Middle Ages in his new version of
Hartmann of Aue's " Poor Henry " (see p. 33). And
there is much of the romantic in his humorous Novella
of " Peter Sehlemihl," the poor man who has sold his
shadow to the devil for much gold, but who is shunned
by all when they perceive he casts no shadow, and, in
spite of his riches, is miserable. Some little compen-
sation he finds in a pair of seven-league boots, which
enable him to change his residence at wilL The lost
shadow has perhaps some reference to the author's lost
home, for which he expresses a passionate regret in his
" Castle of Boncourt." There is deep and tender feel-
ing in Sk Set of Songs called " Woman's Love and Life,"
and again some bitterness in " The Beggar and his
Dog," &c. Bemorse is vividly portrayed in " The Sun
will bring it to light " ; avarice in " Abdallah " ; faith-
ful performance of duty in "The Old Laundress." A
humorous vein breaks out again in his Ballads:
" Tragic Tale " (A man, much troubled in his mind,
Because his pigtail hung behind), "The Bight
Barber."

Chamisso is at his best in Narrative Poetry; and
his " Salas y Gomez " ranks among^the best of this

212 SEVENTH PERIOD.

kind. On three slabs of stone is found scratched the
story of an unfortunate man, who, wrecked on a
lonely rock, has stayed there 50 years living on the
eggs of birds, and is never rescued by a passing ship.
To the same class belong : — " The Mother's Stone " (a
Guahiba Indian, bereft of her children, shows what
mother's love can do), " Matteo Falcone " (a father's
stem sentence on his son for tarnishing the family
honour), "The View of the Cross" (God does not lay
upon us more than we can bear), lastly, the thrilling
** Betreat." All these Poetical Narratives are written
in Terzine.^ The " Song of Thrym," translated from
the Icelandic, is in Alliteration, and relates how Thor
gets back his hammer Miollnir.

Joseph Baron von Eighendorfp was born March
10th, 1788, at the Castle ofXubowitz, and died Novem-
ber 26th, 1857, at Neisse. He has been called the last
Knight^^omanticism ; but while he shares tlie vague
sensibility of that School, he rises superior to it in
truth of feeling. His little Novella, *' Gleanings from
the Life of a Good-for-nothing," is one of the most
charming productions of the School His Songs com-
bine with intense feeling the unpretending simplicity
of a genuine Folksong; e.g., "Down in a Shaded Hollow
a Miller's Wheel Goes Round." His most pathetic poem
is that entitled " On the Death of My Child."

» The Terzina is of Italian origin, and is the metre of Dante's
" Divina Oommedia. " Each line is a 5 foot Iambic, and every 8
lines form a triplet. In the 1st triplet the 1st and 3rd lines
rhyme, while the middle line rhymes with the Ist and 3rd of the
2nd triplet, as : aba, bcb, cdc, ded, &o.

KICHENDORFF. W. MULLKR, IMMEUMANN. 213

WiLHELM MuLLER was born October 7th, 1794, at
Dessau, and died there October Ist, 1827. He too has
in many of his Songs caught the true popular tone ;
e.g.f " I Should Like to Carve it on every Tree," " Long
Life to all on Earth that Flaunts in Green Array,"
" Wandering is the Miller's Joy," " I Heard a Rivulet
Rushing," &c. His best Narrative poems are : " The
Casting of the Bell at Breslau," "Est, est!" "The
Wandering Jew." There is a lofty enthusiasm in the
"Songs of Greece," with which he hailed the Greek
War of Independence. The best are "Alexander Ypsi-
lanti," "The Little Hydriote," and "The Latest Greeks."

Karl Leberecht Immermann was born April 25th,
1796, at Magdeburg, and died August 25th, 1840, at
Diisseldorf. His first Dramas are written in the
manner of the Romantic School: thus "The Valley
of Ronceval," " Cardenio and Celinde " (previously
treat«d by A. Gryphius), and " Periander and His
House," are fantastic and full of horrors (Platen lashes
pieces of this kind in his Romantic CEdipus), Later
he turned to historical Drama: "Tragedy in the
Tyrol" (the murder of Hofer), and "Emperor Frederic
IL" His JEpic of " Tristan and Isolde," after Gottfried
of Strasburg, is a gorgeous fragment dwelling on the
cheerful side of life. The best of all his works is
"Miinchhausen," a charming picture of a Westphalian
village (especially its sturdy mayor and the simple
maiden Lisbeth) contrasted with the hollowness of
high life. He has left an autobiography in his
" Men*orabilia,"

214 SEVENTH PERIOD.

\

Heinrich Heine was bom of Jewish parents on
December 13th, 1799, at Diisseldorf. He was intended
for businevss, and at the age of sixteen was for a fort-
night at a banker's in Frankfort. But he showed no
capacity for business ; he says, " God knows, I would(
willingly have become a banker; it was once myl
favourite wish, but I could not manage it." Two years
later, in 1818, he tried a commission business under
the name of "Harry Heine & Co.," but it collapsed the
following year. His rich uncle Salomon now despaired
of his nephew's talents, and expressed his disapproval
in the words, " Had the silly boy learnt something, he
need not now be writing books." Heine's stay at
Hamburg had a great effect on his works. Hamburg
was his gold mine : his uncle and cousin, who often
helped him, his publisher Campe, and afterwards his
mother and sister, resided there ; yet it had no great
attraction for him. He prepared himself privately for
the University, and went to Bonn to study law ; but
he became acquainted with A. W. Schlegel, and gave
almost all his attention to old German Literature and
Indian Poetry. He says of the "Niebelungen Lied":
" Its language is a language of stone, and the verses are
rhymed blocks of ashlar ; here and there out of the
crevices peep crimson flowers, like drops of blood, and
the long ivy trails down, like green tears." Minne-
song and Folk-song became, for the most part, the form
of Heine's own poetry. From Bonn he went to
Gottingen, but, in consequence of a duel, he was com-
pelled in 1821 to go into the pleasant exile of Berlia

H. HKINS. 215

His letters from Berlin give a lively account of the
future Imperial city. He there made the acquaintance
of Vamhagen, Kahel and Friderike Robert, whom he
calls in one of his sonnets " the fairest of all
dames." An acquaintance of great importance to the
young poet was Edward Gans, a pupil of Hegel, through
whom he learnt to know Hegel's works. Gans had
founded a " Society for the Culture of Jews " ; and
though Heine took but little interest in the proposed
reforms within the Synagogue, he attended the meet-
ings of the society regularly, kept the register, and
even read a report for founding a ladies' society to
promote its aims in families at large. Owing to the
apathy of the members, the society ceased to exist.
Gans embraced Christianity in the autumn of 1825, as
Heine had already done in June of the same year,
shortly before taking his degree at Gottingen. The
reason of both for their change was the prospect of
a Government appointment not accessible to Jews.
Heine says : "I regret much that I got baptized, for
now I am hated by Jew and Christian." His attitude
towards Judaism is different in different works. In
some he speaks of himself as the born enemy of all
positive religion ; but his novel, " The Rabbi of Bacha-
rach," is based on Jewish culture and manners, as is
his poem, "Jehudah ben Halevy." His Tragedies,
" Ratcliffe " and " Almansor," written in the style of the
Romantic School, are a wild, aimless heap of horrors ;
his genius was not dramatic. After a journey in the
Harz Mountains, he wrote his " Harz Journey," and the

216 SEVENTH PERIOD.

first volume of his " Pictures of Travel," in 1826 ; a
second volume of these " Pictures " came out in 1827,
and a third and fourth in 1830-1. They are composed
in vigorous prose, though too strongly spiced with
scathing sarcasm. In 1827 appeared his " Book of
Songs," being a collection of the poems in his " Pictures
of Travel," and some earlier ones. These Songs took
the public by storm : many of them, together with
some of his later ones, are among the finest in the
language. The year 1830 marks the end of Heine's
First Teriod. His talents and fame had now reached
their highest point.

Heine's Second Period lasts from the July Revolu-
tion of 1830 down to his illness in 1847. It is the
time of his Journalistic and political activity, which
closed with the two satirical epics, "Alta Troll"
and " Deutschland." The last two volumes of the
"Pictures" had heralded this epoch; then followed
the scandal with Count Platen. The news of the
July Revolution met Heine in Heligoland, and he
showed extreme zeal for " Lafayette, the Tricolour, and
the Marseillaise." He then wrote his "Diary from
Heligoland." In June, 1831, he went to Paris, and
plunged into journalism. There he wrote his articles
for the " Allgemeine Zeitung" (Augsburg Gazette).
But Heine was able to write for the French as well as
for Germans ; he introduced German philosophy into
France, which till then was only known to Victor
Cousin and Pierre Leroux. One of Heine's cleverest
works is his Critique on " German Romanticism," o(

H. HEms. 217

which he had once been an adherent, but which he
now pursued with almost savage mockery. In 1840
he wrote his book " On Borne " ; after the publication
of which the gulf between him and the German
" Friends of Freedom " grew wider and wider : the
chief of these men were Gutzkow and Arnold Ruge.
Other consequences resulting from this book were a
duel and Heine's marriage with Mathilde, the simple
heroine of his " Romanzero." Heine had a great
horror of strong-minded women, and he loved Ma-
thilde for her very simplicity ; he says of her, " She is
a child, a complete child." In 1835 and 1840 appeared
"The drawing-room." With the dawn of 1840 came
the political songs of Herwegh and his friends, and
Heine addressed several poems to Herwegh and Din-
gelstedt. He visited Germany in 1844, and described
this journey in his " Winter's Tale."

Heine's Third Period may be called the El^jd!^
cynical. Alfred Meiszner, in his work on Heine, says
how shocked he was to see Heine chained to a bed
of incurable sickness, and only able to greet him by
stretching out a thin hand. From May, 1848, he could
not leave his bed, on which he suffered unspeakable
agonies for eight years. Yet he wrote "Romanzero"
and " Lamentations," and composed many beautiful
poems about his dear friend " Mouche." Many of his
songs bear the stamp of immortality, e.g., "Thou art
like a Flower," " The Pilgrimage to Kevlaar," " Thou
Beautiful Fisher-maid," " Softly Swells a Peal of Bells,
floating through my Fancy," " Lovelier," &c. His §n-

218 SEVENTH PEKIOD.

thusiasm for Napoleon is seen in the poem, " The Two
Grenadiers."

Heine died February 17th, 1856. He is an unsolved
enigma. It may be true that " he is a great original,"
that " when Nature had made him, she broke the
mould," and so forth. At the same time the negative
element in him is too strong, and he is rightly called
"the mocking-bird of the literary grove," who can
imitate all tones, and turn all into mockery. He says
himself: "Empoisoned are my poems, what else could
they be ? "

^ LuDwiG Borne, who died at Paris, 1837, was the
author of " Letters from Paris," and a " Memorial
Oration on Jean Paul" By him and Heine swore the
so-called Young Germany, a revolutionary movement
that characterized the Thirties of this century, and
preached the emancipation of the ' flesh. The two
most eminent poets of this School, who afterwards
gave up their negative views and wrote good novels
and dramas, are : —

(1) Heinrich Laube, born September 18th, 1806, at
Sprottau in Silesia; died August 1st, 1884, at Vienna.
He wrote the Dramas, " Earl of Essex" " The Pupils
of the Karl-School," and " Gottsched and Gellert."
And : (2) Kael Gdtzkow, born March 17th, 1811, at
Berlin, and died December 15th, 1878, at Frankfort-on-
the-Main. He was the author of the Novels, " The
Knights of the Spirit," " The Magician of Rome,"
" Hohenschwangau," " The Sons of Pestalozzi " ; an4

BORNE. LAUBE. GUTZKOW. HLATEN. 219

the Dramas, "The King's Lieutenant," "Pigtail and
Sword," " Uriel Acosta," and " The Original of Tartuffe."

The fiercest foe of the later Romanticists was
August, Count of Platen, bom October 24th, 1796,
at Ansbach ; died December 5th, 1835, at Syracuse.
His first Drama, " The Glass Slipper," an amalgama-
tion of " Cinderella " and " The Sleeping Beauty," is still
in the manner of the Romantic School ; but in " The
Treasure of Rhampsinit " he has broken away from it.
His two polemico-satiric comedies have gained him the
name of a Gergaan Aristophanes. In one of them,
" The Fateful Fork," he makes fun of the Tragedies of
Fate, especially those of Milliner. In the other, " The
Romantic CEdipus," he shows up the perversities of
Immermann. He chastises the neglect of true Metre,
and the overrating of mere Rhyme. By his Odes,
second only to Klopstock's, he became in some sort a
German Pindar. In those addressed " To Francis II."
and "To Charles X.," he declares his political
sentiments, while "Vesuvius in December, 1830,"
and " Florence," are magnificent pictures of
Italian scenery, as are also some of his Uclogues and
Idylls, e.g., "The Fisherman of Capri." He used
Italian metres with great skill in his Ritornellos ^ and
Sonnets, which are among the most melodious in the

'The Bitomello is of Italian origin, suid consists of a single
Triplet : it is, therefore, an Epigram of three lines, of which the first
and third rhyme.

220 SEVENTH PERIOD.

language; and Oriental forms in his Ghaseles} Some
of his Ballads are distinguished by a stately simplicity
and euphony, e.g., " The Pilgrim of St. Just," and " The
Grave in the Busento " (Alaric's). His Oriental Fairy
Tale, "The Abassides," telling the adventures of
Hariin-Al-Rashid's sons, consists of nine cantos. The
subject is taken from " The Arabian Nights " and treated
in a most simple and lucid style.

JoHANN Gottfried Seume was born January 29th,
1763, at Poserna near Weiszenfels, and died June 13th,
1810, at Teplitz. His character, though not without
bitterness, was noble and honest, and he hated all
tyranny and hypocrisy. He conquered the many
hardships of his life with a bold and manly spirit.
When a student, he was kidnapped by a ^essian re-
cruiting party, and sold away to America ; he deserted
on the way back, was caught, but was let go again.
Then he was picked up by a Prussian pressgang,
deserted again, was again caught, and finally dis-
missed. In 1794 he was involved in the horrors of
the Warsaw insurrection. At last he settled down as
corrector of the press to his friend Goschen at
Grimma in his native Saxony. Two of his numerous
travels are capitally told in his "Walk to Syracuse,"
and " My Summer in 1805." A number of detached
thoughts are contained in his "Apocrypha." Of his
poems, the best known is " The Savage."

' The Ghasele came from Persia. Its principal feature is, tha
one rhyme runs through the whole, thus : aa, ba, ca, da.

8sume. arndt. 221

Poets of the War of Liberation.

When Germany rose in arms against the French in
1813 and 1814, many poets wrote songs that fed the
patriotic fire and stirred the people to martial deeds.
The two Stolbergs, Fouqu^ and Von Klleist wrote such
songs ; but the special poets of the War were Amdt,
Komer, Schenkendorf, and Riickert.

\ Ebnest Moritz Arndt was born December 26th,
1769, at the village of Schoritz in the Isle of Riigen,
which then belonged to Sweden. His great-grand-
father had been a Swedish sub-ofl&cer, and his grand-
father a shepherd; his father, still a serf, received
his freedom for faithful service rendered to his lord,
Count Putbus, and then rented the farm at Schoritz,
and several other farms in succession. In patriarchal
simplicity, young Arndt grew up and acquired the
robustness which he preserved to a great age. During
the winter months, his father taught him the elements
of reading, writing, and arithmetic, while his mother
made him acquainted with the Bible, the hymn-book,
and fairy tales. His healthy life in the open air con-
tinued when he had a special tutor. Thus, with but
scanty preparation, he entered the Grammar School at
Stralsund. In 1791, he went to the neighbouring
University of Greifswald, and studied divinity and
philosophy there, and afterwards at Jeaa, where he
was especially charmed with Fichte. After acting as
private tutor for several years, he travelled through

222 SEVENTH PERIOD.

Germany, Switzerland, Hungary, Upper Italy, and
France. On his return to Pomerania, he gave lectures
on history at the University of Greifswald, and in
1805 became professor there.

In that season of shame and sorrow for Germany
(1806), he composed the first part of his " Spirit of
the Age," a work full of bold candour, of bitterness
against Napoleon and the French, and glowing love
for his oppressed fatherland. The book had an
unprecedented circulation, and kindled all German
hearts. But now he had occasion to fear the ven-
geance of the Corsican ; his life was in danger, and
he fled to Sweden, where he remained some years
under Gustavus IV.'s protection. In 1809, he re-
tuned to Germany. It was the year in which brave
Ferdinand von Schill and his regiment came to so
tragic an end at Stralsund; whereupon Arndt wrote
his " Song of Schill " :

" Out of Berlin rode a hero bold,
He had but six hundi-ed troops all told.**

Surrounded by spies, Arndt sought refuge with his
friend, George Eeimer, a bookseller of Berlin, where
he lived incognito as " Allmann, teacher of language^."
In 1810, when Pomerania was restored to Sweden, he
regained his chair at Greifswald. But he felt too
cramped in the little University town, and joined his
brothers and sisters in the country. At the beginning
of 1812, Pomerania was occupied by the French, and
Arndt was again forced to flee. He went to Breslau,

ARNDT. 223

where the greatest men of Prussia, Scharnhorst,
Gneisenau, Bliicher, were assembled. But he did not
feel safe even there, when Napoleon undertook his
fatal march to Moscow; he went on to Petersburg,
where he was welcomed by Baron von Stein, and was
immediately appointed his secretary. He worked on
for the national cause with his bold, fiery eloquence.
A capital book, printed at Petersburg, was eagerly
bought up all over Germany. This was his " Cate-
chism for the German Warrior." On Napoleon's re-
turn after the burning of Moscow, Amdt and Stein
came back to Germany at the end of January, 1813,
and settled at Konigsberg. On the 17th of March,
Frederic William III. issued his *' Summons to my
People." The First and Second Reserves (Land-wehr,
Land-Sturm) were organised, and Amdt wrote : " What
is the Meaning of Land-wehr and Land-sturm ? " An-
other pamphlet on this subject was: "The Rhine, a
German River, not a Boundary." Arndt took no part
in the fearful battles of 1813, but his words inspired
the German youth to heroism. His " War Songs " are
of themselves a national deed, and have made him
a national poet. Some of the most beautiful are :
"What is the German's Fatherland ? " " The Bliicher
Song," " What makes the trumpets ring ? " " The Song
of Stein":

•< God meant, in making iron grow,

Man shoald not be a slave ;
A sword and spear to fight the foe

Into his hand He gave," &c.

224 SEVENTH PERIOD.

After the end of the war, Arndt lived in the Rhine
provinces, and in 1817 was appointed professor at the
newly-founded University of Bonn. Here he made
for himself a new home by his marriage with Schleier-
macher's sister. But his troubles were not over yet :
on account of supposed demagogic intrigues, he was
subjected to an inquiry, and, though this ended in his
acquittal, he was forbidden to lecture any mora For
twenty years, he lived quietly in his house on the
banks of the Ehine. It was Frederic William IV.
that reinstated him in 1840, and endeavoured to com-
pensate him for the injustice he had suffered. When
France in that year threatened Germany with war
Arndt wrote the song, " All Germany pour into
France!"^ In 1848, Arndt was elected to the Frank
fort Parliament, and was one of the deputation sent
to offer the Imperial Crown of Germany to Frederic
William IV. It grieved him deeply that the House of
HohenzoUern did not then accept the crown. From
that time Arndt withdrew more and more from pub-
licity, and led a quiet, contented life in his large
family circle.

December 26th, 1859, his 90th birthday, was cele-
brated by all Germany, and a month later, the 29th of

1 The same occasion brought out two other patriotic Songs :
N. Bicker (d. 1845) wrote, " The Frenchman shall not have
it, Our free-bom German Rhine " ; and Max Schneckenburger
(1810-48) his "Watch on the Rhine," which, wedded to Wil-
helm's music, became, in the wonderful campaign of 1870-71,
th* true National Song of Germany,

ABNDT, KORNEB. 225

January, 18G0, he died at Bonn. On an old bastion
by the Rhine, called the Old Zoll, a monument was
raised to his memory in 1865; another adorns the
Rugard, the highest point in Riigen. But he has
reared for himself the most lasting monument in the
hearts of the people by his Songs, which live still on
every tongue. In his Children's Songs, he adopts
a perfectly childlike tone, as in the "Little Boy's
Prayer to the Holy Christ," and his little " Ballad,"
" And the Sun he was taking his ride so wide. Round
the world ; And the little Stars said, ' We'll ride by
your side. Round the world ' " (but he threatens to
scorch their bright little eyes, and they go to the
Moon, &c.).

Of Arndt's prose works, beside those already men-
tioned, we must not omit "Recollections of Exterior
Life," and " Wanderings with Baron von Stein." His
" History of Villenage in Pomerania and Riigen " gave
the first impulse to the abolition of Serfdom in those
parts. Amdt has been called the "Trusty Eckart" of
the German people, for he never ceased to warn, com-
fort and encourage his countrymen,
s Theodor Korner was born September 23rd, 1791,
at Dresden. His father, mentioned above as an inti-
mate friend of Schiller, gave his son an excellent
education, which developed equally the body, mind
and character. The boy's poetic gift first displayed
itself in droll comical efifusions. He also sl^owed a
great inclination and talent for music, especially
tor the violin, and afterwards the guitar, which ac-

P

226 SEVENTH PERIOD.

coiupanied him in all his marches. At the age of
seventeen he went to the Mining College at Freiberg,
where Mine-Inspector Werner took particular notice
of hira. The poetry of a miner's life impressed him
powerfully, and he describes it in glowing colours in
the poem commencing with the words : —

•• Down to darkness, deep and deeper,
Slow descends the king and keeper
Of that subterranean world."

He composed religious sonnets, which bear testimony
to his child-like faith. From Freiberg he made
several holiday excursions. He visited his god-
mother, the gifted Duchess Dorothea of Courland,
at her country seat of Lobichau, in Altenburg. He
traversed on foot the Upper Lusatian and Silesian
Mountains, which offered a rich field for the study of
mineralogy. After staying two years at Freiberg, he
went to Leipzig, in 1810, for the purpose of further
study, and the following year to Berlin, which, after
three months, he was obliged to leave and go to
Carlsbad to recruit his health. In the autumn of the
same year he went to Vienna, where he profited much
by the society of William Humboldt aud Frederic
Schlegel. He now devoted himself wholly to poetry.
He wrote a number of Dramas, which gained him
popularity, and occasioned his being appointed Poet
of the- Court Theatre in 1812. The influence of
Kotzebue is only too perceptible in his Comedies,
" The Watchman," " The Cousin from Bremen," " The

kSrneb. 227

Green Domino"; as that of Schiller is in his two
Tragedies. One of these, " Rosamunde," treats of
Henry II. 's love for the Fair Rosamond, and her
being poisoned by Queen Eleanor.^ The other,
" Zriny," represents the fall of Count Niklas Zriny,
the brave defender of Szigeth in Hungary against the
overwhelming forces of Sultan Soliman. In the short
period of four weeks, Komer finished this tragedy of
five acts, his longest work. Other poems written at
this time are : " Harras, the bold leaper," founded on
the legend of the Harras' Leap, near Lichtewalde, in
the Saxon Erzgebirge, and " The Battle of Aspem,"
which gained for him the favour of Archduke Charles
the victor.

While Komer was at the height of his happiness,
enhanced by his engagement to his " Toni " (Antonie
Adamberger), the spring of 1813 approached, and on
Feb. 3rd was issued the call to the formation of
Volunteer Corps. At once he determined to join
the army. Joyously he greeted the rising of Grer-
many : —

" The nation is up, the storms break loose ;

Fie on the loon with his hands in his lap i " fto.

i TTwTVRTffw Ebusb, besides his Dramas of "The Countess,"
" Wullenwever," "Maurice of Saxony," "Marino Falieri,"
" BratoB," and " The Maid of Byzance," has also written a
" Rosamunde ; " but it deals with the sixth century subject Of
the Lombard queen's revenge on her lord, Alboin, for making
her drink out of her father's skulL

22S SEVENTH PERIOD.

In another song : —

*' Up, brothers, up I the beacons smoke,
Freedom's dawn from the north has broke • • •
'Tis a crusade, a holy war,
No war of riband, crown and star," &o.

His father consented to Korner's resolve ; on March
15th he left Vienna, rode to Breslau, and enrolled
himself in the Free Corps under Major von Lutzow.
In the village church of Eogau near Zobten the regi-
ment swore fidelity. For this service Korner wrote
the hymn : " Here in the house of God we meet."
They marched by Bautzen and Dresden to Leipzig,
where Korner composed his celebrated song, "Lutzow's
Wild Hunt." From Leipzig they rode northwards to
the Elbe, where the corps was to receive its baptism
of blood. On the morning of the first battle Korner,
who had now become a lieutenant, composed his
magnificent " Covenant Song before Battle." Then
the victorious corps made flying expeditions into
Thuringia and Saxony. Near Leipzig, at the village
of Kitzen, the regiment, in spite of the truce, was
treacherously attacked, and Korner, now adjutant, was
severely wounded. He collected his remaining strength
for the song : —

" The wound bums hot, the pale lips quiver,
And the heart's fainter beating says :
I've reached the limit of my days,
' Of life, of death, God is the Giver.' " &o.

He was saved as by a miracle, and kept concealed

KORNEB, SCHENKENDOBF. 229

by friends. After completing his recovery at Carlsbad
he returned to his corps, then stationed on the Elbe
above Hamburg. In the wood between Schwerin and
Gadebusch, the troops lay in ambush to cut ofif a pro-
vision-column of the enemy. Here he wrote his
swan-song, the famous " Song of the Sword." In the
fight that shortly ensued, he was struck by a ball and
died a hero's death, Aug. 26th, 1813, when not yet 22
years old. He was buried by his comrades under a
double oak by the village of Wobbelin near Ludwigs-
lust. While his coffin was being lowered, his comrades
sang his " Prayer during Battle " : —

" Father, I cry to Thee I
Wrapt in the reek of the roaring cannon," &o.

Under the same oak rest the poet's parents and his
sister. Korner has fairly earned the name of a
German Tyrtaeus. His songs, collected under the title
of " Lyre and Sword," have kindled the hearts of the
Grerman youth to fight for justice, faith, morals,
freedom, and fatherland.
y( Max von Schenkendorf was bom at Tilsit,
December 11th, 1783. He studied political economy
at Konigsberg, and was referendary there till 1812.
When Prussia in 1806 declared war against France, he
composed his first war-song. Upon the royal family
coming to Konigsberg, in 1808, he paid his homage to
Queen Louise in poems of deep feeling. Only two
years later, in his song " On the Death of the Queen,"
he had to lament that the storm had broken "the

230 SEVENTH PERIOD.

fair, the royal rose." When the French passed through
Konigsberg on their way to Eussia, he could not bear
to remain thera He went to Berlin, and thence to
Weimar, where he made the acquaintance of Goethe,
whom he glorifies in one of his poems. From Weimar
he went to Carlsruhe, and became an intimate friend
of Jung-Stilling, aulic councillor there. His inter-
course with him and Frau von Kriidener deepened the
religious spirit already awakened by his visit to Count
Dohna's family. He married at Carlsruhe, but was not
destined to enjoy domestic happiness long. When the
king issued his proclamation in 1813, Schenkendorf^
though crippled in his right hand, resorted to the
Russo-Prussian head-quarters in Silesia. Wielding
his sword with his left hand, he took part in the
war with Napoleon, and was present at the Battle of
Leipzig. After the Peace, he became, in 1816, Coun-
cillor of the Government at Coblentz, where he died
in 1817.

If Schenkendorf s songs are not so soul-stirring as
those of Amdt and Komer, he is, nevertheless, a poet
of the War of Liberation. He was enthusiastic for the
past and future of the German race, especiaUy for a
United Germany under one Imperial Head; that is
why Riickert called him " Emperor's Herald." Joined
to his patriotism was a sincere and firm belief in reli-
gion. Some of his finest war-songs are the "Land-
sturmlied, or Song of the Last Resei-ve," " The Beacons
are Lighted," &c. ; " The Soldier's Morning Song," dedi-
cated to his friend and comrade Fouqu^: —

SCHENKENDORF, RUCKERT. 231

" Oar horses are neighing

To bid OB good mom ;
The sammons obeying,

Doll almnber we soom."

The •• Song of Freedom " :—

" Freedom, I adore thee.

All my heart is thine ;
"^sit in thy glory

This poor earth of mine."

And the " Song on Schamhorst's Death." After the
battle of Leipzig he sang his " Te Deum" : —

** God, we praise Thee, Thou art Lord ;
Not our arm smd not our sword
Twas Thy terror smote the foe."

When the Allies entered Paris, he saluted his country
with a " Spring Greeting." After the Peace he wrote
other patriotic songs on the Peasantry, on Andreas
Hofer, &c. ; in particular the " Song of the Rhine,"
" The Grerman Towns," &c. One of his sweetest
hymns is : —

M gnnday morning, truce of God,
Best commanded by the Lord."

v^ Friedrich EtfcKERT, the son of a Bavarian lawyer,
was born on May 16th, 1788, at Schweinfurt. His
youth was spent at different places. After being pre-
pared at the Schweinfurt Grammar School, he went to

232 feEVENTh PERlOt).

the University of Wiirzburg, but soon gave up the
study of law for that of languages. In 1811, he won
honours as a " disputant " at Jena, and was tutor
there for a short time. In 1817 he went to Italy, and
spent a winter at Eome. On his return he plunged
into the study of the Eastern tongues, and in 1826 was
appointed Professor of Oriental Languages at Erlangen.
In 1841 he accepted an offer of the same chair at
Berlin, with the title of privy councillor. This post
he resigned in 1848, and retired to his estate of
Neusess near Coburg. There he died January 31st,
1866. His *' German Poems by Freimund Kaimar,"
which appeared in 1814, entitled Riickert to a place
among the poets of the War of Liberation. The best of
these poems are a set called " Sonnets in Armour," and
a song " On the Battle of Leipzig." In 1817, he issued
a second collection of patriotic poems, the *' Garland of
the Time " ; but they came behind time, and were also
of no merit, except " Barbarossa " and " The Graves at
Ottensen." Eiickert now turned away from contem-
porary events, and struck into a new key. A cycle of
songs that appeared under the title "Spring-time of
Love," are among the most exquisite productions of
the German Lyric Muse. So are his "Evening-song": —

*' On the hillside I stood;

The sun was nearly set;
Over the dark green wood

Hung evening's golden net. **

"From the Season of Youth," and "The Dying

RtJCKltRt. 233

Flower." Some of his songs are religious, as " Advent
Hymn," and "Bethlehem and Calvary," which cloaes
with the lines : —

** That He be bom in thee,

That to this earth thou die
And live to Him, ah I that would be

Both Bethlehem and CsJvaty."

That Rdckert could also descend to a playful and
childlike style may be seen by his song of "The Little
Tree that Wished for Other Leaves." Friedrieh Chill
(1812-79) and WUhelm Hey (1789-1854), have written
poems of this kind, partly prompted by him. To a
great extent, Riickert's poems are Didactic, such as his
parable, " There walked a man in Syrian land." But
his chief didactic poems are collected in two books,
" Proverbs and Quatrains," and " The Brahmin's
Wisdom." In this work Biickert — for he is the
Brahmin — gives his ideas on religion, philosophy, art,
poetry, and the different phases of human life.
Leopold Scheftr (1784-1862) wrote, in imitation of this,
his " Layman's Breviary." Riickert's Epic poems are
not original, but, for the most part, paraphrases.
"Child Horn," a magnificent picture of heroic Norse
life, much like the "Nibelungen Lied," is an old English
story. A much longer Epic in Alexandrines, " Eostem
and Zuhrab," in which the two heroes, father and son,
fight without knowing each other, is based on an
episode in Firdusi's Shah-nameh (Book of Kings). And
the pearl of his epic poems, " Nal and Damayauti," in

234 SEVENTH PERIOD.

which conjugal faith is proof against all trials, borrows
its material from the old Indian Mahabharata. Thus
Riickert, like Herder, hearkened to the voices of all
nations and zones, and opened an inexhaustible source
of poetry, from which Goethe (whom he took for his
model) had already culled some flowers and planted
them in his " West-Eastern Divan." ^ In this he was
aided by that wonderful mastery of the most various
poetic forms, in which he is only paralleled by A. W.
Schlegel and Platen. He uses with equal ease and
fluency the Sonnet, Ritomello and Siciliana, the Per-
sian Quatrain and Ghazele, and the Old-German
Alliteration. And his power of coining words is some-
thing marvellous : see in proof of this the above-men-
tioned adaptations of Eastern poetry, together with the
"Shi-King, a Book of Chinese Songs," and, above all,
his translation of the "Makamen" of Hariri, an Arabian
poet, who lived in 1100 A.D. This dexterity had its
danger, viz., that the subject is often sacrificed to
artistic I'orm, or was not worth it, to begin with.
Riickert' 3 Dramas, " Herod the Great," " Saul and
David," " Christophoro Colombo" and "Emperor Henry
IV.," * lack sufficient mental motive and dramatic
connection,

^Friedrich Bodenstedt, bom in 1819, at Peine in Hanover,
a translator of Shakespeare and author of "A Thousand and
One Days in the East," has followed the same lead in his
" Songs of Mirza-Shaffy," which has gone through a hundred
editions, and " The Minstrel of Shiraz," a translation of the
most beautiful songs of Hafiz."

•This tempting subject has lately been treated much more

BUCKEBT, UfiLAND. 235

The Swabian Group.

The writers of this group refuse to be called a
" School" Justiaus Kerner, in his " Swabian Minstrels,"
says: —

"We've no one to school ns.
No master to rule us ;
Each bird with his bill
Blurts out what he will."

But the centre of the group is —
"^ LuDWiG Uhland, born April 26th, 1787, at Ttibin-
gen, and 3ie3 there November 13th, 1862. Some of
his earlier songs would rank him among the poets of
the War of Liberation, whilst in others he stands up
for the " good old laws " of his own particular Wurtem-
berg. Uhland's genius does not shine out in his
Dramas, " Ernest of Swabia," and " Ludwig the
Bavarian " ; the language is beautiful, but a real
dramatic impulse is wanting. On the other hand, his
Songs and Ballads have a depth of thought, intensity
of feeling and terseness of language that are nowhere
surpassed. Of his Songs, the best are the " Songs of
Spring and Travel," and the Folk-songs, " I had a
loving comrade, a better could not be," " The mountain
shepherd-boy am I, I look down on the roofe of your
castles high," "There came three youngsters over the

dramatically by Julius Riffert of Leipzig in his Trilogy of
" Henry FV. ," consisting of " The Saxons," ** Henry and
Qiegoiy," " Henry's Death."

236 SEVENTH PERIOD.

Ehine," "Up yonder stands the Chapel," "This is
the Lord's own day," &c. In his Ballads he looks with
tender regret on the glories of bygone times, but not
with the dreamy fancifulness of the later Romanticists ;
in Uhland there is perfect sincerity of feeling. Some
of the best are: "The Minstrel's Curse," "Bertran
de Born," " The Blind King," " Taillefer," " Little
Roland," "The Innkeeper of Limburg," "The Luck
of Edenhall," " King Charles's Voyage," &c. While
these are patriotic in the broadest sense, others
glow with love for his Swabian home, as in the Collec-
tion of Ballads called " Count Eberhard of the Rust-
ling-beard."

GusTAV Schwab was born June 19th, 1792, and died
November 4th, 1850. He calls himself Uhland's oldest
pupil, but he has none of his master's genius, and much
of his poetry is a dry goods' store. His best pieces
are "The Thunderstorm," "The Rider and the Lake of
Constance," "Johannes Kant," and "The Banquet at
Heidelberg." Schwab was a man of the most genial
temperament, and did much to assist young men of
promising talents. He deserves praise too as a trans-
lator and remodeller of many classical old German
legends. He has published a well-arranged selection
of the best German Lyrics from Haller downwards,
and the same of the best Prose from Mosheim to this
day ; has edited Paul Fleming's Poems, written a " Life
of Schiller," &c.

JusTiNDS Kernee was bom September 18th, 1786,
at Ludwigsburg, and died February 21st, 1862, being

UHLAND, SCHWAB, KERNBR, MORIKE. 237

at the time of his death head-doctor at Weinsberg.
He made Uhland's acquaintance at the University of
Tiibingen. Among the best of his poems, besides the
well known Song, " Come, one more drink of this
sparkling wine," are the Ballads: "The Richest
Prince," " Emperor Eudolph's Ride to the Grave," " The
Fiddler at Gmund," "The Sawmill," &c. Some,
however, like " Four Mad Brothers," carry the horrible
a little too far. Kerner, like Schwab, was exceedingly
amiable, and his hospitable house at the foot of Castle
Weiber-treu^ welcomed not only poets and scholars,
but ghost-seers and somnambulists. He took a great
interest in the spirit-world, and was on intimate terms
with a great variety of spirits. He wrote a book which
made a great noise, on the " Prophetess of Prevorst,"
a poor woman of Wurtemberg, who spent her last
years in his house, and whose visions in the somnam-
bulist state he wrote down.

Eduard Morike was born September 8th, 1804, at
Ludwigsburg, and died June 4th, 1875, at Stuttgart.
He wrote in the same romantic strain as Uhland,
Kerner, &c. His best songs have much of the pith,
depth, warmth, and occasionally humour of the Folk-
song, e.g., "Fair Rohtraut," " The Beautiful Beech," &c.
He also composed a Novella, "Painter Nolten," and
the " Idyll of the Lake of Constance."

* Women's-truth. When Conrad III. besieged Weinsberg in
1140, he allowed the women to come out carrying their valu-
ables; the women came, each with her husband on her back,
which made the better part of the garrison I

238 SEVENTH PERIOD.

WiLHELM Hauff was bom November 29th, 1802,
and died November 18th, 1827, at Stuttgart. His
Fairy-tales and Novellas, " Jud Siisz," " Memoirs of
Satan," "Fancies in the Cellar of Bremen Town-hall,"
and his novel of " Lichtenstein " show his talent for
light and graceful narrative. Two of his Songs have
become very popular, " When on the midnight watch
I stand," and " Dawning day, dawning day, 'Tia to
death you light my way."

Although not belonging to this cycle, but still
having much in common with the Swabian poets, is
an older poet, viz. : —

Fkiedrich Holderlin born, March 29th, 1770, at
LaufPen on the Neckar, and died, after nearly 40 years'
insanity, on June 7th, 1843, at Tubingen. Holderlin
was distracted by the conflict between the ideal
within him, and the realities around him. He finds
the ideal of true humanity in ancient Greece, while he
sees resting on the German nation the curse of some-
thing contrary to nature. He says they "have no
feeling for the beautiful life," His Novel of
"Hyperion, or the Hermit in Greece," is a glorification
of old Hellenic life; it sets forth a young Greek's
passionate love for his country and for Diotima. It is
written in the form of letters, and is too full of philo-
sophical argument. At the end he denounces the
Germans, and says they are anything but human beings.
His Lyric poems are much better, especially his elegies ;
with intense feeling they combine perfection of form.
Among the finest are " Greece," " Fate," " The Neckar,"
•' Home," "The Wanderer," and "To Nature."

hauff, holderun, kopisch, reinick. 239

Othkb Writers of Recent Times.

August Kopisch was born May 26th, 1779, at
Breslau, and died February 26th, 1853, in Berlin. He
was a gifted painter, and a clever translator of
Servian folk-songs and of Dante's " Divina Commedia".
As a poet his favourite material was the German
l^ends of dwarfs, fairies, and hobgoblins. He seems
tx) live in that fairy world, and brings out the
character of its denizens with much quaintness and
humour, especially in a collection published under the
title of " All Sorts of Spirits." He has exactly caught
the naive half-comic tone of the legend in his humorous
"History of Noah." That he was also capable of
earnest tones is shown in his " Psaumis and Puras,"
setting forth the victory of humanity over barbarism,
as well as in his tale " Old Miitterchen,"

Robert Reinick was bom February 22nd, 1805, at
Dantzig, and was a painter by profession. While
studying his art under Professor Begas at Berlin, he
became acquainted with Franz Kugler, Eichendorff,
and Chamisso. After attending Schadow's School of
Painting at Dusseldorf, he went to Italy, where he
spent several happy years. He then moved to
Dresden, where he died February 7th, 1852. Reinick
is an excellent Lyric poet ; his songs are characterized
by simplicity, truth, a thoughtful study of nature,
and a child-like cheerfulness. Some of the most
beautiful are; "Duet," "Summer Night," "Sunday
Morning," " Sunday on the Rhine," " Spring Bells,"

240 SEVENTH PERIOD.

" In the Fatherland." These betray at once the
musician's ear and the painter's eye ; each is a perfect
little picture. Some, like the ** Beetle Song," are
humorous, others are full of the deepest earnestness,
e.g., *' Christmas," " Poet's Prayer," " Towards Men a
Man, towards God a Child." We must add, that
Reinick translated Hebel's poems in Alemannic German
into High German.

LuDWiG Bechstein was bom November 24th, 1801,
at Weimar, and died May 14th, 1860, at Meiningen,
being librarian to the duke. His favourite subjects
were the legends of his native Thuringia ; he adapted
those of the "Four Sons of Haimon," and "Faust";
wrote historical Novels, such as the "Prophecy of
Libussa," and historical Epics, " Luther," &c., and made
capital selection of Fairy-tales for children.

Christian Friedrich Scherenberg was bom May
5th, 1798, at Stettin, and died September 9th, 1881, at
Zehlendorf, near Berlin. He originated a new class of
Epics. His patriotic epic, "Waterloo," excited the
attention of Frederic William IV., who lifted him
above want, and gave him work to do. His three
other epics or battle-pictures, " Leuthen," " Ligny,"
and " Abukir," combine historical accuracy and true
poetry. All four are conspicuous for clear dramatic
action; the language is terse, impassioned and bold.
His other Poems are equally original, both in matter
and form ; they abound in nervous strength and racy
humour.

Hoffmann of Fallebsleben, so called from his

BCHSTEIN, SCHKRKNBERG. HOFFMANN, fcTC. 241

native town in Hanover, was bora April 2nd, 1798,
and died January 22nd, 1874, at the Castle of Corvey
on the Weser, He shows himself a true poet of the
people in his Drinking, War and Travel Songs, his
delicate Spring Songs, and his simple Child Songs,
He also deserves great praise for his researches in
Old-German language and literature. By virtue of
his " Unpolitical Songs," he belongs to that band of
Political Poets which includes partly Freiligrath, but
more especially Geoeg Herwegh (bom 1817 at Stutt-
gart, died 1875 at Baden-Baden), Robert Prutz (born
1816 at Stettin, and died there in 1872), Franz
DiNGELSTEDT (bom 1814 in Upper Hesse, and died in
1881 at Vienna). Herwegh's poems include the
"Midnight Walk," the "Rider's Song," the "Rhine
Wine Song," and " Verses from Abroad " ; those of
Prutz, "The Cossack's Mother," the "Robber and
Crucifix," and " Christmas Night" ; those of Dingelstedt
"My Mother" and " At Chamisso's Grave."

The political views of these men were opposed by
Geibel and others, as well as by Moritz Count
Strachwitz (bora 1822 at Peterwitz in Silesia, and
died 1847 at Vienna), whose " Return from America,"
and "To My Romantic School" are worthy of
mention.

Julius Mosen was bom July 8th, 1803, at
Marieney in Saxony, and died October 10th, 1867, at
Oldenburg. Some of his Songs are widely known:
"The Last Ten of the Fourth Regiment," "Andreas
Hofer," and " The Tram peter on the Katzbach." He

Q

242 SEVENTH PERIOD.

is of greater importance as an Epic and Dramatic
poet. Uhland regarded his " Knight Wahn," and
" Ahasver" as among the best of German epics. His
dramas " Heinrich der Finkler," "Otto III.," "Cola
Kienzi," and " Bernhard of Weimar," are vivid his-
torical pictures, with a copious filling-up of fiction.

Fredinand Frkiligrath was born June 17th, 1810,
at Detmold. Having taken a bold part in the events
of 1848-9, he was obliged to leave Germany, and
stayed in England many years; he then returned to
Germany, and died at Cannstadt near Stuttgart,
March 18th, 1876. His poems abound in descriptions
of scenery, mostly taken from distant regions, the
East, the desert, and the sea. They are distinguished
by glowing colour, bold language, and fresh ringing
rhymes. Such are "The Lion Ride," "The Prince of
the Moors," "Ammonium," "Were I at the mercy of
Mecca's Gates." In " The Alexandrine," he wishes to
bring that metre into favour again. That with rich
fancy and great mastery of form he combined a warm
heart and deep feeling, is testified by the poems : " The
Emigrants," "The Picture Bible," "The Leader's
Death," "The Exiled Poet," " To my Daughter," "So
let me sit for ever," " Oh, love as long as love you
can," "The Fir-tree," and "The Flower's Revenge."
During the Franco-German War Freiligrath was not
silent: "Hurra, Germania!" "To Wolfgang in the
Field," "The Trumpet of Vionville." A collection of
his Poems, published that year, was prefaced by a
noble Dedication : "To Germany." Freiligrath's TVaTW-

MOSKN, FKSILIGRATH, HEBBEL, KINKEL. 243

lotions are ot great value, giving his couutrymen a
faithful picture of the latest Literature of France,
England and America. His version of Longfellow's
'* Hiawatha " is unsurpassed.

Friedrich Hebbel was born March, 1813, the son
of a peasant, at TVesselburen in the Ditmarsch. He
began life as a clerk to the churchwarden of his native
parish, and rose to be a Dramatic Poet of some note.
His subjects are mostly chosen from the Bible or
German Legend. His Biblical tragedies are : " Judith,"
and " Herod and Mariamne." German Legend affords
the material for " Genoveva," and for his Trilogy of
" The Nibelungen," consisting of a preamble, "Horn-*
clad Siegfried," and the two Tragedies " Siegfried's J
Death " and " Kriemhild's Eevenge," which worthily
represent the two catastrophes of the old national epic.
This Trilogy won for Hebbel, shortly before his death
(December 13th, 1863, at Vienna), the prize of one
thousand dollars offered by the King of Prussia for
the best drama. Of his other tragedies, it is enough
to mention " Gyges and his Ring" and "Mary Mag-
dalen," a middl^^ass drama. Hebbel had uncommon ^\/
gifts for the drama, a creativeSncy and stTong powers i^^
of description; but his itching for the wild and pro-
digious often led him beyond the limits of beauty.
His other Poems, too, are more startling and stunning
than pleasing or winning.

Gottfried Kinkel was bom August 11th, 1815, at
Obercassel, near Bonn, He came of an old clerical
family ; hence his strong sense of religion, and his

244 SEVENTH PERIOD.

choice of theology as a profession, of whioh he became
a teacher at Bouu, in 1836. Later on, he exchanged
the theological faculty for that of philosophy. He
gave lectures on the history of art, which were greatly
appreciated, and ultimately, in 1846, he became pro-
fessor at the University. The year 1848 was dis-
astrous to him, as it robbed him of moderation and
circumspection. A passion for freedom plunged him
into the Baden Revolution, and he was lodged in the
prisons of Naugard and Spandau. With the help of
his friend Karl Schurz, he escaped to England ; but
he had wrecked his peace of mind, cut short his life-
career, and brought into question his capacity for
authorship. After living many years in exile, and
having deeply atoned for his errors, he found a new
home in Switzerland. In 1866, he became professor
at the Polytechnic in Zurich, and died there November
14th, 1882. Kinkel is chiefly a Lyric and Epic Poet.
His Songs are marked by great tenderness ; the best
are those that describe the effect of nature on moods
of the mind : " Evening Stillness," " Consolations of
Night," "Night in Rome," "Sunday Stillness," and
the "Emigrants of the Aar-valley." His "Nosegay
from the Garden of Youth " has touches of deep
pathos, particularly that of the fond mother's unfor-
gotten features forming a part of the poet's soul for
ever. The songs he wrote in exile are full of longing
for his home on the banks of the Rhine, and breathe
warm wishes for the unity and greatness of the German
People. His^ two NarrcUive poems are : " Otto the

KINKEL, DROSTB, HENSEL, GEIBKL. 245

Marksman," a lovely Rhine story marked by intense
pathos and breadth of description; and "The Black-
smith of Antwerp," a lively picture of bustling Flemish
life and industry.

Annette Elisabeth von Drostb Hulshoff was
born January 12th, 1797, on her father's estate of
Hiilshoff, near Miinster, and died May 24th, 1848, at
Meersburg, on the L. of Constance. (Her brother-in-
law was Baron von Laszberg, who did much for Old-
German literature.) Her songs have a true womanly
character, and show both fancy and thought. She
at first chose subjects connected with her Westphalian
home, and showed a wonderful knack of bringing
before the eye those desolate regions, ** with their
fowling-floors, their black marshes, their rosy buck-
wheat-fields, their lonely clumps of pine and fir."
Another collection of songs, " The Spiritual Year,"
consists of poems for every Sunday and feast-day in
the Catholic year, and records her religious struggles
and victories. A third collection, " Last Gifts," con-
tains some pearls of true German poetry.

Mention may be here made of another poetess,
LuiSE Hensel, born March 30th, 1798, at Linum in
the province of Brandenburg, and died December
18th, 1876, at Paderbom. Her poems combine strong
faith, genuine simplicity, and fervent feeling.

Emanuel Geibel, born October 17th, 1815, at
Liibeck, was the son of a minister of the Reformed
community. He is one of the most popular Lyric
poets of our time : between 1840 and 1884 his Poen^

246 SEVENTH PERIOD.

have run through one hundred editions. Of this poet,
who now stands far above party strife, we can say, in
the words of Uhland : —

" He sings of love and springtime,

The blessed age of gold,
Of manly worth and freedom,

The faithfulness of old ;
He sings of what is greatest

To stir the swelling breast ;
He sings of what is sweetest

To soothe the soul to rest."

In 1870, he brought out some patriotic songs : " War-
song," " German Victories," &c. In his Tragedy of
" Brunhilde," he has chosen a subject from the Nibe-
lungen legend ; but, unlike Hebbel, he strips it of all
that is monstrous and outside the range of our sym-
pathies. Another Tragedy, " Sophonisbe," is remark-
able for its choice language; it won the King of
Prussia's gold medal and prize of one thousand dollars.

Hermann Lingg was born January 22nd, 1820, at
Lindau, on the L. of Constance. He wrote a long
E'pic, " The Teuton Migration," several Dramas, " The
Valkyrs," "Catiline" and "Violante," and three
volumes of Poems. In these, he loves to draw gloomy
pictures, such as " The Black Death."

OSKAR VON Redwitz was born June 28th, 1823, at
Lichtenau, near Ansbach, and lives at Villa Schillerhof,
Meran, Tirol. He first excited general attention by
his Epico-Lyric poem, " Amaranth," because of its ro-
n^autic air, its close studies of nature, and, abov^

GEIBEI^ LINOO, REDWITZ, ROQUKTTE. 247

all, its emphatically Church tone. Of his Dramas
" Philippine Welser," " The Guildmaster of Niirnberg "
and '' The D<^ of Venice," are conspicuous for clever
plot *nd lively dialogue. He has recently struck out
a np^ path in his Novel of *' Hermann Stark : or,
Gennan Life." It is the biography of a remarkable
man, his life at school and college, his struggles and
errors, and, finally, his return to happiness in a true
German family. His "Lay of the New German
Empire " is a series of Sonnets (about 500), describing
Germany's heroic struggles during 1870-71, as they
are reflected in the mind of an old survivor of
Liitzow's corps. In "Odilo," a poetical tale (1878),
the pervading thought is, that love for mankind is
the highest thing. The last work of Redwitz is " A
Home Book for Germans."

Otto Roquktte was born April 19th, 1824, at
Krotoschin, in Posen, and is a professor at Darmstadt.
He first made himself a name by his " Woodbine's
Wedding Journey" (1851), That noble prince, at-
tended by his retinue, the fragrant Forest-herbs, goes
to woo, win and wed the lovely Princess Vine-blossom,
daughter of King Fiery-wine, who reigns at Riide-
sheim amidst his nobles the Rhine, Moselle and
Neckar winea A cross-grained botanist, out on his
walks, seizes Woodbine, and throws hirp into the
brazen donjon of his botanizing-box. After a tough
struggle, the prince is rescued by his attendants, and
the wedding is held with the utmost splendour. There
is a rollicking tone throughout, and the rich country

248 SEVENTH PERIOD.

of the castled Rhine forms a fitting frame- work. In
1876 appeared " A Vine Garland for Woodbine's Silver
Wedding." Roquette's Idylls contain some of his best
work. His best Novd is the "Spelling-book of Passion,"
He has written many Dramas and Novellas. A dra-
matic poem, " Godfather Death," deserves special men-
tion. His shorter Poems have gone through many
editions. Among them are: "On the Neckar," " On
the Rhine," "The Poetry of Pain," "Now is the bloom-
ing golden time."

Adolf Friedr., Count von Schack, born at
Schwerin, 1815, and now living at Munich, is a fine
judge of Spanish and Arabian art and poetry, and of
foreign literature in general; he has given such a
masterly reflex of Firduzi's Persian epic, the " Shah
Nameh," that it reads like a venerable relic of German
antiquity. And he is no less eminent as an original
author. His Lyric Poems have intense feeling and
melodious expression. His Novel in Verse, " Through
all Weathers," is brilliant in description and rich in
humour. " Lothar " t«lls us the ups and downs in the
life of a man who keeps true to the ideals of his youth.
The Tragedy of "Timandra" shows the conflict be-
tween patriotism and maternal love. "Heliodorus"
paints the battle of Ghristianism and Paganism on
Greek soil. " Oriental Nights " and " Hymns of Hal-
lowing " utter, in a strain of lofty eloquence, the
author's inmost thoughts, his highest hopes and be-
liefs. Convinced that cosmo-poesy will mean Cosmo-
polity, he finds out the secrets of all nations, and jm-

SCHAGK, SCHEURLIN, GREIF, HEYSE, KELLER. 249

parts them in his poems, e.g., the "Episodes," where
the profoundest thoughts are enlivened by pleasing
pictures.

Georg Scheurlin was bom February 2oth, 1802,
at Mainbernheim, in L Franconia, and died June 9th,
1872, being at the time Ministerial Secretary at
Munich. There Eire tender heart subduing touches
in such Songs as "Snowdrops," "Presentiments of
Spring," and " The little Bell in the Heart."

Martin Greif (Hermann Frey), born at Spire, 1839,
now at Munich. As a Lyric poet he is master of all
chords of human feeling, but is perhaps at his best
when he hits the cosy tone of the Folk-song. As an
able Dramatist, he has treated a Danish subject in
" Corfiz Ulfeld," a Roman and Italian in " Nero " and
"Marino Falieri," and a German in "Prince Eugene,"
whose crowning exploit of taking Belgrade is dearly
bought by the death of his brother.

Paul Heyse, born at Berlin, 1830, now at Munich,
is the chief of living Novelettists. In his hands, the
Novelette always has an artistic perfection. A hearty
national spirit breathes in his Dramas, " Eliz. Char-
lotte," " Lewis the Bavarian," " Hans Lange " and
" Colberg " (its brave defenders, Gneisenau and Nettel-
beck, are ably drawn) ; and the Tragedies of " Count
Konigsmark," " Elfrida " and " Alcibiades " are con-
structed with rare judgment. Next to Heyse, as
Novelettists, stand the two Swiss writers, Keller and
Meyer.

^OTTFBiKD Kellei;, bom at Glattfelden, near Zurich,

250 SEVENTH PERIOD.

now at Zurich. After publishing a volume of Poems
in 1846, and a clever Novel, " Green Henry," in 1854,
he brought out in 1856 his first Novelette, " The Folks
at Said wy la," a realistic yet ideal picture of village
life ; and in 1878 his " Zurich Novelettes," a charm-
ing series of sketches of Zurich life at different stages
from Manesse's time (14th cent.) downwards.

KoNRAD Ferd. Meyer, born at Zurich, now at
Kilchberg, near it, is chiefly known by two longish
Novelettes of immense power: "Jiirg Jenatsch," a
somewhat formidable patriot of Graubiinden (Grisons)
at the beginning of the Thirty Years' War ; and " The
Saint," i.e., Thomas Becket. The same power of paint-
ing sturdy, healthy natures is seen in his shorter
Novelettes, in his Poems, especially the Ballads and
in his " Last Days of Hutten."

Victor Schrffel was born February 16th, 1826, at
Carlsruhe, and died at Radolfzell, 1886. He is the
author of " Eckehard," one of the best Historical
Novels, and so popular as to have reached eighty-five
editions. He also wrote " The Trumpeter of Sack-
ingen" (130 editions), a vigorous Lay, relating an
episode in the Thirty Years' War; "Frau Aventiure,"
a revival of the Minnesong ; and " Mountain Psalms,"
in which we are introduced to an old Bishop of
Eatisbon, who is a passionate lover of Nature. He
then wrote a collection of very original, humorous, at
times rather coarse poems, entitled " Gaudeamus " (45
editions).

WiLHBLM Jordan w£^ borp February 8th, 1819, at

METER, SCHEFFEL, JORDAN, AI.EXIS. 251

Insterburg, in East Prussia. He gained his poetic
fame by his '* Nibelungen " (Part I. the Siegfried
Legend, Part II. Hildebrant's Return), told as if by a
wandering minstrel. Going back to the older Norse
authorities, he tries to reproduce the legend in its
original perfection and purity. Kriemhilde is ex-
quisitely drawn, so is Siegfried's courtship : and his
departure is related most touchingly. But it is on
the wild Brunhilde that he dwells with special par-
tiality : the description of her disenchantment and her
death in the flames, and the magnificent Song of the
Noms are among the finest things in poetry. The
form is Alliteration. In his Translations of the
Odyssey and Iliad, he has surpassed all predecessors
in fidelity, simplicity, and smoothness. His last work,
"The Sebalds," is a Novel of thrilling interest and
teeming with ideas.

W1LLIBA.LD Alexis (Wilh. Haring), bom at Breslau,
1798, died at Amstadt, 1871, began his career as a
Novel-wTiter with "Cabanis," in which Frederic the
Great ia the central point. It was followed by seven
more Novels dealing with different points of Prussian
(especially Brandenburg) history : " False Waldemar,"
" The Roland of Beriin " (temp. Elector Frederic II.),
" Lord Bredow's Breeches " (suppression of Robber-
knights by Joachim I.), "The Were-wolf" (dawn of
the Reformation), " A Citizen's Duty to Do Nothing "
(while Prussia goes to the dogs, 1804-5-6), " Isegrim,"
" Dorothe." All these contain such vivid pictures of
times and manners, that the author is well learned

252 SEVENTH PERIOD.

" The Walter Scott of the Marches," i.e., of Branden-
burg.

Theodor Fontane, born at Neu Ruppin, 1819, now
at Berlin, has written a good national Novel, " Before
the Storm," dealing with events of 1812-13. His
Poems show patriotism, pathos and a healthy humour.
His "Strolls thro' the March of Brandenburg" do
honour to his native district.

GuSTAV Freytag, born July 13th, 1816, at Kreuz-
burg, in Silesia, has high merits as a Dramatist-,
Novelist, and, in a sense. Historian. His best Dramas
are "The Journalists," "The Valentine," and the
Tragedy of " The Fabii." He also wrote well on the
" Technics of the Drama." His Novels are excellent,
the first gaining great favour: " Soil und Haben"
(Debit and Credit). It is thoroughly realistic, repre-
senting people at their daily work. Next came " The
Lost Manuscript," and then a Novel on the grandest
scale, " The Ancestors," in six parts : 1. Ingo and
Ingraban, 2. The Nest of the Wrens, 3. The Brothers
of the German House, 4. Marcus Konig, 5. The
Brothers and Sisters, 6. Out of a Small Town; the
several actions taking place in the 4th, 8th, 11th,
13th, 16th, 17th, and 19th centuries, and mostly in the
Land of the Thiirings. Lastly, Frey tag's " Pictures
of the German Past " throw a welcome light on the
history of civilization.

KuDOLF VON GOTTSCHALL, bom at Breslau, 1823,
now at Leipzig, is a many-sided writer : a Lyric poet
(" New Poems "), Epic poet (" Carlo Zeno" and " Maja ")^

VONTANE, FEKYTAO, GOrrSCHALL, EBEKS. 253

Novelist (" Under the Black Eagle "), and especially a
Dramatist. His Tragedies include " Mazeppa," " The
Nabob," "Katharine Howard," "K. Charles XIL," "D.
Bernhard of Weimar," " Amy Robsart " ; his Comedies,
"Pitt and Fox," "The Diplomatists," "The Spy of
Rheinsberg." He is also a Historian of " German
National Literature in the first half of the 19th cen-
tury " ; a Theorist on " Poetics " ; and a keen Critic in
his " Light Leaves on Literature."

Georg Ebeks, bom March 1st, 1837, at Berlin, and
from 1870 professor at Leipzig, loves to make Egypt
the scene of his Historical Novels. He made several
journeys there, one of which he has recorded in his
" Through Goshen to Sinai " ; on another he dis-
covered the papyrus Ebers named after him. Of his
four Egyptian novels, the first, " The Egyptian Princess,"
appeared in 1864; the heroine is Nitetis, daughter
of King Amasis. " Uarda " is a picture of Egyptian
life under King Ramses ; of " The Sisters," the prin
cipal scenes are laid at Memphis, in the temple of
Serapis or the Palace of the Ptolemies; while "The
Emperor," of which the heroes are Hadrian and his
favourite Anton ius, and the scene is Alexandria, the
meeting-point of East and West, shows how Christi-
anity, still young and pure, made its way into king's
house and cottage. Another Novel, "Homo Sum,"
takes us to the anchorites of the 4th century at the
foot of Sinai. " The Lady Mayoress " is a thrilling
tale of the Siege of Leyden, 1574 : the faithful spouse
of Peter van der Werffl sustains the courage of the

254 SEVENTH PERIOD.

besieged, till, at the last hour, comes the longed-for
succour, under William. " One Word " is the story of
a second Simplicissimus : Ulrich, a waif brought up in
the Black Forest by an exiled Portuguese Jew, sets
out to seek the one word that harmonizes all existence,
and finds it to be Love. Ebers's last Novel, " Serapis,"
takes us back to Alexandria, to show us there the last
struggle of expiring Paganism, All his v/orks exhibit
in brilliant colours the broad features of the age de-
scribed. Some think his best work is a sweet Idyll,
called " A Question."

Felix Dahn, born February 9th, 1834, at Hamburgh,
now a professor at Kdnigsberg. His most important
work is the Novel called " A Fight for Rome," describ-
ing the fall of the Ostrogothic Kingdom. In the fore-
ground we have, on the one side, Theodoric, Athalaric,
Amalaswintha, Theodahad, Witichis, Totila, and Teja ;
and on the other, Belisarius and Narses, and the repub-
lican Cethegus, a fictitious personage. Of four shorter
Novels treating of much the same period, one named
" Felicitas," tells of the capture of Juvavum (Salzburg)
by the Baiuvars and Alamanns in the eventful year
476; the vigorous Germans are effectively contrasted
with the effete Romans. The second, "Bissula," relates
the fortunes of a Suevic maiden during the victorious
advance of the Alamanns on L. Constance and the vic-
tory of the Goths before Adrianople in 378 ; the poet
Ausonius gets mixed up in the plot. A third, "Gelimer,"
deals with the fall of the Vandal kingdom in Africa,
534. Lastly, "The Naughty Nuns of Poitiers" de-

/

EBERS, DAHN, J. WOLFF. 265

scribes an isolated event of 589. "The Crusaders"
tells the adventures of a knight in the Fifth Crusade.
In his Ballads, Dahn shows a strong partiality for
Old-Norse heathenism and heroism ; and the same in
the Novel " Odhin's Consolation," where it comes into
collision with Christianity. In his Drama of " King
Roderick " he represents that last of the Goths as a
firm character, who stoutly defends the rights of the
State against the Church ; while " Rudeger of Bech-
laren" is founded on the touching episode in the
Nibelungen.

Julius Wolff, born September 16th, 1834, at
Quedlinburg, now at Berlin, is one of the greatest living
poets, and wields the language with wonderful power.
In his Epics, " Tlie Rat-catcher of Hamehi " and " The
Wild Hunter," he treats the old legends with mar-
vellous skill In his long poem of " Der Tannhauser "
he combines into one the characters of Tannhauser and
Heinrich von Ofterdingen, and makes this hero, when
cursed by Pope Innocent III., retire to his friend's
castle of Kiirenberg, and there compose the Lay of the
Nibelungen. This is somewhat daring, but the poem
is a brilliant picture of the Hohenstaufen times with
their minstrel knights. Through all his Epics there
runs a golden chain of Songs of varying mood and
metre. WolfTs power in prose narrative is proved by
a Historical Novel, "Der Siilf-meister," i.e., the Salt-
farmer, of which the scene is Luneburg in 1454, and
the subject a struggle of the guilds to maintain their
civic rights against the town council and nobility.

266 SEVENTH PERIOD.

GusTAV Kastropp, born at Salraiinster in Hesse,
1844, now at Vienna, has also written an E'pic on " H.
V. Ofterdingen," a knight of noble worth and truth to-
wards God and man (and woman, notwithstanding
fiery trials). This poem too is interspersed with Songs
sportive and sad, revealing or reflecting the minstrel's
moods. Another Epic of great power is " Cain."

Rudolf Baumbach, born at Kranichfeld in Thurin-
gia 1841, now at Trieste. One of his Epics, " Hilda
and Horand," tells gracefully, with ingenious altera-
tions, that middle portion of the Gudrun legend.
Another, "Zlato-r6g," i.e.. Golden-horn, relates the
Slavic legend of the chamois that guards a treasure on
the heights of Tri-glav, and, when molested, covers the
common pastures with an avalanche of rocks. It is
told with freshness and chaste simplicity, and we are
made to feel all the magic of Alpine scenery. His
Songs, " My Springtime," " The Journeyman on the
Tramp," "Dame Holle," &c., overflow with sparkling
humour and hearty enjoyment of life. So do his "Ad-
ventures and Pranks," picked out of old authors and
modernized, and his " Godson of Death." A prose
Tale, " Sham Gold," gives the sorrows of an apothecary
in search of the philosopher's stone.

Heinrich Leuthold, bom at Wetzikon in Switzer-
land 1827, died in a madhouse near Zurich 1879. Jointly
with Geibel, he translated five books of French Songs.
His own Songs, which show considerable power, alter-
nate between deep melancholy and defiant world-
contempt.

BAUMDACH, WEBER, GRIMME, HOLTBI. 257

Friedrich Wilhelm Weber, born December 26th,
1813, at Alhausen, now at Steinheim (both in "West-
phalia). His Epic poem " Dreizehn-linden," excited
attention both by its perfect form and its religious
and historical interest. The hero Elmar is a Saxon of
the time of Louis the Pious, who, driven out of house
and land, receives baptism in the monastery of
"Thirteen-limes." The movement spreads, till the
last Saxon is converted, and Westphalia is won for
Christ Weber's shorter Poems show the same mas-
tery of form and genuine pathos. His translation of
Tennyson's " Maud " is deservedly admired.

His countryman, Friedrich Wilhelm Grimmk,
bom at Assinghansen, December 25th, 1827, and now
head-master of the Grammar School at Heiligenstadt,
is a kindred spirit, and an excellent Lyric poet. His
"German Strains" have a thoroughly national and
Christian character.

The following have written for the most part in
their several Dialects : —

Karl von Holtei was born January 24th, 1798, at
Breslau, and died there February 12th, 1880. His
simple, national, and tender " Silesian Poems" appeared
in 1830. His deep, rich nature is also seen in his
Dramas, which ruled the stage for some time : " The
Old General," "Leonore," "Laurel-tree and Beggar's
Staff," " The Vienna Folks at Paris, Berlin," &c. ; and
in his Navels: "The Vagabond," "A Tailor." and es-
pecially " Christian Lammfell."

Klaus Groth, bom April 24th, 1819, at Heide, in

^

268 SKVKNTII PERIOD.

Holstein, now at Kiel. His Poems in Platt-Deutsch,
entitled ** Quick-born," i.e., Fountain of (perpetual)
youth, are marked by strong feeling and charming
simplicity. He has also written prose '* Vertellen,"
Tales.

Fritz Eeuter, born at Stavenhagen in Meckl., 1810,
died at Eisenach, 1874. He united deep thought with
a genial humour and a great knack of portraying
character. His Platt-Deutsch Poems are called " Laus-
chen and Riemels," i.e., Eattles and Rhymes. Of his
Prose works, entitled "OUe Kamellen," Old Stories, the
most perfect is "Ut mine Strom-tid," from my Country-
man Days.

Jerkmias Gotthelf (Albert Bitzius) was born
October 4th, 1797, at Murten, Canton Freiburg, and
died parson of LiitzelMh in the Emmenthal, October
22nd, 1854. His tales are marked by a downright and
somewhat rugged realism : " Uli the Labourer," ** Uli
the Farmer," "Kathi the Grandmother," "Pictures
and Stories of Switzerland," " Pains and Pleasures of a
Pedagogue." In contrast to him,

Bekthold Auerbach is the Idealizer of village
life, &a He was born February 28th, 1812, at Nord-
stetten, in the Black Forest, and died at Cannes,
February 8th, 1882. His parents were of the Jewish
faith. In his 12th year he was sent to the Talmud
\j School at Hechingen ; continued his education at Carls-
nihe, and the Grammar School at Stuttgart, where he
acquired a knowledge of Oriental languages and the
classics, He went to Tiibingen University to study

GBOTH, REUTEK, GOTTHELP, AUIRBACH. 250

law; but his attention was diverted to philosophy,
which he studied at Heidelberg under Schelling, and
then at Munich. The students' club to which he be-
longed being suspected, he was arrested and im-
prisoned in Hohenasperg, on which occasion he wrote
an anonymous pamphlet on ** Indaism and Litera-
tura" In 1837 he published the Novels "Spinoza"
and " Poet and Merchant." While living at Frankfort,
he wrote a good deal for Lewald's ** Europa." During
a stay in Bonn and other towns on the Rhine, he com-
pleted a Translation of Spinoza's Works, preceded by
a critical biography of that great thinker. His next
works, "What is Happiness?" and "Dear People,"
appeared first in journals in 1841, afterwards in his
collection called " Grerman Evenings." His famous
" Village Tales of the Black Forest," published in 1843,
translated into English by Meta Taylor 1847, were
welcomed with the greatest possible favour, and gave
rise to numerous imitations. In delightfully simple
language they described village life in almost all its
phases. " The Godfather," an annual intended to
amuse and enlighten the peasantry, came out four
years running (1845-1848), and had an immense cir-
culation. A second set of " Village Tales " not having
had the same success as the first, Auerbach turned to
the Drama, but his " Andreas Hofer," though edifying,
was pronounced " not dramatic." In a small village of
the Harz Mountains, he wrote a Novel, " New Life "
(1851), in which he sought to soar higher than in his
previous productions; but it described the state of

260 SEVENTH PERIOD.

things after the Eevolutions of 1848, and was found
"too polemic." His next Novels, " Bare Feet," " Joseph
in the Snow," " Edelweisz," were still village tales, but
tales with a purpose, and had not the impartial objec-
tivity of the first set From 1858 he issued yearly a
" National Calendar." Auerbach's last works were three
longish Novels with a political, democratic, or socialistic
purpose : " On the Height," " The Country-house on
the Khine," and " Waldfried," in which village sim-
plicity and Court splendour are contrasted, yet blended.
The village scenes are fresh, but free from the exag-
geration apparent in some of his earlier tales.

The following are the most important Hymn
Writers of our time :

Albert Knapp, born at Tubingen, 1798, died pastor
of St. Leonhard, Stuttgart, 1864. He was educated
at Maulbronn Seminary and Tubingen High School
In his leisure hours, he studied his favourite poets
Goethe and Shakespeare, and was thus incited to
poetic attempts of his own. His friendship for
Ludwig Hofacker led him to cultivate Religious
poetry, which, outside his clerical duties, became the
chief task of his life. His "Christian Poems" gradu-
ally swelled into four volumes. For many years, he
edited " Christoterpe," a Religious Annual, which con-
tained chiefly his own lyrical efifusions, mingled with
essays and tales. He also wrote two volumes of His-
torical Poetry, including "The Hohenstaufens " and
" Pictures of the Old World."

AXntRBACH, KNAPP, SPITTA, GEROK, STUBM. 26l

Philipp Spitta, born, the son of a book-keeper, at
Hanover, 1801, died Superintendent of Burgdorf
(between Hanover and Celle), 1859. After being
apprenticed four years to a watchmaker, he studied
theology at Gdttingen. His SpirUucd Songs, entitled
" Psaltery and Harp," from Psalm Ivii 8, have reached
fifty editions.

Kakl Gkrok, bom January 30th, 1815, at Vaihingen
in Wiirtemberg, now chief chaplain at Stuttgart. His
"Palm Leaves" (1853) are among the noblest and most
elevating of modem lyrics, and have reached the 50th
edition. Two other collections are "Flowers and
Stars," and " The Last Nosegay." Gerok wrote some
patriotic songs, which appeared in the " German Easter
of 187L*'

Julius Stuem, bom July 21st, 1815, at Kostritz, in
Eeusz, now Court chaplain there. He published
several collections of Poetry, one of which, called
" Pious Songs," is introduced by his well-known " God
bless thee ! " The Franco-German War of 1870 elicited
from him " Poems of War and Victory."

APPENDIX.

Justus Mosbb was bom December 14th, 1720, at Osna-
briick. He studied law at Jena and Gottingen. At once
Adyooatus Patriae and de facto Prime Minister, he reconciled
his contradictory duties by true patriotism, ruled the
Bishopric of Osnabriick wisely for 30 years, and brought it
to high prosperity. Much loved and respected, he died
January 8th, 1794, at Osnabriick. His two most important
works are a " History of Osnabriick," and the " Patriotic
Phantasies." He has a masterly prose style, which Goethe
compared to Franklin's, combining acuteness and clearness
with racy humour.

JoHANN Georo FoRaxBR was bom November 26th, 1754,
at Nassenhuben, near Dantzig. He inherited from his
father a love of natural science, perhaps too that restlessness
which prevented a right enjoyment and steady development
of his life. He travelled with him in the south of Russia,
and spent a winter at Petersburg, where he attended school.
They then went to England, the Forsters being of English
origin, and there the boy had to work for his living, so that
his youth was fraught with care. The family was suffering

MOSER, PORSTER. 268

great privations when his father was asked to accompany
Captain Cook on his second voyage. He accepted the
invitation, taking his son with him. They sailed round the
world, from July, 1772, to the summer of 1775. These
travels young Forster described in a pleasing style, which
at once established his fame. On his return he was
appointed Professor of Natural History at Cassel. Here he
became acquainted with Johankbs von MtJLLBR, the
Historian (bom at Schaflfhausen, 1752, died at Cassel, 1809),
and author of " Twenty-four Books of Universal History"
and a " History of the Swiss Confederacy."

But Forster's restless spirit was not at ease at Cassel ;
after five years' stay he accepted (1784) the chair of Natural
History at the newly-founded University of Wilna, in
Poland. There he took his wife, the daughter of the
famous scholar Christian Gottlob Hbtnb (bom, the son of
a poor weaver at Cheumitz, 1729; professor at Gottingen
from 1763 till hia death in 1812). But still less oould
Poland satisfy his eneigetic mind, and in the autumn of
1788 he accepted the post of librarian to the Elector of
Mainz. In the following year broke out the French Revolu-
tion, which Forster hailed with delight. His philosophic
idealism and cosmopolitism, the helpless condition of Ger-
many, and the mad vortex of the time, hurried him into a
step which cost him dear. From 1792 he was a member of
the provisional government of Electoral Mainz. He went
as a deputy to the Paris Convention, to effect the transfer
of the left bank of the Rhine to the young Republic, from
which he hoped great things. He thus threw himself into

264 APPENDIX.

a whirlpool, in which he perished broken-hearted. Without
home or country, in grief and want, he died January 12th,
1794, at Paris, in the country to which he had sacrificed his
happiness and hopes. Gervinus says that in the least of
Forster's writings pure gold may be picked up. His chief
works are : " Voyage Round the World," and " Views of
the Lower Rhine." The latter is the fruit of a journey with
Alexander von Hxunboldt in the spring of 1790. Both
works are written in a classical prose, distinguished by clear
and exact description. He also wrote many other treatises
on geography, history, natural science and art.

WiLHELM VON HuMBOLDT was bom Junc 22nd, 1767, at
Potsdam, being the elder of the two brothers. He studied
law and polity at Frankfort-on-the-Oder and Gottingen.
But he was more fascinated by the study of Greek antiquity,
to which he was introduced by Heyne. In that great
scholar's house he became acquainted with Forster, and at
Halle with Fribdrich August Wolf (bom 1759, at Hain-
nxje, near Nordhausen; Professor at Halle from 1783 to
1806, and died at Marseilles, 1824; author of the "Pro-
legomena to Homer," &c.), who incited him still further to
the study of Greek. Humboldt was barely 28 when he had
read all the Greek classics more than once through in the
original, and translated iEschylus's "Agamemnon "and fifteen
Odes of Pindar in metre. He knew French, English,
Spanish, and Italian perfectly, having learnt them in their
respective countries. In Spain he also learnt the peculiar
language of the Basques. Later on he applied himself to
Sanscrit, Coptic, Japanese, Chinese, and through his brother

BBOTHEBS HUMBOLDT. 265

the American languages and those of the Malay Islands.

The result (A these labours was his magnum opus on " The

Kavi Langiiage in the I. of Java." Still more inspiring for

Humboldt was his acquaintance with Schiller, for whose

sake he went to live at Jena, and was by him introduced to

the study of Kant's philosophy. For many years also he

enjoyed the intimate friendship of Goethe, and has shown

his keen appreciation of the poet's genius by his " iEsthetic

Essays on Hermann and Dorothea."

Humboldt was also a great diplomatist, and August

Bockh pronounced him " a statesman of Periclean propor-

ticNas." His diplomatic career began in 1797 as Prussian

Ambassador at Rome, where he gained the high esteem of

Pope Pius VII. After the battle of Jena in 1806, he was

recalled from Italy, and made Minister of Public Instruction.

He helped to foimd the new University of Berlin, and

Prussia owes her intellectual elevation first to Stein, and

next to Humboldt. He then became ambassador at Vienna,

and at the Congress, Talleyrand, Mettemich, and he were

the three most important personages. For a time he was

ambassador at London, and in 1819 Minister of the Interior

at Berlin. But he soon withdrew from public life to his

artistic country-seat at Tegel, near Berlin, where he died

April Ist, 1835. Perhaps his best known work is the

"Letters to a Friend," characterized by truth, sincerity,

and wealth of ideas. The friend was Charlotte Diede, a

pastor's daughter, whose acquaintance he made while a
student at Pyrmont.

Albxandkb ton Humboldt was bom September 14th,

266 APPENDIX.

1769, at Berlin. He studied at Frankfort-on-the-Oder and
Gottingen. He travelled with Forster down the Rhine, and
to Holland, Belgiiim, and England. At the School of
Mining, Freiberg, he pursued his geognostic and botanic
studies under Werner. For some years he waa chief sur-
veyor of mines at Steben, near Baireuth, but relinquished
that post to visit Switzerland, Italy, and France. At Paris
he became acquainted with Aim6 Bonpland, with whom he
went on a scientific tour of five years to South America
(1799-1804). He traversed Venezuela and the Orinoco
country, the Cordilleras from Bogota to Quito, Peru as far
as Lima, and lastly Mexico. He ascended Chimborazo to a
height of 17,000 feet. From 1809 to 1827 he lived chiefly
at Paris, busy with scientific works. In 1829, commissioned
by the Emperor Nicholas, he explored the Ural and Altai
Mountains and the shores of the Caspian. He then resided
at Berlin as Privy Coimcillor, honoured by Fred. William
in., and in close intimacy with Fred. William IV. He
died May 6th, 1859, aged 90. The year before his death,
he finished the great work of his life, "Kosmos." His
other work is " Views of Nature." Both are Classical books,
showing what German industry and science haul accom-
plished. Humboldt has become the founder of modem
Natirral Philosophy. His works are so written as to
stimulate the love and study of nature amongst all cultiired
people.

Lbopold von Ranks was bom December 2l8t, 1795, at
Wiehe, in the Unstmt valley, Thuringia. In 1809 he went
to Pforta School, then still Saxon, and directed by lllgen.

RANKfi. 267

At Leipzig, under Gottfried Hermann, he added philology
to his historical and philosophic studies. In 1825 he
became Professor of History at Berlin, and remained so till
his death. May 23rd, 1886. Ranke has raised Historical
Writing in Germany to an art. With the most severe
objectiveness and impartiality, he combines a rare smooth-
ness and polish of style, aa well as artistic arrangement and
description. His most celebrated works are : " German
History at the Time of the Reformation," in 6 volumes;
"English History, principally in the 17th century," in 9
volumes ; " French History in the 16th and 17th centuries,"
in 6 volxuaes ; and " World History," in 5 volumes.

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