THE GERMAN LYRIC
 
 The 
 GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 JOHN LEES, M.A., D.Litt. 
 
 LECTURER IN THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF ABERDEEN 
 
 J. M. DENT & SONS LTD. 
 
 LONDON AND TORONTO: 1914. 
 
 NEW YORK: E. P. DUTTON & CO. 
 
 ?
 
 PrinuH at Thk Darien Press, Edinburgh
 
 TO 
 
 OTTO SCHLAPP and RUDOLF HENNING 
 
 WITH THE GHATITUDK AND ADMIRATION OK A 
 FORMER PUPIL
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 Definitions — The German Development— Char- 
 acter OF THE German Lyric . . . 4 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 The Early Lyric— Minnesang — Meistersang— 
 
 Folksong ------ 24 
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 Lyric Poetry in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth 
 
 Centuries ------ 42 
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 Early Eighteenth Century Lyric - - - 58 
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 The Lyric in the Classical Age of German 
 
 Poetry ..-.-- 87 
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 Nineteenth Century Lyric, 1800- 1848 - - 126 
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 Nineteenth Century Lyric, 1848- 1880 - - 201 
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 The Lyric Poetry of To-day - - - 236 
 
 Index ------ 261
 
 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 -♦-•►♦- 
 
 FOREWORD 
 
 A SHORT history of the German lyric for Engh'sh 
 readers should need no apology. It is almost uni- 
 versally admitted that in music and in song the 
 German genius has achieved more success than in 
 any other sphere of artistic activity. Their music we 
 have made our own, but it cannot be said that we 
 know their poetr}' adequately. Some very great 
 lyricists, Morike, Storm, Keller, Meyer, Liliencron, are 
 still known only to students and specialists : we pos- 
 sess neither biographies of these authors in English 
 nor translations of their poems. This is all the more 
 surprising in that German lyric poetry is as a rule so 
 easy to read, so pleasing in its melody, and so much 
 nearer in spirit to our own than the lyrics of France 
 or Italy, or Greece. Like our own, it has a develop- 
 ment of seven hundred years behind it. It has its 
 periods of brilliance, and other epochs when poetry 
 lies dormant or seems stifled by unfavourable circum- 
 stances. The most barren ages are the sixteenth and 
 seventeenth centuries. The summit of excellence was 
 reached by Goethe, Schiller, and Holderlin at the end
 
 2 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 of the eighteenth century, and here the German lyric 
 can claim to rank with the greatest lyric of any people. 
 The nineteenth century, too, has produced singers of 
 sweetness and originality, poets of attractive person- 
 ality, whose voices sooner or later must be heard 
 be\-ond their native land. 
 
 The present book has grown from lectures delivered 
 during the last ten years to the Graduation Class in 
 the University of Aberdeen. Its primary object is 
 to supply a lucid and concise guide to students of 
 German minor poetry. If, in addition, it may serve 
 a wider public, and attract readers to authors whom 
 hitherto they may not have known, the author will 
 regard his work as well-spent labour. Purely bio- 
 graphical details, which can be found in books of 
 reference, have been strictly limited. Only the few 
 facts are mentioned which form the necessary intro- 
 duction to the poetry itself. The books most 
 frequently drawn upon for information were the 
 standard histories of literature by Gervinus, Hettner, 
 Scherer, Biese, Robertson, R. M. Meyer, and Kummer. 
 Special mention should be made of the following 
 treatises which deal more particularly with the nature 
 and development of the lyric — Witkop's A^^;/<?;r deutsche 
 Lyrik, R. M. Werner's Lyrik U7id Lyriker^ Schur^'s 
 Histoire du Lied, Biese's Deutsche Lyrik und neuere 
 deutscJu Lyriker, Susmann's Wesen der niodernen 
 deiitschen Lyrik, Spiero's Geschichte der deutschen Lyrik 
 seit Claudius, Kretschmar's Geschichte des deutschen 
 Liedes. Other important books are referred to in 
 the notes. In all cases, however, the author has 
 endeavoured to form an opinion of his own. An 
 Englishman's view of German art must differ at many 
 points from a German's. The former may, of course,
 
 FOREWORD 3 
 
 be wrong, but his opinion should be interesting, even 
 to the Germans themselves, and it is certainly in no 
 spirit of superiority or through neglect of German 
 views that an independent attitude is sometimes 
 adopted, but simply because, after all, every man has 
 only one honest judgment, and it is the best that he 
 can give. 
 
 King's College, 
 Aberdeen, April 1914.
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 Definitions— The German Development- 
 Character OF THE German Lyric 
 
 To define the lyric is almost as difficult as to define 
 poetry itself. We are so accustomed to the publica- 
 tion of anthologies that everyone knows in a general 
 way what it means. The difficulties begin when we 
 try to draw definite lines, when we attempt to say 
 what should be excluded, or what should be regarded 
 as lyrical art in its highest form. It may in fact be 
 impossible to find a definition at all corresponding 
 to the manifoldness and ever changing nature of the 
 lyric. In the opinion of a recent learned writer, " the 
 lyric is above any formula that may be devised." ^ 
 But we cannot proceed one single step on our way 
 without making it as clear as possible to ourselves and 
 our readers what lyrical poetry means and embraces. 
 The name and the art we owe to Greece ; Aristotle's 
 division of poetry into the three classes — epic,dramatic, 
 and lyric— still holds good, and it is to be regretted 
 that he refrained from discussing the nature and 
 essence of the lyric. For in Greece we see the lyric 
 at an early stage of its development, and growing 
 gradually till it reached the highest refinement and 
 
 1 E. B. Reed, English Lyrical Poetry, Yale University 
 Press, 1913. 
 
 4
 
 THE GERMAN DEVELOPMENT 5 
 
 variety of form. Many types cultivated in Germany 
 were already well known in Greece — hymns to the 
 gods, choral songs, dance songs, laudatory poems, 
 festive songs, dirges, and even the lyric of impassioned 
 individual emotion. In Greece it was inseparably 
 bound up with music, as it was also in the early 
 German ages. The modern lyric is perhaps more 
 subjective, but this element is by no means new. In 
 the modern lyric we should include certain types 
 of poems which are not necessarily meant to be sung, 
 the ode, the elegy, the epithalamium, the philosophical 
 lyric, and on the other hand we should class the 
 ballad among epic forms, although it was sung for 
 centuries. Song and lyric are consequently not 
 synonymous. Song is too narrow a term in one 
 respect, and too broad in another. Shortness^ has 
 been seized upon as a criterion by many critics. 
 " The lyric," says Palgrave,^ " turns on some single 
 thought, feeling, or situation." He excludes narrative, 
 descriptive, and didactic poems, " unless accompanied 
 by rapidity of movement, brevity, and the colouring 
 of human passion," This may be accepted as a 
 general rule, but many genuine lyrics in Goethe and 
 Schiller are by no means short. Like music, with 
 which it is so closely allied in its origins, lyric poetry 
 is the expression of emotion. Unlike music, it may 
 also be expressive of thought, moulded and intensified 
 by feeling. But here already there is room for 
 divergence of opinion and variance in the judgments 
 passed upon individual poems. A poet like Storm 
 insists on the subordination of thought to feeling. 
 A critic like Lessing has more interest in the epigram 
 
 ^ In the introduction to The Golden Treasury ^ London, 1903.
 
 6 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 than in the song. Many poems universally regarded 
 as lyrical are epigrammatic or satirical, but the 
 epigram and the satire may be quite devoid of lyrical 
 emotion. The very multiplicity of terms, such as 
 the lyric of feeling, the lyric of love or nature, the 
 political or philosophical lyric, and more specific 
 classes like the ode, the song, the idyll, the pastoral, 
 the madrigal, the roundelay, show what very divergent 
 forms the short personal poem may take, and it is 
 rather difficult to say that any of these forms deserves 
 to be preferred, as form, to the other. Practically any 
 metrical form can be employed, provided always that 
 the language is subjected to definite laws which bring 
 it near to music. In regard to content the lyric 
 knows no limits ; every emotion which the soul of 
 man knows, the outer world and its relations to the 
 human mind, the past, the present, and the future, 
 the realms of fact and of pure imagination, all may 
 equally form the starting-point of the lyric. The 
 important point is evidently the attitude of the poet, 
 whether, as in the epic and the drama, he chooses 
 to take his stand apart from and above his subject, 
 treating it in a purely objective way, or, as in the 
 lyric generally, he makes himself the centre of things 
 and gives his artistic utterance a personal, subjective 
 form. But the boundary between the two great 
 forms, objective and subjective, is sometimes ex- 
 tremely narrow. One could point to many passages 
 in the great epics, and many speeches in representa- 
 tive dramas, which are essentially lyrical. Among 
 lyricists, on the other hand, there are many, such as 
 Uhland, Meyer, or Browning, who prefer to be im- 
 personal ; they frequently express their experience 
 by a symbol from nature, or through the mouth of
 
 THE GERMAN DEVELOPMENT 7 
 
 another person, or even by an event or a situation. 
 Coleridge called the " Rime of the Ancient Mariner " 
 a lyrical ballad, and in German there are poems like 
 " Roslein auf der Heide," or " Das Verlassene Mag- 
 dlein," which might be included in an anthology of 
 lyrics or of ballads. 
 
 This brings us to the discussion of a criterion which 
 has bulked largely in modern German criticism, the 
 canon of inner truth. Since Goethe's time it has 
 been recognised that the personality of the lyrical 
 poet is of prime importance. Goethe himself was of 
 this opinion, and Friedrich Hebbel, whose influence 
 has been very great, insisted absolutely on this point. 
 To him poetry is the necessary expression of inner 
 life, of feelings which, in hallowed moments, rise from 
 the depths of the soul, and while finding their natural 
 utterance, free the soul from the emotions which had 
 held it in bondage. He even went so far as to say 
 that Shakespeare's creating of murderers saved him 
 from the necessity of becoming one,^ a dictum the 
 only saving grace of which is its oddity. But with 
 a certain school of aesthetic critics Hebbel's views 
 have become dogma. In Wilhelm Dilthey's book, 
 Das Erlebnis und die Dichtung, they are still expressed 
 with moderation, but in the Neuere deutsche Lyrik of 
 Philipp Witkop, the only complete history of the 
 German lyric, rules and formulas based on Hebbel 
 and Dilthey are set up which, by their dogmatic 
 narrowness, inevitably provoke opposition. It may 
 be advisable to discuss Witkop's theories because they 
 influence very strongly his estimation of individual 
 
 * Hebbel, Tagebiccher,''' D&ss Shakespeare Morder schuf, war 
 seine Rettung, dass er nicht selbst Morder zu werden brauchte."
 
 8 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 poets, but above all because the discussion will clear 
 our own views regarding the nature of the lyric. 
 "The lyric," says Witkop, "gives us solely and directly 
 the poet, the individual." It must be personal, and 
 based upon an experience. With the Minnesang he 
 has little sympathy, because the poet here veils his 
 feelings, if he is not, as is generally the case, writing 
 of merely imaginary passions. The Folksong is 
 typical as opposed to individual ; it is the poetry of 
 a class, and so is the Kirchenlied. The idyllic poetry 
 of the seventeenth century is simply a lie, because 
 the poets represented a world in which they did not 
 live. In regard to modern poetry, he exalts the 
 thinker over the mere singer. Taking a poem like 
 Goethe's " Ueber alien Gipfeln," he asks if this lyric 
 would impress us so vividly if we did not know that 
 it was the utterance of the personal unrest and longing 
 of a great and attractive personality. In the lyric 
 generally he considers first the man and his actual 
 life, and judges the lyric poetry almost solely by what 
 he calls its inner truth, hardly at all by its outer form. 
 If we turn from theory to an anthology of real poetry, 
 Palgrave's Golden Treasury, and take a lyric almost 
 at random, a sonnet of Sidney or Shakespeare, or a 
 lyric like " Full fathom five thy father lies," we 
 shall see how difficult it is to agree with Witkop. 
 These sonnets give the impression of a real love 
 experience, but do they? It may be long before a 
 definite answer to that question can be given.^ And 
 on what actual experience is the lyric from " The 
 Tempest " based ? Would it, moreover, cause us in 
 
 * See F. E. Schelling, The English Lyric, London, 19 13, 
 pp. 59, 64 ; also E. B. Reed, I.e., 149, 170.
 
 THE GERMAN DEVELOPMENT 9 
 
 the slightest degree to modify our opinion upon these 
 sonnets if we knew that they were addressed to no- 
 body in particular? Their appeal simply lies in the 
 fact that they are beautiful, that they express feelings 
 which are universal with an art and unity which 
 appeal to every reader. There is a large substratum 
 of truth in the German theory. No one can be im- 
 pressed by meretricious sentiment, when, for example, 
 a poet like Gleim imitates without inner emotion all 
 sorts of moods and styles. Moreover, if we keep our 
 eye fixed upon Goethe alone we shall be inclined 
 almost to subscribe to the German dictum in toto. 
 He possessed the great personality, the will, the 
 intellect, the industry which so many others lacked. 
 He made himself the centre of his world, took it all 
 in, and reduced it to harmony ; he never lost himself 
 in the multiplicity of phenomena, his utterance is 
 always connected and harmonious. Naturally, much 
 of his excellence is due to his mastery of rhythmical 
 language. But, on the whole, his pre-eminence is 
 chiefly based on his greatness as an individual, and 
 on the fact that his lyrical poetry is the artistic but 
 immediate expression of his manifold emotions and 
 experiences. We could also point to other poets 
 who failed because they lacked some quality of 
 character or mind which Goethe possessed, or because 
 they suppressed the personal note. Romanticists like 
 Brentano and Eichendorff step into the background 
 themselves and let personified nature speak. With 
 them there was a danger of lyrical poetry becoming 
 detached, descriptive, and uninteresting. The great 
 epic geniuses, Keller and Meyer, show a tendency to 
 veil the personal utterance, and to adopt in the lyric 
 a tone of almost epic objectivity. In many poems
 
 lo THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 they consequently fail to impress us vividly for lack 
 of a direct, personal association. But even these facts 
 do not justify us in generalising about all lyric poetry. 
 According to the best authorities lyrical poetry in its 
 origin was not subjective. It was communal song, 
 sung in chorus. " As the savage laureate slips from 
 the singing, dancing crowd," says Gummere, "which 
 turns audience for the nonce, and gives his short 
 improvisation, only to yield to the refrain of the 
 chorus, so the actual habit of individual composition 
 and performance has sprung from the choral composi- 
 tion and performance." ^ However that may be, we 
 find in the modem lyric poems which are not directly 
 personal, in which the criterion of inner truth is no 
 canon of criticism at all. Take a poem like Storm's 
 " Meine Mutter hat's gewollt." The " experience " 
 theorist may say that the poet is really, though not 
 apparently, speaking in the first person, that the 
 emotion is his own. Occasionally that may be so 
 in this type of poem, as in Goethe's " Mignon " or 
 Uhland's " Schafers Sonntagslied," but we can hardly 
 say that Storm in the above poem expresses a feeling 
 which he had experienced, the " tragedy of being 
 married to the wrong man." The material of this 
 lyric is in no way more personal than is the hero of 
 an epic or a drama. The character who sings the 
 song is, of course, Storm's own creation. A certain 
 artistic insight and knowledge of life were necessary 
 to enable him to draw the character, and it needed 
 lyrical genius to enable him to feel the crisis in the 
 life of another, and to body it forth with such con- 
 
 ' F. B. Gummere, TJie Beginnings of Poetry, New York, 
 1901, p. 92.
 
 THE GERMAN DEVELOPMENT ii 
 
 vincing artistry ; but looking at the process quite 
 impartially, we must admit that the poem is based 
 on an imaginative fiction. This, too, may be called 
 an experience, but it is not the kind of experience 
 which Dilthey and Witkop had in view. If we 
 extend the term to include not merely a love affair 
 or an impression from nature, but every movement 
 of poetical feeling, whatever the motive force may 
 be, a thought, a vision, an apperception, a melody 
 heard, or a haunting refrain, then we may say that 
 every lyric is based on an individual experience. 
 And in the working up of his material the poet can 
 hardly be granted too much freedom. Even Goethe 
 does not always give us his experience in the form 
 in which it came to him. In Morike's lyrics there is 
 a very large fictional element. The poet may veil 
 his passion under the fantastic garb and scenery of 
 the pastoral, he may suggest it rather than give it 
 direct expression. None the less it is lyrical. And 
 where the personality of the poet is unknown, or the 
 motives of the poem doubtful, the criterion of inner 
 truth fails altogether ; we have the work of art alone 
 before us, and it must stand or fall by what is after 
 all the soundest criterion, whether it produces upon 
 the reader the effect which the artist intended it 
 to convey. 
 
 When we consider the subject of outer form other 
 interesting questions arise. It will not do to put form 
 aside as a matter of little importance, as Witkop is 
 inclined to do. In some lyrics the musical rhythm 
 is as important as the emotion or thought conveyed. 
 Coleridge's "Kubla Khan" is an example, and among 
 modern German lyrics there are poems which merely 
 suggest, play upon the senses, their content cannot be
 
 12 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 summarised in words or interpreted. Subjective 
 feeling alone will not make a lyric ; it must also be 
 tuneful, the more so the better. Some poets, though 
 rich in poetical thought, are less successful than minor 
 men in the matter of pure form. And there are others, 
 like Heyse and Geibel, with whom perfection of form 
 does not always go hand in hand with beauty or 
 originality of content. Yet both contribute in their own 
 way to the development of lyrical art. The question 
 of rhyme has been much discussed in recent years. 
 The example of Klopstock, Goethe, and Heine show 
 that very high artistic effects can be attained without 
 it. From time to time there have been revolts 
 against the cramping influence of rhyme and the 
 jingling fluency of some rhymsters, as in the eighteenth 
 century and recently in the movement headed by 
 Arno Holz. It would seem as if this artistic instru- 
 ment from time to time exhausted itself and needed 
 renewal. But the actual charm of rhyme is based upon 
 a natural psychological law, and will always remain a 
 factor of artistic power.^ Examples could easily be 
 found to prove that sometimes it has been employed 
 with such wonderful effect that we should be loth 
 to do without it. In regard to rhythm theorists are 
 more at variance. Its essentiality is admitted ; it is 
 as necessary in the lyric as in music ; it is based on 
 the rhythm of actuality, of natural work and play, on 
 the throb of the human pulse, on the rise and fall of 
 mental emotion. The difficulties arise when we 
 consider the way in which the poet chooses a definite 
 rhythmical scheme to express his poetical emotion. 
 
 ' See R. M. Meyer, " Ueber Reimfindung," Das Litterarische 
 Echo, 19 1 3.
 
 THE GERMAN DEVELOPMENT 13 
 
 " Rhythm is not a mere dress," says Alfred Biese in 
 his Lyrische Dichtung. ^ He holds that it corresponds 
 to the vibrations of the chords in the soul of the poet, 
 that the poetic mood creates the rhythm suitable for 
 its utterance. This may be true of great original 
 poetry, but it is not true of all poetry, not even of all 
 good poetry. The poet frequently borrows his rhythm 
 and his stanza. The form is sometimes the first thing 
 to suggest itself A well-known line, a piece of music, 
 a refrain have not infrequently suggested the theme 
 of a successful poem. There are many standard forms 
 handed down by tradition, and we find even the 
 greatest poets attempting the sonnet, for example, 
 in emulation of others, or simply to see what they 
 could achieve by this medium of expression. Naturally 
 the borrowed dress should fit, but the only criterion 
 of a poet's right to use a borrowed form seems to me 
 to be whether he uses it successfully or not, and 
 whether it is the most suitable expression for the 
 content. We find Witkop objecting to Heine's 
 imitation of the Folksong. But the four-lined stanza 
 is common property, and the simplest and most 
 natural means of expressing human emotion. We 
 cannot demand a new form from every singer, and 
 the question should rather be : Is this form suitable? 
 Have form and content become so beautifully and so 
 completely bound together that they appear to us to 
 be one, to be artistically harmonious and inseparable? 
 The study of the poets' methods of composition 
 and some critical writings by representative poets 
 have thrown considerable light upon the essence and 
 
 ^ Alfred Biese, Lyrische Dichtung ujid neuere deutsche 
 Lyriker, Berlin, 1896.
 
 14 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 origin of the lyric. In his Defence of Poetry Shelley, 
 no mean authority, defines poetry as " the expression 
 of the imagination." He is convinced of the depend- 
 ence of the singer on the hour of inspiration, and 
 regards it as an error to say that poetry can be 
 produced by labour and study. The mind in creation 
 he compares to a fading coal, " which some invisible 
 influence, like an inconsistent wind, awakens to 
 transitory brightness." Heine likens poems to tears 
 which "come to us suddenly." In his autobiography 
 we see how Burns, one of nature's own bards, was 
 stirred to write partly through emulation of popular 
 dance songs, but even more by his own vivid passions. 
 " The agitations of his mind and body exceeded any- 
 thing I ever knew in real life," said his brother Gilbert. 
 Goethe described his procedure in the following words 
 to Eckermann (6th May 1827): "I received in my 
 mind impressions of sense, vivid, delightful impres- 
 sions of a hundred different kinds, such as a lively 
 imagination presented to me ; and I had nothing 
 further to do than to give to these impressions an 
 artistic rounding, to shape them and body them forth 
 in such a living form that others received the same 
 impressions when they heard or read what I had 
 represented." In his letters Morike gives us an 
 interesting account of the origin of the ballad, " Schon- 
 Rohtraut." There he writes : " Such moments of 
 sudden inspiration are not exactly rare. The most 
 powerful which I experienced in myself was the origin 
 of the ballad ' Rohtraut.' In Cleversulzbach I 
 encountered by chance, when reading a dictionary 
 of foreign words, the old German name Rohtraut, 
 which before was quite unknown to me. It seemed 
 to glow with the radiance of roses, and the figure of
 
 THE GERMAN DEVELOPMENT 15 
 
 the king's daughter stood before me. Warmed by 
 this vision I stepped from my room into the garden, 
 walked once down the broad path to the arbour at 
 the end, and had invented the poem, and almost 
 simultaneously the metre and the first lines, whereupon 
 the execution followed of its own accord." One 
 might multiply such examples,^ but the consideration 
 of even a few proves that no two poets work in the 
 same way. Even in the case of one poet the con- 
 nection between inspiration and execution, experience 
 and utterance, content and form, may vary almost 
 infinitely. Sometimes the lyric is a mystery even to 
 its author ; it is there, feeling and melody, and he 
 knows not how or why. Sometimes it is the result 
 of laborious meditation and prolonged filing. Fre- 
 quently a poet carries the material in his mind for a 
 long time, but is unable until a definite moment to 
 give it artistic shape. 
 
 When we consider the general development of the 
 German lyric, the interesting fact obtrudes itself that 
 in the first few centuries we can only speak of certain 
 kinds of poetry, such as the Minnesang, the Volkslied, 
 the Kirchenlied, and so on, whereas in the last two 
 centuries there are no such groups : the poetry of the 
 individual man stands by itself. The Folksongs are 
 anonymous, the hymns show a certain resemblance, 
 the Minnesang has definite peculiarities. In our 
 appreciation of this poetry the question of the poet's 
 personality hardly enters into consideration. But 
 even here there is danger in schematising. To call 
 the Volkslied typical as opposed to personal, as 
 Witkop does, is meaningless. The Volk, as such, 
 
 ' See Biese, l.c.^ p. 43 f.
 
 1 6 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 never creates anything, least of all lyrical poetry. In 
 the various songs the sentiment is as direct and 
 personal as in any of the lyrics of the present day. 
 Among the Minnesingers, too, there were men like 
 Walther von der Vogelweide and Wolfram von 
 Eschenbach, whose strength of personality burst 
 through the ethical and literary conventions of their 
 time. Above all, to call the Volkslied the " song of 
 the peasants," and the Kirchenlied the " song of the 
 clergy," as Witkop does, is in opposition to facts. One 
 man in his time plays many parts, and just as among 
 the hymnists there were knights and laymen of every 
 degree, so beyond doubt many classes were repre- 
 sented in the Folksong. It is true that the personal 
 element in the Minnesang and the Kirchenlied is not 
 so great as that which is due to the general atmo- 
 sphere and circumstances of the time, and here we 
 find the real contrast to the modern lyric. The poetry 
 of Goethe, or Heine, or Storm certainly owes much 
 to the age in which it came to light, but indirectly 
 through the medium of the poet. In them the sub- 
 jective element is very much greater than that which 
 is due to literary tradition, or the class of society in 
 which the author moved. There is also another 
 difference. In later ages we have been brought into 
 closer touch with the authors. The record of their 
 lives is before us ; their letters, diaries, even their 
 conversation, is public property. Sometimes they 
 invite confidence by theoretical explanations of their 
 production ; sometimes they fear and shun it. It is 
 quite pertinent to ask to what extent this may in- 
 fluence the relations between the poet and the critical 
 reader. The latter enters, so to speak, on a personal 
 discussion with the author, and strange results may
 
 THE GERMAN DEVELOPMENT 17 
 
 follow, a compromise or an antipathy. The com- 
 mentator further complicates matters, and he has 
 much more scope in modern poetry than in ancient. 
 Goethe feared that exposition might be a disadvan- 
 tage, as it tended to resolve into prosaic detail what 
 he had shaped into poetry. In Goethe's case the fear 
 has proved groundless. The greater our knowledge 
 of his methods and the origins of his poetry, the more 
 convinced do we become of his unique gifts, and his 
 supreme position among German lyricists. The really 
 great poet will write from inner necessity and as his 
 genius impels him, heedless of what anyone may think 
 or say. But the man of weaker fibre or of particularly 
 sensitive temperament may be influenced by his public. 
 It would be interesting to inquire, for example, 
 whether some of the vagueness of modern lyric poetry, 
 with its tendency towards allegory and symbolism, 
 may not be due to some extent, consciously or un- 
 consciously, to a desire to attain the artistic effect 
 without, at the same time, revealing to the gaze of 
 curiosity the innermost secrets of the poet's soul. 
 
 There is another important difference between early 
 lyric poetry and that of the present day. The Minne- 
 singer was both poet and musician ; the modern author 
 is freed from the necessity of composing a melody to 
 accompany the words of his song. The loss of music 
 may at first sight appear a disadvantage, but it is 
 compensated by a gain in literary vitality and philo- 
 sophic depth. The Minnesinger was restricted to 
 definite forms and conventions, only certain themes 
 were permitted, and the manner of his utterance was 
 more important than the thought or feeling expressed. 
 The modern poet has more freedom in the choice of 
 his metre, no consideration of length obtrudes itself.
 
 1 8 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 his subjects range from the simplest expression of 
 emotion to the sublimest thought. Very many- 
 German lyricists have been musical, some have been 
 capable musicians. This is no doubt a great advan- 
 tage, but it is not essential. To become what it is, 
 the expression of the feeling of the finest minds of 
 the people, something individual and yet national, 
 German lyric poetry had to free itself from music and 
 grow in manifoldness and in power. We must also 
 remember that the separation has not been complete. 
 The great modern composers have set to music the 
 choicest songs of the poets with a mastery which no 
 early singer could have rivalled, and the result is that 
 a great mass of German lyric poetry is so inseparably 
 associated in our minds with the music that we can 
 hardly think of the words apart from the melody. 
 How much of the popularity of Heine, for example, is 
 due to the consummate art of his composers ! 
 
 The Folksong supplies the key to the development 
 of the German lyric, at least in its broad outlines, 
 and till recent times. It is an understatement of the 
 case to say that the Folksong has been a source of 
 inspiration. In the very greatest lyricists we simply 
 find the Folksong in a new shape : it has become 
 more polished and artistic, and it has been made the 
 instrument of personal lyrical utterance. Goethe's 
 lyrics before 1770, that is, previous to his study of 
 the Folksong under Herder's guidance, might be 
 neglected except for their historical interest. Heine's 
 debt to the Folksong has been pointed out again and 
 again, besides being frankly admitted by himself. 
 Morike is almost one of the people in his close touch 
 with his native soil, his nafvetc and spontaneous 
 imagination. Uhland profited from his study of the
 
 THE GERMAN DEVELOPMENT 19 
 
 historical Folksong, and is a master of the simple 
 effective idiom of the people. During the sixteenth 
 and seventeenth centuries, when many forces hostile 
 to literature were at work, the neglect of the Folk- 
 song is contemporaneous with the decline of the 
 lyric. Much of modern lyric poetry, it is true, has 
 nothing of the Folksong about it ; Schiller, for ex- 
 ample, was hardly influenced by popular poetry at 
 all. Moreover, there were other streams of influence, 
 from the classics, from France, England, and the 
 East, while events like the Seven Years' War and 
 the War of Liberation have also to be considered. 
 Yet there is much to be said for the view that the 
 history of the German lyric, till 1870 at least, is on 
 the whole the study of the manner in which the 
 simple song of the later Middle Ages was reshaped 
 and made more artistic by those who found this 
 a suitable expression for their lyrical feeling, and 
 who, while uttering something personal and new, 
 at the same time awakened, like the nameless singers 
 of the past, sympathetic chords in the hearts of the 
 whole community. 
 
 The Folksong was, to begin with, the song of the 
 country ; it breathes the freshness of the fields, and 
 the simplicity of early communal life. Many of the 
 best known pieces begin with a situation drawn from 
 nature, fixing the scene as the hill, the linden, or the 
 village well. It is not surprising, therefore, that in 
 the modern lyric nature plays so great a part. Love 
 of nature is characteristic of the German mind ; it 
 is not always regarded or celebrated in the same 
 way, but wherever the German lyric rises above 
 mediocrity, this is one of its finest and most con- 
 vincing elements. Goethe's poetry is full of the
 
 20 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 subtle charm of nature and its influence upon the 
 human mind in its soothing, cheering, or awe- 
 inspiring aspects. Morike was of the same mould, 
 extremely sensitive to his surroundings, and naive 
 in his attitude to nature. In the Romanticists, nature 
 is lifted out of her own sphere and endowed with 
 a soul-life ; the rose and the butterfly are not merely 
 parts of a world of which man is the centre, they 
 have become human like ourselves : — 
 
 " Die Veilchen kichern und kosen 
 Und schaun nach den Sternen empor : 
 Heimlich erzahlen die Rosen 
 Sich duftende Marchen ins Ohr." 
 
 With Droste-Hulshofl" the attitude to nature again 
 becomes realistic ; even in the South her heart hangs 
 on her Westphalian home. Storm, too, when in 
 exile, sings of the Holstein landscape, the grey strand, 
 the roar of the sea, the misty dunes, and the cry 
 of the sea-bird. In Keller and Meyer new motives 
 appear, the snowy peaks, the torrents and lakes of 
 Switzerland. Here, again, we have individuality and 
 freshness. Two poets may describe the same land- 
 scape quitedifferently, butwhat a wealth of suggestions 
 in a land of such diversity as Germany, what contrasts 
 between low-lying Holstein and the Alps, between 
 the bright Rhineland and the sombre beauty of 
 Silesia ! The background of the German lyric is 
 never merely typical or traditional ; it has an intimate 
 appeal and a warmth and variety of colouring which 
 speak of personal contact, individuality, and truth. 
 
 The landscape has contributed in another way to 
 the variety and individuality of the German lyric, 
 although in this case other influences have also been 
 at work. The mountain ranges of Germany and the
 
 THE GERMAN DEVELOPMENT 21 
 
 large rivers are situated in such a way that from the 
 earliest times the inhabitants of one district were 
 effectively separated from those of another. And 
 even at the present day, when local barriers have 
 almost disappeared, there are great differences between 
 the Alsatian and the Swabian, the Bavarian and the 
 Frank, the Rhinelander and the Mecklenburger. 
 They have grown up under different surroundings, 
 traditions, and sometimes a different mental and 
 physical inheritance. Swabia was at one time pre- 
 eminent as the motherland of poetry, while the 
 practical talents of the North have proclaimed them- 
 selves on the battlefield, in statesmanship, and in 
 successful industrial enterprise. But when we look 
 back from the standpoint of the present day we see 
 that there is scarcely a single district but has contri- 
 buted to the list of German poets. And these men 
 have borne upon their faces the stamp of their race 
 and native soil. This is why there have been so few 
 so-called schools of poetry in Germany ; and none of 
 them has ever been national or has dominated litera- 
 ture so powerfully as to cramp the individual in the 
 expression of his personal experience. From first to 
 last there has been a healthy development of style, 
 free from the mere slavish imitation of tradition or 
 fashion. 
 
 In England, where German poetry is not nearly so 
 well known as French, nor so familiar as its artistic 
 merits entitle it to be, there are still, even among 
 cultured people, two fairly strong prejudices against 
 the German lyric. The one is that German poetry is 
 too sentimental ; the second that the language is 
 harsh and clumsy. Opinions such as these die hard, 
 especially if there is the least foundation for them.
 
 22 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 It may be at once admitted that sometimes in the 
 popular songs, and above all in the poetry of the 
 Romanticists, resignation, homesickness, disappointed 
 love, and the longing for death are expressed in a way 
 that appears to a Briton with his reserved, practical, 
 and perfectly self-controlled temperament, and I have 
 no doubt to many Germans too, to be effeminate, if 
 not unnatural. Heine is frequently sentimental, and 
 Lenau or Griin so extremely pessimistic that their 
 view of life can only be regarded as abnormal. These 
 are examples among the greater poets, and more could 
 be found among the minor ones. But when applied 
 to the German lyric as a whole the criticism is unjust. 
 There is no false sentiment in Goethe. He is 
 extremely candid ; in his lyrics of love or his philoso- 
 phical poems we find strong passion and deep feeling 
 breaking forth spontaneously, but it rings natural and 
 true. Schiller, Morike, Droste, Keller, Meyer, Storm, 
 Liliencron are absolutely free from any taint of 
 sentimentalism. More names might be mentioned, 
 but the above are characteristic. They represent all 
 that is best in the German lyric, its intensity of feeling, 
 its simplicity and directness of expression. With 
 regard to the second point the least insight into the 
 actual facts will show that it is a mere prejudice and 
 nothing more. Certainly there are words in the 
 German language that it would be difficult to employ 
 in a line of verse. There is, as compared with the 
 older stages of the language, a remarkable preponder- 
 ance of consonants over vowels, and many construc- 
 tions are cumbrous and difficult to adapt to the rules 
 of metre. Official or legal German, even some of the 
 German written b)' biographers and essayists, seems 
 an impossible language for the finer touches of poetr) .
 
 THE GERMAN DEVELOPMENT 23 
 
 But the German poet has found a way out of the 
 difficulty by creating a language of his own. Fortu- 
 nately German is rich in synonyms, it has an incom- 
 , parable store of onomatopoetic words and alliterative 
 phrases. As far as syntax is concerned, the modern 
 lyricist follows the example of the folksong and makes 
 his sentences as simple as possible. He allows him- 
 self great freedom in the order of words. The separ- 
 able prefix is frequently retained where prose usage 
 would require it to be put at the end of the sentence. 
 The sign of the past participle may be omitted, and 
 many other such anomalies are not only permitted 
 but quite common. The consequence is that German 
 poetry possesses a pliancy and melody that are rare 
 in German prose. Goethe is a master of musical 
 rhythm. Heine has shown us the possibilities of the 
 German language in his " North Sea Pictures." In 
 fact, almost all the poets of distinction excel in their 
 handling of the language. There may be rough 
 strength, extraordinary minuteness of distinction, and 
 occasionally not a little harshness in German prose, 
 but this language at the same time possesses an 
 abundant vocabulary to express the tenderness of the 
 elegy, the sublimest meditation of the philosophical 
 poet, the fire of the ode, or the rapture of the song of 
 love.
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 The Beginnings — Minnesang — Meistersang — 
 
 volkslied 
 
 As far back as we can trace the origins of German 
 history we hear of the elements of music and song. 
 Tacitus tells us in his Gerniania that the only history 
 of the Germans consisted of songs, "carmina antiqua," 
 in which they sang of Tuisto and his son ]\Iannus and 
 of Hercules. He makes special mention of a battle- 
 song which they sang as they advanced upon the 
 enemy. He calls it " barditus." It was to inspire 
 them with courage, and from the sound of the chorus 
 they were afraid or were confident of the issue of the 
 fight. In singing it they placed their shields before 
 their mouths that the sound might be fuller and more 
 impressive. In his A finals he mentions also the lays 
 of Arminius. Jordanes, too, in his history of the 
 Goths, speaks of dirges sung for the death of Attila. 
 None of this poetr)- was written down, and it has 
 been irretrievably lost. It was probably not till a 
 hundred years after Tacitus that the Runic script 
 became common, and even then it was not emplo\-ed 
 to record poetry. It is impossible to say whether 
 these chorus songs were epic or lyrical ; probably 
 they partook of the nature of both. Even in the 
 Old High German age only the scantiest traces of 
 anything resembling lyric poetry can be found. There
 
 THE BEGINNINGS— MINNESANG 25 
 
 are lyrical passages in some of the epics, the Heliand, 
 Ludwigslied, and the Hildebrandslied, and the old 
 riddles and charms come near in form if not in spirit 
 to the lyric. They may have inspired later lyricists 
 as they were handed down by oral tradition in an 
 age which made no clear distinction between epic, 
 dramatic, and lyrical utterance. We find, for instance, 
 the second Merseburg Spruch, a charm against lame- 
 ness in horses, living on in Scotland in the eighteenth 
 century, and being among the store of folklore handed 
 down to Burns by word of mouth : — 
 
 " The Lord rade. 
 And the foal slade ; 
 He lighted, 
 And it righted : 
 Joint to joint, 
 Bone to bone, 
 Sinew to sinew, 
 Heal now, in the Holy name ! " 
 
 Doubtless there was in Germany, as there was in 
 Greece and in France,^ an early popular poetry 
 associated with the great events in the lives of the 
 people, hunting, war, love, the dance, death and burial, 
 the coming of the seasons, the religious festivals. 
 But as in France, so in Germany every kind of 
 mythological or historical song, every ceremonial or 
 amusement that could remind the people of their 
 ancient creed and traditional customs, were ruthlessly 
 suppressed by the Church. The loss of this poetry 
 was the price paid for the higher civilisation of 
 Christianity. It is inconceivable that a people which 
 in later days showed such genius in the art of poetry 
 should not even at this early time have brightened 
 
 1 See Gaston V2ix\%^ Journal des Savants^ 1891-92.
 
 26 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 their daily occupations and ennobled their tribal 
 gatherings with dancing, singing, and playing. The 
 " Sanger " was almost an official personage, and as 
 time went on his place was taken by the wandering 
 " Spielmann " and the unplaced cleric. To the former 
 we owe the preservation of the great popular tradi- 
 tions, to the latter the earliest extant collection of 
 lyric poetry. But as to the form of the earlier lyric 
 poetry we are absolutely in the dark. We hear of 
 " winileodos " in the year 789, but we only hear 
 of them because in that )'ear nuns were forbidden 
 by edict " to write or send them." These words 
 " winileodos scribere vel mittere " have been variously 
 interpreted, but it is almost certain that love-songs 
 are meant, and whether the nuns composed or merely 
 copied them, the main fact is clear that some kind 
 of lyric poetry did exist at this time, and that it was 
 not regarded with favour by the Church. Even 
 without this casual reference we could conclude from 
 the form of the early Minnesang, its peculiarities of 
 versification, its use of certain poetical formulas, and 
 its remarkable fluency and elegance of style, that a 
 long development preceded it. Apart from the 
 Church there were other influences hostile to the 
 growth of German lyric poetry. Under the Ottonian 
 dynasty Latin became the language of court, and 
 acquired an ascendancy which was broken only in the 
 age of chivalry. But as in all ages, so in this the 
 various classes of society merged into each other. 
 The educated cleric who could find no employment, 
 or who was unwilling to accept the strict rule of 
 the Church, inevitably came into contact with the 
 " Spielmann." Both were wandering singers com- 
 pelled to earn their living by music and song. The
 
 THE BEGINNINGS— MINNESANG 27 
 
 one sang in Latin, the other in his native tongue ; 
 the culture of the one consisted in his theological 
 training, that of the other in his knowledge of the 
 mythological and historical traditions, but life was the 
 same problem to both, and the extant poetry of the 
 clerics shows that they were far from confining them- 
 selves to religious themes. The Carmina Burana^ is 
 a collection of poems dating from the twelfth century, 
 and was discovered in the Bavarian monastery of 
 Benediktbeuren. It is mostly in Latin, but sometimes 
 the refrain, sometimes a verse, is in German. Lyrical 
 feeling is expressed in various ways : there is the 
 lusty drinking song, the lyric of love, keen satire and 
 the bitterness of poverty. We find references to living 
 personages, even glimpses of an already awakened 
 interest in nature, personal laments over weakness 
 and misfortune, the conflict between the wish to serve 
 Heaven and the attractions of the world. 
 
 From the middle of the twelfth century onwards, a 
 new spirit animates German literature. The winning 
 of the Holy Land for Christianity was an idea that 
 had its origin in the Church. The practical object of 
 the Crusades remained unachieved, but the enthusiasm 
 which it aroused, the new idea of the Christian soldier 
 which it gave birth to, and the contact between East 
 and West, as also between the various peoples of 
 Europe, gave an extraordinary stimulus to German 
 civilisation. The whole essence of chivalry was new, 
 and was adopted almost unchanged from France. 
 The knight became not merely the leader of society, 
 but the bearer of culture and the arts. To copy the 
 example of the Provencal troubadour, that is, to be 
 
 1 Ed. J. A. Schmeller, Breslau, 1883.
 
 28 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 not only a good knight and true, but to be able also to 
 play the violin or the lute, and to invent elegant songs, 
 became the ideal of knighthood. The clergy step into 
 the background, the knights take their place, and 
 celebrate their advent by the creation of a literature 
 which is unique in the history of Germany. It began, 
 both in the epic and the lyric, with close imitations of 
 French poetr}', but soon blossomed out into freedom 
 and originality. Its most outstanding features are 
 elegance and taste. But its summer was of short 
 duration. It died with the class that created it, and 
 never again shall we see such close connection between 
 the highest ranks of society and the practice of letters. 
 The great festival of 1184, celebrated at Mayence by 
 the Emperor Friedrich Barbarossa on the conferring 
 of knightly privileges upon his two sons, is a tangible 
 date for fixing the establishment of chivalrous etiquette 
 in Germany. But even before this time the poetry of 
 Provence had spread to the south and south-west of 
 the country, awakening interest and emulation. In 
 form the Minnesang adheres to the rules of its models. 
 In the '' Lied " the stanza falls into t\vo main divisions 
 known as the " Aufgesang " and the " Abgesang," the 
 former of which is in two parts known as " Stollen." 
 The " Leich " is free in structure and of various 
 length ; its content is generally of a religious character. 
 The " Spruch " is in one stanza, mostly short and 
 didactic in content. In regard to the length of the 
 lines, their number, and the arrangement of the 
 rhymes, the poet has absolute freedom in all three 
 classes. So far as the content is concerned the 
 Minnesang shows more originality. The word 
 " Minne " denotes more than love ; this emotion, in 
 fact, pla)s a subordinate part in mediaeval poetry.
 
 THE BEGINNINGS— MINNESANG 29 
 
 The knightly devotion to womanhood manifested in 
 the " Frauendienst " owed much to the worship of the 
 Virgin, and the Latin poetry which celebrated the 
 mother of Christ has strongly influenced the Minne- 
 sang. The " Herrin " whom the Minnesinger looked 
 up to might be a lady of much higher rank, married 
 or single, and thus arose the binding convention that 
 no hint of the actual personality should be given in 
 the song. This naturally opened the door for the 
 celebration of merely hypothetical passions, and the 
 absence of sincerity, directness, and spontaneity is 
 generally regarded as the chief weakness of the 
 Minnesang, But it is a mistake, which several Ger- 
 man critics have made, to regard the Minnesang as 
 mere conventional poetry. Passion may be genuine 
 though veiled ; indeed, the poet would have regarded 
 it as a gross breach of etiquette, a betrayal of himself 
 and his mistress, to be personal. And there are com- 
 pensating qualities, a delicacy rare in early German 
 verse, neatness of fancy, and very remarkable graces of 
 style. In some of the poems it is the lady who speaks, 
 and these are among the most passionate and direct. 
 In others there is a fanciful dialogue between the 
 lovers, while in the " Tagelied " a third personage is 
 introduced, the watchman who awakens the lovers at 
 break of day and bids them think of their danger. 
 One of the earliest examples of the Minnesang is the 
 well known : — 
 
 " Du bist min, ich bin din : 
 des solt du gewis sin. 
 du bist beslozzen 
 in minem herzen ; 
 verlorn ist das sliizzelin, 
 du muost immer drinne sin."
 
 30 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 It is thoroughly characteristic in the construction 
 of the stanza, and its epigrammatic " pointe " is more 
 French than German. Only a few of the Minnesangs 
 are anonymous ; it is a splendid token to the respect 
 paid to poetry, that the author not only named him- 
 self with pride, but was also jealous of his rights. No 
 other might imitate his " Ton," that is, the stanza 
 and the melody which he had invented, without 
 being characterised by the singularly effective word 
 "doenediep." One of the earliest singers was a 
 certain Herr von Kiirenberg, an Austrian, who calls 
 up before us situations of simple beauty, sometimes 
 by means of symbolism, as when the loss of the lady's 
 lover is expressed by the story of the well-tended 
 but faithless falcon. Some discussion has arisen over 
 the fact that he is an Austrian. This is, however, 
 not sufficient ground for thinking that the Minnesang 
 was in its origins German, for French influence 
 reached Austria at an early time through Italy. 
 Another Austrian poet of note was Dietmar von Aist, 
 whose songs of spring and longing appeal to us by 
 their directness and simplicity. A contemporary of 
 these earliest singers was called Spervogel, but the 
 collection of " Spriiche " handed down under this 
 name may have been written by two, if not three, 
 different poets. These pieces are in one stanza, 
 mostly reflective, elegaic, or didactic in character, and 
 reveal a somewhat pessimistic attitude to life. There 
 were many Minnesingers of charm and originality, 
 whose poems have been preserved chiefly in two 
 beautiful manuscripts, the VVeingartner in Stuttgart, 
 and the Manessian in Heidelberg. It is impossible 
 to characterise them individually here ; perhaps it 
 may suffice if the most important are noted. The
 
 THE BEGINNINGS— MINNESANG 31 
 
 Rhineland is represented by Heinrich von Veldeke 
 and Friedrich von Hausen. Veldeke, who wrote 
 about 1 170, is a fluent and optimistic singer, with a 
 keen eye for the beauty of nature ; Hausen, who fell 
 in the Crusade of 1 190, is more elegaic. His favourite 
 theme is longing for home and his distant mistress. 
 In both the Provengal influence is very strong. 
 Heinrich von Morungen was a native of Thuringia, 
 and the greatest of the early singers, though not the 
 most popular. This honour belonged to Reinmar 
 von Hagenau, an Alsatian who went to Vienna, and 
 became court poet there. He now appears to us as 
 somewhat effeminate in sentiment, and he is invariably 
 despondent in his view of life. He wrote a great many 
 poems, but his chief importance lies in the fact that 
 he was the teacher of Walther von der Vogelweide. 
 Two great epic poets deserve mention here, Wolfram 
 von Eschenbach and Hartmann von Aue. Wolfram, 
 the author of Parzival, is somewhat crabbed in form, 
 but in depth and sincerity the equal of any writer of 
 the time. Hartmann is an enthusiast for the Crusades 
 and earnestness in life. His elegy on the death of 
 his liege lord is one of the best of its kind. In 
 addition, he reveals the usual themes of the Minnesang, 
 devotion to womanhood, joy in the spring and the 
 summer, sadness at the approach of winter. The 
 Minnesang reached its zenith in Walther von der 
 Vogelweide,^ indubitably the greatest lyric poet till 
 the time of Goethe. He was too true a poet to be a 
 mere Minnesinger, his enthusiasm and passion too 
 ardent to be restrained by literary traditions and 
 
 ' A. E. Schbnbach, Walther von der Vogelweide^ Dresden, 
 1895-
 
 32 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 conventions. His life, which we know principally 
 from his poetry, was characteristic of the time. He 
 was of noble birth, but extremely poor, a South 
 German, born about 1 170. At an early age he sought 
 the court of Vienna, and came under the influence of 
 Reinmar von Hagenau. Some of his poems, supposed 
 to belong to an early period, breathe a livelier passion 
 than the usual Minnesang, and seem to have a real 
 love experience as their basis. The four stanzas of 
 the well-known poem : — 
 
 " Under der linden 
 an der heide 
 
 da unser zweier bette was, 
 da mugent ir vinden 
 schone beide 
 
 gebrochen bluomen unde gras. 
 Vor dem walde in einera tal, 
 tandaradei ! 
 schone sane diu nahtegal . . ." 
 
 have the form of the Minnesang, but in their nafvetc 
 and directness they are more akin to the Folksong. 
 In 1 198 Walther left the court for some reason or 
 other, and was forced to adopt the life of a wandering 
 singer. It was now that he came into close touch 
 with nature, the beauty of the May, the joy of the 
 flowers, the singing of the birds, the village dance, 
 but he learned at the same time the hardships of 
 winter, hoar frost and snow, which made him utter 
 the humorous wish : — 
 
 " Mohte ich verslafen des winters zit I 
 wache ich die wile, so han ich sin nit, 
 daz sin gewalt ist so breit und so wit. 
 weizgot, er lat ouch dem meien den strit : 
 so lise ich bluomen, da rife nu lit."
 
 THE BEGINNINGS— MINNESANG 33 
 
 He wandered from castle to castle, gaining a deep 
 insight into society and life while entertaining his 
 hosts by his poetry. But his independent nature 
 prevented him from settling long anywhere. His 
 lyre had many notes — humour, irony, hatred, tender- 
 ness. He was above all frank, manly, and sincere, 
 a lovable personality, free from roughness and bad 
 taste. He was the father of German political poetry, 
 and one of its greatest exponents. In the disturbed 
 times in which he lived, in the factions of this or that 
 claimant to the imperial crown, he played an important 
 part. He proved a powerful opponent of the abuses 
 of the Church, the sale of indulgences, the exercise of 
 the power of excommunication, and the interference 
 of the Papal stool in the politics of Germany. Without 
 office or home, without money or influence, he made 
 himself, simply by the telling force of his " Sprliche," 
 a power to be reckoned with. He was, moreover, 
 an ardent patriot who sang the praises of Germany 
 in melodious stanzas : — 
 
 " Ich han lande vil gesehen 
 unde nam der besten gerne war : 
 Ubel miieze mir geschehen, 
 kiinde ich ie min herze bringen dar, 
 Daz im wol gefallen 
 wolde fremeder site. 
 
 nt waz hulfe mich, ob ich unrehte strite ? 
 tiuschiu zuht gat vor in alien." 
 
 The religious note, too, is to be found in his poetry, 
 and one of his finest efforts is an elegaic poem written 
 near the end of his life, giving a retrospect of the 
 years gone past, and the feelings of an old man who 
 no longer finds himself satisfied with the present. 
 Thus in Walther the Minnesan"- rises to the rank of
 
 34 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 great poetry ; besides what is merely traditional, it 
 gives us a personal experience, it reflects and ennobles 
 the life of the time. How any critic, who is not 
 bound hand and foot to a theory, can say of Walther, 
 after explaining the conventionality of the knightly 
 poetry, " Selbst W'alther von der Vogelweide hat sich 
 aus dieser standischen Gebundenheit nicht losgelost," ^ 
 is to me inconceivable. He wielded a power almost 
 comparable to that of the modern review, but he did 
 it in such an artistic wa}' that the force and charm of 
 his poetry are still to be felt. The last years of his 
 life were spent in comfort. The Emperor Frederick 
 1 1, had a warm admiration for Walther, and gave him 
 a small estate. In a poem of gratitude he exults in 
 his independence of the covetous and his release from 
 the fear of winter, and thanks the Emperor for raising 
 him to a position of respect and sweetening his song. 
 After 1228 we hear no more of him ; some think 
 he may have taken part in the crusade of that year, 
 but it is unlikely. According to tradition he lies 
 buried in the cloisters of the cathedral of Wiirz- 
 burg. 
 
 Neidhart von Reuental is the greatest of Walther's 
 successors. He died about 1250, and forms a con- 
 necting link between the poetry of chivalry and that 
 of the people. His songs of summer and winter 
 generally open with the description of some scene 
 from nature, and pass on to describe the preparations 
 for the dance. He is full of humour, enthusiasm, and 
 joy in life, and possesses very great skill in handling 
 various metrical forms, A characteristic example is 
 the poem in which a girl, after pleading in vain with 
 
 ' Witkop, /.(•., i. 39,
 
 THE BEGINNINGS— MINNESANG 35 
 
 her mother to allow her to join the revels, takes 
 matters into her own hand, secretly breaks open the 
 box, and hurries off in her finery to join her lover. 
 Neidhart has also a keen eye for the follies of the 
 country bumpkins, and satirises them to some 
 purpose : — 
 
 " Sin gewant 
 sol man an eini oeden kragen suochen." 
 
 Walther's political poetry was carried on in a feeble 
 way by Reinmar von Zweter, in whom we find the 
 other forms popular at this time — the fable, the riddle, 
 and the parable. Didactic and epigrammatic poetry 
 flourished too in this age, the latter in particular, for 
 there are some splendid epigrams in the collection 
 known as Freidanks Bescheidenheit. Their neatness, 
 humour, and cleverness may best be illustrated by 
 three examples chosen almost at random : — 
 
 " Swie dicke ein tore im spiegel siht, 
 er kennet doch sin selbes niht." 
 
 " Ich waene, daz iht bettes si, 
 da'n si ein boesiu veder bi." 
 
 " Swer zwene wege welle gan, 
 der muoz lange schenkel han." 
 
 In Ulrich von Liechtenstein's Fraiiendienst, a 
 kind of autobiography finished in 1255, the knightly 
 conception of " Minne " is carried to absurd lengths, 
 but the songs that occur are melodious and spirited. 
 The Minnepoesie was also practised by men like 
 Johannes Hadlaub of Ziirich, Hugo von Montfort, 
 and Oswald von Wolkenstein. In them, too, other 
 signs of decadence begin to appear, pedantry, triviality, 
 and self-consciousness. It was these things that
 
 36 THE GERMAN EYRIC 
 
 destroyed the vitality of the Minnesang, but what 
 really killed it was the evolution of society, namely, 
 the decadence of knighthood and the advance of the 
 cities. Its last representative is Heinrich von 
 Meissen, named Frauenlob, but he is at the same 
 time regarded as one of the founders of the 
 Meistergesang. 
 
 The transition from Minnesang to Meistergesang 
 was a very gradual one. Some writers represent both 
 types, and the " Meister " had much to learn from his 
 predecessor, the knight. The latter, however, gradu- 
 ally receded further and further into the background, 
 and the middle classes sought to carry on the literary 
 tradition. While the nobility had been engaged in 
 fruitless crusades, commerce had increased, cities were 
 growing in size and strength, the merchant now vied 
 successfully with the lords of the land in wealth and 
 importance. During the second half of the thirteenth 
 century the absence of a strong personality on the 
 imperial throne led to anarchy among the barons, and 
 every little territorial prince was in arms against his 
 neighbour. Robbed by those more powerful than 
 himself the knight sought to recoup himself by plun- 
 dering the caravans of the merchants ; a class of 
 "Raubritter" arose and proved a continual thorn in 
 the sides of the townships ; there were constant feuds 
 between the two, but the invention of gunpowder 
 robbed the " Burg " of its natural strength and 
 rendered the prowess of the individual of less and less 
 importance. While it gave the cities security, it 
 reduced the knights to a precarious and desperate 
 position. They had neither time nor inclination for 
 the finer arts; the erstwhile ideal of service of woman- 
 hood and of the Church in arms was now forgotten ;
 
 THE BEGINNINGS— MINNESANG 37 
 
 as a class they have become the victims of circum- 
 stances, and their glorious literature died with their 
 former pre-eminence. Our regret at their passing is 
 all the keener because their successors were so in- 
 capable of carrying on the high traditions of art. The 
 burgher of the mediaeval city had a narrow horizon ; 
 he had neither the idealistic view of life nor the 
 knowledge of the world, gathered by travel and 
 adventure, which enriched the knightly poetry. He 
 is fond of airing his learning ; the habit of imitation, 
 so common in urban populations, smothered his 
 natural inventiveness. His poetry is a very meekly 
 trotting Pegasus. But the Meistersingers were very 
 much in earnest. With remarkable zeal they formed 
 schools of poetry, with written codes of rules for 
 admission and promotion to the various grades of 
 Schiiler, Schulfreund, Singer, Dichter, and Meister, 
 The highest title was conferred upon the man who 
 could satisfy the " markers," in writing, composing, 
 and singing a new song. In Mayence, Augsburg, 
 Ulm, Strassburg, Nuremberg, these schools flourished 
 for centuries and endeavoured to " make " poetry. 
 It is an interesting experiment, characteristic of the 
 minds which attempted it. In lyric poetry next to 
 nothing of lasting importance was achieved ; men 
 like Muscatblut and Michael Beheim are only of 
 historical interest, and the most original of the Meister- 
 singers, Hans Sachs (1494- 1576), owes his place in 
 literature not to the 4,275 songs which he wrote, 
 but to his farces, witty dialogues, and to his efforts to 
 improve the drama. 
 
 What the Meistersingers, owing to their pedantry 
 and artificiality, had failed to do, to create a national 
 lyric poetry, was accomplished spontaneously by the
 
 38 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 Folksong.^ Its earliest records take us back to the 
 thirteenth century, according to all indication it 
 flourished especially in the fourteenth and fifteenth ; 
 in the sixteenth it barely maintained its position, 
 while it was neglected and despised, at least in 
 learned and literary circles, in the seventeenth and 
 the first half of the eighteenth century. Herder, 
 Goethe, Burger, and the Romanticists brought it once 
 more to light, and built upon it the foundations of 
 modern lyric poetry. The early songs of the people 
 were anonymous, they had generally no title, they 
 were created by individuals who at the same time 
 composed a melody or indicated a popular air to 
 which they were to be sung. After this they became 
 common property, to be sung with variations by others. 
 Preservation depended solely upon popularity, for 
 the Folksong was already past its bloom when it 
 began to be printed on detached sheets, or in short 
 collections. There is scarcely any event of importance 
 in the Middle Ages, any occupation or industry, any 
 feature of the life of the community, which is not 
 celebrated in these poems. One group of songs is 
 of historical character, dealing freely with subjects 
 like the battle of Sempach, the fate of Agnes Ber- 
 nauer, characters like Franz von Sickingen and Prince 
 Eugene. Detail and accuracy are of no moment ; the 
 poet gives what he has seen or heard, the episodes 
 of general public interest. Closely connected with 
 these are poems of the ballad type, " Hildebrand," 
 " Tannhauser," " Das Schloss in Oesterreich," " Zwei 
 Konigskinder," and " Die Nonne." The last named 
 
 ' J. W. Bruinier, Das Deutsche Volkslied^ Leipzig, 2nd ed., 
 1904.
 
 THE BEGINNINGS— MINNESANG 39 
 
 was discovered by Goethe in Alsace in 1771, but in 
 1877 Bohme was able to publish no less than thirty 
 different versions, some of them going back to the 
 sixteenth century. It is a thoroughly representative 
 Folksong in form, content, and history. It is short, 
 direct, full of sudden transitions, dialogue being freely 
 used. The subject is the separation of a Count and 
 his love, who in the meantime has became a nun. 
 He follows her to the monastery, and the result is 
 beautifully suggested rather than fully described in 
 the two stanzas : — 
 
 " Sie kam heraus geschritten, 
 Schneweiss war sie bekleidt, 
 Ir har war abgeschnitten, 
 Zur nonn war sie bereit. 
 Was hat sie in den handen ? 
 Von gold ein becherlein ; 
 Er hat kaum ausgetrunken, 
 Springt im sein herz entzwei." 
 
 Equally characteristic are the different versions, some 
 ending without the Count's death, one telling how she 
 dug his grave with her snow-white hands, another 
 warning the " proud youths " to beware of aiming too 
 high, and to be content with the dark-brown maidens 
 from the people. The songs expressive of simple 
 feelings — longing, love, joy, sorrow, hope, or despair — 
 are numerous and frequently of great merit. The 
 associations of springtime and summer, of the linden- 
 tree and the village, are inseparably bound up with 
 the story of human experience. Some are extremely 
 short, occasionally consisting of only one stanza : — 
 
 " Dort hoch auf jenem berge. 
 Da get ein miilerad. 
 Das malet nichts denn liebe, 
 Die nacht bis an den ta^; ;
 
 40 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 Die miile ist zerbrochen, 
 
 Die Hebe hat ein end, 
 
 So gsegen dich got, mein feines lieb 1 
 
 Jez fahr ich ins ellend." 
 
 Apart from the touch of mythological symbolism in 
 the first part, this expression of personal experience 
 could hardly be simpler or more concise. It is the 
 utterance of a man who speaks as he feels, but also of 
 one who has little to learn from the rules of art. The 
 separation of lovers is finely rendered in " Ach Elslein, 
 liebes Elslein," the sorrow of parting in " Ach Gott, 
 wie weh tut scheiden," " Innsbruck, ich muss dich 
 lassen," or in the exquisite lines : — 
 
 " Morgen muss ich fort von hier 
 Und muss Abschied nehmen ; 
 O du allerschonste Zier, 
 Scheiden das bringt Gramen. 
 Da ich dich so sehr geliebt, 
 Uber alle Massen, 
 Soil ich dich verlassen ! 
 Soil ich dich verlassen I . . ." 
 
 There is a trace of reflection here, but it is restrained, 
 and the images and thoughts are beautiful and fitting. 
 The country labourer, the huntsman, the miller, the 
 shoemaker, the begging monk, the tailor, the hired 
 soldier, all have their characteristic songs. There are 
 religious songs associated with the festivals of Easter, 
 Pentecost, and Christmas. There are songs of mirth 
 and laughter, riddles and jests, merry drinking songs. 
 The happy-go-lucky vagabond is well delineated in 
 the ballad " Schwartenhals," while the pathos in the 
 soldier's life has been beautifully expressed in " O 
 Strassburg, O Strassburg," and " Zu Strassburg auf 
 der Schan^." In all these poems we find the natural
 
 THE BEGINNINGS— MINNESANG 41 
 
 rhythm of the language, pliant and expressive, accom- 
 modating itself to the words and the action or senti- 
 ment which these convey. There is no mechanical 
 counting of syllables : the variation in the number of 
 accented and unaccented syllables is the secret of the 
 verse. The rhymes are generally correct ; in cases 
 where they are not, the original poet is not always to 
 blame, since the modern version of the poem 
 frequently contains forms different from those origin- 
 ally used. The beauty and directness of the language 
 are due to the fact that the poet knew no abstract 
 terms. As Herder pointed out in the Blatter fiir 
 deutsche Art und Kunst, there is nothing artificial or 
 premeditated ; the expression is natural, clear, vivid ; 
 they express exactly and directly what they feel. 
 That is the great charm of the Folksong. It is art 
 of the highest kind, but art unconscious of itself 
 The words naturally express the feelings, which are 
 naive and beautiful, and the form, as such, is due not 
 to any process of thought or elaboration, but to the 
 immediate enthusiasm of the senses and the imagina- 
 tion. That is the reason why modern poetry, when- 
 ever it has been in danger of being spoiled by too 
 much reflection or artificiality, has found in the 
 Folksong a model of great and simple art.
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 The Sixteenth and Seventeenth 
 Centuries 
 
 This is the poorest age in the histor)' of the German 
 lyric. The Volkslied and the Meistergesang con- 
 tinued, but the former was no longer at its zenith, and 
 lived on unheeded and unvalued by the educated 
 classes, while the Meistergesang tended to become 
 didactic and polemical. With the advent of the 
 humanistic movement and the founding of universi- 
 ties, a new social class had appeared, that of the 
 scholars or " Gelehrte." With them now lay the hope 
 of German letters. But in the first place the German 
 language was not considered dignified enough for a 
 man of learning. Just as Latin became the language 
 for University instruction, so it was largely used in 
 writing. The most cultured section of the community 
 thus became an exclusive minority, and the cleft 
 between them and the people grew wider and wider. 
 In the first half of the sixteenth century the Reforma- 
 tion threw every other interest into the shade. This, 
 too, was to a large extent the work of a few, in fact 
 we may say of one man, whose path, it is true, was 
 clearly marked out for him by all that had gone 
 before, but who by his personality and faith made 
 himself the religious teacher of his age. Martin 
 
 4*
 
 SIXTEENTH AND SEVENTEENTH CENTURIES 43 
 
 Luther^ (1483- 1546) dominates the first half of the 
 century. He forms a link between the learned and 
 the great mass of the people. His life-work was two- 
 fold, political and religious, the one quite as much as 
 the other. He combined in himself remarkable 
 strength of will and great insight into the most effective 
 means of attaining his end. His literary production 
 was conditioned by this important fact. He trans- 
 lated the Bible with a view to spreading the true 
 light. He issued tract after tract, but each was 
 dictated by the need of the moment. His connection 
 with the German hymn was of the same nature. He 
 was by no means a born poet. The idea of writing 
 hymns first came to him when he was forty years of 
 age, and chiefly from the circumstance that he needed 
 the Protestant hymn to assist in popularising the 
 doctrines of the Reformation. He knew the power of 
 music, the deep effect produced by singing simple 
 religious poetry when the whole congregation joins 
 in the song. " I have made up my mind," he wrote, 
 " to make German psalms for the people, that is, 
 religious songs, that the word of God may long re- 
 main among them." This again, as in the case of the 
 Meistersingers, was an effort to make poetry. But 
 the circumstances were different. Luther was in- 
 tensely musical, he was full of buoyant enthusiasm 
 to proclaim the good news, he had no need to seek 
 long for a theme ; his resolve to make hymns for the 
 people was the result of an inner necessity to burst 
 forth into religious song. He made an appeal to 
 others to assist him, but the best pieces were written 
 
 ^ On Luther as a poet, see A. Hausrat, Luthers Leben, Berlin, 
 1895, vol. ii, c. Nxx,
 
 44 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 by himself. In the year 1524 he wrote twenty-three 
 hymns, about the half of his total production. They 
 are based upon the sources from which the Reformer 
 drew his faith and strength. " Eine feste Burg ist 
 unser Gott " follows the forty-sixth psalm, " Aus tiefer 
 Not schrei ich zu dir " the one hundred and thirtieth. 
 The old Latin hymns of the Church provided him 
 with the material for others ; for example, the well- 
 known " Mitten wir im Leben sind " was borrowed 
 from Notker Balbulus' " Media vita in morte sumus." 
 The Folksong, too, supplied him with suggestions. 
 He does not reveal great artistry, and his verses are 
 occasionally hard and metallic ; but so strong and 
 bold is the expression of his trust in God, his resolute 
 convictions, and his defiance of all hostile powers, that 
 his religious hymns gripped the popular imagination, 
 and have retained their hold ever since. Luther 
 reveals only one side of his personality in these poems, 
 that which he shares with the congregation of the 
 faithful. We do not find the pronoun " I " or " me " 
 in his poetry, always " we " and " us." His personal 
 joys or cares are strictly excluded. No man had a 
 life richer in experience, but he has too great a feeling 
 for the importance of his life-work, he is too intent 
 upon the attainment of the object immediately before 
 him, to indulge in the solace of subjective song. 
 Thus he became silent whenever the hymns which 
 he desired were provided ; but he had by his example 
 and enthusiasm established the religious poem on the 
 firm foundation of earnestness and faith, and filled it 
 with a personal and universal content of such simple 
 strength and manliness as are unique in the history of 
 the German religious hymn. 
 
 Among Luther's associates mention should be made
 
 SIXTEENTH AND SEVENTEENTH CENTURIES 45 
 
 of Nicolaus Decius, the author of " Allein Gott in der 
 Hbh' sei Ehr'," and of Johannes Mathesius, Luther's 
 friend and biographer, who wrote : — 
 
 "Aus meines Herzens Grunde 
 Sag' ich Dir Lob und Dank." 
 
 Religious poetry was written also by Paulus Speratus, 
 Philipp Nikolai, Lazarus Spengler, Hans Sachs, and 
 Johann Fischart. The Catholic theologians were 
 quick to follow in Luther's wake, and produced in 
 Vehe's Gesangbi'ichlein, in 1537, a rival to the collec- 
 tions edited by the Reformer. The century, however, 
 as a whole, was unlyrical, one might almost say un- 
 poetical. It is characteristic of the German mind to 
 take any great movement very seriously, to devote 
 itself to its solution to the exclusion of all other 
 interests. Thus it was that the humanistic movement 
 and the Reformation completely overshadowed poetry, 
 not only during Luther's lifetime, but to the very end 
 of the century. Polemical and satirical writings 
 flourished, but with more rough strength than grace. 
 Even the Volksbiicher, Doktor Faust, Kaiser Friedrich, 
 Der ewige Jude, Die sch'dne Magelone, etc., were 
 written in prose by authors who were occasionally 
 extraordinarily blind to the more poetical aspects of 
 these themes. In England, in the meantime, the 
 Elizabethan age of poetry had come in with all its 
 youthful freshness and originality. Before any Ger- 
 man thought of it, Marlowe had turned the Faust 
 legend into poetry. In France, too, and Italy, artistic 
 effort had reached very high standards. To this 
 Germany had not yet awakened. It was bound to 
 do so sooner or later. Before the end of the century 
 the English Comedians had begun to tour Germany,
 
 46 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 and to give the German drama an important stimulus, 
 particularly in regard to form and acting. It is useless 
 to indulge in imagining what might have taken place ; 
 in any case, the religious strife was still all-absorb- 
 ing, the state of the country was unsettled, and the 
 next century opened with a calamity which postponed, 
 for at least a hundred years, any hopes of rivalling 
 the other European nations in culture and litera- 
 ture. 
 
 The first few years of the seventeenth century were 
 not at all unpromising. Latin was still the language 
 of the cultured, even for poetry, as we see in the 
 Delicice poetanim Germanoriiin published in i6i2. 
 But the Universities were reaching wider and wider 
 sections of the community. The Renaissance brought 
 not only the great literatures of Greece and Rome 
 within the ken of the educated classes, but directed 
 the attention of writers also to the models of Italy, 
 France, and England. The French court poetry, the 
 Italian idyll and opera, showed the Germans how far 
 their own literature lagged behind in range of subject 
 and grace of form. The aims of Georg Rudolf 
 Weckherlin (i 584-1653) are characteristic of the age. 
 He had travelled in France and England, held an 
 office under the English Government, and determined 
 to raise the standard of his own literature. His Oden 
 tend Gesdnge (16 18- 19) show the influence of the 
 Roman lyric, Horace, Tibullus, and Propertius. He 
 introduced styles new to Germany, the congratulatory 
 ode, poems addressed to patrons, and new forms, such 
 as the sonnet and the alexandrine. In addition to 
 the classics, he had profited from the study of Ronsard 
 and Marot. But the great drawback to the poetry 
 of Weckherlin, and the same applies to men like
 
 SIXTEENTH AND SEVENTEENTH CENTURIES 47 
 
 Paul Schede and Julius Wilhelm Zinkgref, is that, 
 with all their zeal to improve letters, their heart was 
 not in their poetry. Poetry was to them a pleasant 
 pastime ; the content is light, witty, sometimes, 
 especially in the " Hochzeitscarmina," in very bad 
 taste, at least to a modern reader, while the form, 
 though on the whole smooth and finished, not in- 
 frequently makes us pause as we encounter an awk- 
 ward or unnatural rhythm. Zinkgref was Professor 
 of poetry in Heidelberg, a town which has at various 
 times played an interesting part in the development 
 of literature. He gathered round him a number of 
 ambitious young men, the most important among 
 them being Martin Opitz (1597- 1639). Opitz is a 
 remarkable example of a man who, with little insight 
 into art and still less poetical originality, yet made 
 himself the most useful teacher of his time. His first 
 work, Aristarchus {1617), was an essay on the contempt 
 in which the German language was then held, with 
 suggestions for raising the standard of German poetry. 
 To this end his whole life was devoted. He trans- 
 lated from the Classics, from English and Italian, his 
 Daphne being the first opera performed in Germany. 
 His critical convictions are contained in the famous 
 Buck von der deutschen Poeterey (1624). Nowadays 
 the book appears narrow, dogmatic, and puerile, but 
 it was useful at that period of depression. His views 
 are based in toto upon Scaliger, Heinsius, Horace, and 
 the Pleiade. The remarks upon poetry in general, 
 for example — that the object of poetry is not merely 
 to delight, but to instruct — his views on tragedy, 
 comedy, etc., are now valueless ; it was fatal, too, that 
 he stamped with his special approval the alexandrine, 
 and recommended writers to hunt the Classics for
 
 48 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 epithets, similes, and figures of speech. He was on 
 firmer ground when he recommended the improve- 
 ment and unification of the poetical language, and 
 his view of rhythm, that it depended not on quantity 
 and syllable-counting, but upon the principle of 
 accented and unaccented syllables, was a distinct 
 advance upon the earlier work of Schede and Weck- 
 herlin. His own Teutsche Poemata, including the 
 Trostgedichte (1633), ^''^ devoid of inspiration and 
 poetical feeling ; the best poems are close imitations 
 of the work of Ronsard. Yet Opitz, who could 
 change his politics and religious convictions when- 
 ever it was likely to procure him a new patron, was 
 hailed as the greatest poet of the time, crowned 
 with the laurel wreath, and ennobled by the Emperor 
 Ferdinand H. His work was of great influence 
 simply because it was taken up by men of genuine 
 poetical genius, one of whom, Paul Fleming, uttered 
 on his death the extraordinary panegyric, " Thou 
 Pindar, thou Homer, thou Maro of our times ! " In 
 addition to Opitz, several literary societies, founded 
 on the model of the Italian Accademia della Crusca, 
 had made it their object to purify the language 
 from barbarisms, and to raise the standard of poetry. 
 The " fruchtbringende Gesellschaft," founded in 1617, 
 under the patronage of the Duke of Anhalt-Kothen, 
 was the first and most influential. Others of note 
 were the "gekrorte Blumenorden," or ''society of 
 Pegnitz shepherds " in Nuremberg, and the " deutsch- 
 gesinnte Genossenschaft " of Hamburg. From the 
 first these societies lacked broadmindedness and 
 insight into poetry. The patriotic idea became 
 pedantic, even such popularly established words as 
 " Fenstcr " and " Natur " were to be changed into
 
 SIXTEENTH AND SEVENTEENTH CENTURIES 49 
 
 genuine German words such as " Tageleuchter " and 
 " Zeugemutter." The Pegnitz shepherds, of whom 
 Georg Philipp Harsddrfer (1607-58) was the chief, 
 showed by their tasteless cultivation of the Italian 
 idyllic poetry how little they were capable of ad- 
 vancing poetical art. In fact, as far as literary work 
 of a lasting kind is concerned, these societies failed 
 signally. The men of creative genius were, however, 
 soon to appear : Dach, Fleming, Gryphius, Spee, 
 Gerhardt had eagerly caught up the suggestions of 
 the new movement, and Germany would almost 
 certainly have experienced a poetical revival, not on 
 a popular basis, but at least within the circles of the 
 learned, had not the hand of an adverse fate once 
 more fallen upon the country in the shape of the 
 Thirty Years' War. We can scarcely realise to-day 
 what a brutal, senseless, and disastrous madness this 
 struggle was. It began in the antagonism of religious 
 convictions, but very soon ceased to have even this 
 pretext for its continuance. At its close the popu- 
 lation of Germany had fallen, through bloodshed, 
 famine, and pestilence, to less than a half of what 
 it had been. Education, the drama, the exercise of 
 the finer arts had ceased. Even religious instruction 
 was, in many places, impossible. The landscape was 
 reduced to a desert, and the people to a state of 
 brutal superstition and savagery. The pages of 
 Grimmelshausen's Simplicissimus are eloquent of the 
 rudeness and lack of culture generally prevailing. It 
 took more than fifty years for the country to recover 
 from the blow, and in the meantime, almost the only 
 literature that flourished in the more fortunate parts 
 of the country, the north-west and the extreme east, 
 was the religious hymn. This seems, at first sight, 
 
 4
 
 50 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 surprising, after the extreme vvorldliness and erotic 
 triviality of the poetry with which the century opened. 
 But Hfe had become very earnest to the thinking man, 
 and in the religious hymn, much more than in the 
 poetry of Weckherlin or Harsdorfer, we get the real 
 man of the seventeenth century, his devotion to 
 mysticism, his clinging to religious consolation, the 
 curious contrast between the awakening love of nature 
 and the constant longing to be free from this vale of 
 misery. Simon Dach (1605-59), one of the earlier 
 hymn-writers, was born in Memel and died in Konigs- 
 berg. Resignation is the keynote of his religious 
 poetry. His " Lob der Freundschaft " is still well- 
 known : — 
 
 " Der Mensch hat nichts so eigen, 
 So wohl steht ihm nichts an, 
 Als dass er Treu erzeigen 
 Und Freundschaft halten kann ; 
 Wenn er mit seines gleichen 
 Soil treten in ein Band 
 Verspricht sich, nicht zu vveichen 
 Mit Herzen, Mund und Hand." 
 
 He also wrote many poems to celebrate special 
 occasions, and in one of these, a poem on the marriage 
 of a friend to a pastor's daughter, he so successfully 
 caught the popular tone that his "Anke von Tharaw" 
 has become a Folksong. Paul Fleming (1609-40) 
 belonged to the Erzgebirge, but the war drove him 
 from Leipzig, where he was studying medicine, and 
 he spent six years travelling in Russia and Persia. 
 He began by writing Latin poems, but later, in his 
 Geist- und Weltliche Poeviata, published after his 
 death, he recorded the experiences of his life. His 
 style is straightforward and simple, he writes
 
 SIXTEENTH AND SEVENTEENTH CENTURIES 51 
 
 effectively and directly what he feels. "Ergebenheit" 
 is characteristic of his art, slightly didactic, but pleasing 
 in form and naTve in sentiment : — 
 
 " Lass dich nur nichts nicht dauern 
 
 Mit Trauern ! 
 
 Sei stille ! 
 Wie Gott es fiigt, 
 So sei verg^.tigt 
 
 Mein Wille ! " 
 
 Andreas Gryphius (1616-64) belonged to Silesia. 
 He is the only important figure in the drama of the 
 century. He had travelled widely, possessed remark- 
 able linguistic talents, and had taught for a time at 
 the University of Leyden. The time was not yet 
 ripe for good work in the drama, but in the lyric he 
 shows remarkable depth and metrical skill. Fate 
 had been unkind to him, and his poetry is fervent, 
 but unrelieved in its melancholy : — 
 
 " Du siehst, wohin du siehst, nur Eitelkeit auf Erden. 
 Was dieser heute baut, reisst jener morgen ein ; 
 Wo jetzund Stadte stehn, wird eine Wiese sein, 
 Auf der ein Schaferkind wird spielen mit den Herden." 
 
 The title " Kirchhofsgedanken " is sufficient indication 
 of the despondency of the content, but it is a genuine 
 deep-thinking spirit that reveals itself in Gryphius' 
 poetry, and sonnets like " Der schnelle Tag ist hin ; 
 die Nacht schwingt ihre Fahn," stand in marked con- 
 trast to the soulless rhyming of an Opitz. Another 
 Silesian poet of distinction was Angelus Silesius, 
 whose real name was Johann Scheffler (1624-77). 
 He was deeply read in the mystical writings of his 
 countryman, Jakob Bohme, and this adds fervour and 
 depth to his religious poetry. Unfortunately he also 
 took over into his hymns the symbolism of the idyllic
 
 52 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 poetry with its bombast and far-fetched conceits. On 
 a higher plane stands the epicrrammatic poetry of the 
 Cherubinische Wandersmann. Many of the thoughts 
 are not new, as, for example, the following mystical 
 sentence : — 
 
 " Halt an, wo laufst du bin ? Der Himmel ist in dir. 
 Suchst du Gott anderswo, fehlst du ihn fur und fiir" ; 
 
 but others reveal originality of perception and neatness 
 of expression. The two greatest representatives of 
 religious poetry in this century were Friedrich von 
 Spee and Paul Gerhardt. Friedrich von Spec 
 (i 591-1635) was a Jesuit, but a man of liberal senti- 
 ments ; he was one of the few who condemned the 
 rack and the burning of witches. " I too," he said, 
 "would lie when tortured, just as the saints lied." 
 He was also keenly sensitive to the lack of culture in 
 his age, to the suppression of truth, and the un- 
 satisfactory condition of German poetry. Even before 
 Opitz had written, he had perceived that what the 
 German metre required was a delicate ear and feeling 
 for accent, and he had resolved to exalt German poetry 
 to the glory of God. In his Trutznachtigall, parti- 
 cularly in the eclogues, we find that conventional 
 mingling of idyllic names and scenes with religious 
 poetry which repels the modern reader, but on the 
 other hand Spee is one of the first in whom a love 
 for the beauties of nature is expressed, though still 
 with diffidence : — 
 
 " Gleich friih wann sich entzundet 
 Der silberweisse Tag 
 Und klar die Sonn verkiindet 
 Was nachts verborgen lag. . . ." 
 
 He is also an ardent mysticist, so ardent that
 
 SIXTEENTH AND SEVENTEENTH CENTURIES 53 
 
 he transports himself in fancy to the immediate 
 neighbourhood of Christ, and sings of his Passion as 
 if he had been present and suffered with him. One 
 of his greatest poems is the " Trauergesang von der 
 Not Christi am Olberg in dem Garten." He is a 
 master of exposition, vivid, dramatic, and imaginative ; 
 in his direct simplicity of expression he sometimes 
 approaches the style of the Folksong : — 
 
 " Ade zu tausend Jahren, 
 O Welt, zu guter Nacht ! 
 Ade, lass mich nur fahren, 
 Ich langst hab dich veracht. 
 In Jesu Lieb ich lebe, 
 Sags rund von Herzengrund, 
 In lauter Lust ich schwebe, 
 Wie sehr ich bin verwundt." 
 
 Paul Gerhardt( 1 607-76) was a Protestant minister. 
 His poetry was first collected in 1667 under the title 
 Geistliche Andachten^ and is a reflex of his calm and 
 pious life. He is more tender and musical than his 
 great predecessor, Luther, but not so strong and 
 defiant. His view of life is essentially different. His 
 spirit has been broken or at least subdued by the 
 miserable conditions of the time. He calls this life a 
 " Jammerthal," from which he longs to escape. Yet 
 he has, perhaps more even than Spec, an eye for the 
 charms of nature, the flowers, the birds, and the 
 pleasant streams. However, his thoughts are too 
 rigidly fixed upon the world to come to enable him 
 to feel himself in harmony with this life. Absolute 
 trust in God's will and ruling presence forms the 
 substance of his most noteworthy hymns, " O Haupt 
 voll Blut und Wunden," or " Befiehl du deine Wege." 
 Simplicity and calm are the keynote of his song : —
 
 54 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 " Ich will hie bei Dir stehen, 
 Verachte mich doch nicht ; 
 Von Dir will ich nicht gehen, 
 VVann Dir Dein Herze bricht ; 
 Wann Dein Herz wird erblassen 
 Im letzten Todesstoss, 
 Alsdann will ich Dich fassen 
 In meinem Arm und Schoss." 
 
 In addition to these well-known singers there were 
 many men in the seventeenth century who contributed 
 one or two hymns that have lived while their authors' 
 names are forgotten, hymns that have played a 
 conspicuous part in German national life. Mention 
 may be made of Martin Rinckart's " Nun danket 
 alle Gott," Joachim Neander's " Lobe den Herrn, 
 den machtigen Konig der Ehren," and Michael 
 Schirmer's "O heilger Geist, kehr bei uns ein." 
 These men were all ministers, whose views of life had 
 been deepened and ennobled by the scenes of war and 
 pestilence which had come home to them as shepherds 
 of the people with special force and bitterness. In 
 them, as in the case of their greater contemporaries, 
 the religious lyric seems to have derived its inspira- 
 tion from the very circumstances which weighed so 
 heavily upon all other branches of artistic expression. 
 The lyric had become earnest and heart-felt, no longer 
 a mere plaything to amuse an inventive brain, but 
 rather a personal expression of a religious view of 
 life and a sublime trust in God's goodness. That is 
 the merit of the German Kirchenlied, and it is this 
 that has made it live down to the present day. It is 
 not great art in the sense in which the Volkslied is ; 
 it lacks universality and breadth ; the authors' horizon 
 is bounded by their religious training and experience ; 
 but within its limits it is genuine lyrical poetry.
 
 SIXTEENTH AND SEVENTEENTH CENTURIES 55 
 
 Curiously enough this age gave birth to one of 
 Germany's most gifted epigrammatists, Friedrich 
 von Logau (1604-55), but it was a century later 
 before his merits were recognised, first of all by 
 Lessing. He is inclined to satire, but of a mild, 
 general type ; folly and humanity he regards as 
 inseparable : — 
 
 " Wenn keine Thorheit mehr wird sein, 
 So geht die Menschheit ganzlich ein." 
 
 In his " Sinngedichte " (1654) we see the earnest 
 indignation of a public -spirited man who feels 
 impelled to expose the corruption of manners and 
 the follies of fashion. There is no straining after 
 witticisms, no extravagant condemnation, he con- 
 vinces by his obvious honesty of purpose and the 
 simple force of his language. Some of his epigrams 
 are still frequently quoted, as for example : — 
 
 " Gottes Miihlen mahlen langsam, mahlen aber trefflich klein ; 
 Ob aus Langmut er sich saumet, bringt mit Scharf er alles ein." 
 
 He was an ardent admirer of the German language, 
 which he wished to see freed from all foreign affecta- 
 tions ; it has tenderness and grace, he says, as well 
 as strength : — 
 
 " Kann die deutsche Sprache schnauben, schnarchen, poltern, 
 donnern, krachen, 
 Kann sie doch auch spielen, scherzen, lieben, giiteln, kiirnieln, 
 lachen." 
 
 As the century advanced erotic poetry came once 
 more into favour, but its chief representatives, 
 Hofmann von Hofmannswaldau (1617-79) and 
 Caspar von Lohenstein (1635-83) are so full of 
 quips and conceits that the real merits which they
 
 S6 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 possess have frequently been overlooked. The 
 Spaniard Gongora and the Italian Marini were their 
 models, and while they are ridiculously unnatural 
 in their language and images, they introduced again 
 into the lyric the elements of passion, the m}-sterious 
 and the demonic. Hofmannswaldau is the greater 
 poet of the two, and where he puts a rein on his 
 fancy, he can write really very fine lines : — 
 
 " Wo sind die Stunden 
 der siissen Zeit, 
 da ich zuerst empfunden, 
 wie deine Lieblichkeit 
 mich dir verbunden ? 
 
 Sie sind verrauscht, es bleibet doch dabey, 
 dass alle Lust verganglich sei. 
 Ich schwamm in Freude ; 
 der Liebe Hand 
 spann mir ein Kleid von Seide. 
 Das Blatt hat sich gewandt, 
 Ich geh im Leide, 
 
 Ich wein jetzund, dass Lieb und Sonnenschein 
 stets voUer Angst und Wolken sein." 
 
 There is something in this poetry that reminds 
 us of the grace and elegance of the Elizabethan lyric. 
 Such poems are, however, rare in Hofmannswaldau, 
 and it was the others which attracted most attention 
 and provoked a reaction towards simplicity of form. 
 But in men like Christian Weise (1642- 1708), one 
 of the first advocates of simplicity in style and 
 naturalness of sentiment, there is too little talent 
 to accomplish anything positive. He studied and 
 imitated the Folksong, his intentions were thoroughly 
 sound, but both in the lyric and the drama he showed 
 the limitations of his creative gifts. Just as little 
 was achieved by the so-called Court poets, Rudolf
 
 SIXTEENTH AND SEVENTEENTH CENTURIES 57 
 
 von Canitz (1654-99), Johann von Besser (1654- 
 1729), Ulrich von Konig (1688- 1744), and Benjamin 
 Neukirch (1665- 1729), Their recommendations in 
 regard to form were correct enough, but their idea 
 of poetry was a low one. They disclaim being mere 
 poets ; they are courtiers, masters of ceremonies, 
 office-hunters, to whom the gift of verse is an elegant 
 accomplishment likely to give them greater chances 
 of promotion. Thus the art of poetry at the end 
 of the seventeenth century had been lowered to the 
 position of a useful craft ; its content lacked all 
 essential lyrical qualities ; and one of the first things 
 which the eighteenth century had to accomplish was 
 the raising of poetry and of the poet to a position 
 first of self-respect, and secondly of dignity and 
 esteem in the community.
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 The Early Eighteenth Century 
 
 The first fifty years of the eighteenth century seemed 
 in no way more promising than the last half of the 
 seventeenth, but new forces were quietly at work, and 
 from 1750 onwards the German lyric bursts into full 
 bloom. No military achievement or social revolution 
 or sudden tide of national prosperity can fully explain 
 the advent and development of the great singers. 
 The victories of Frederick the Great certainly inspired 
 Gleim's Kriegslieder, and fired the pride and patriotism 
 of German poets. But, on the other hand, the court 
 of Berlin regarded German letters with indifference, 
 and though Goethe and Schiller found a home at the 
 Weimar Court, their greatness is due principally to 
 themselves. In the lyric, in any case, the personality 
 is the most important factor, and at last in Goethe and 
 Schiller Germany produced two of her greatest sons. 
 Needless to say, they owed not a little to their pre- 
 decessors, to men so inferior to them as Gleim, Gellert, 
 and Klopstock, and to movements which seem to lie 
 far apart from the lyric. The great movement to- 
 wards spiritual freedom in theology, philosophy, and 
 literature, known as the Aufklarung, the gradual 
 spread of culture by the Universities, the theatre, the 
 literary journal, the improvement in critical taste
 
 THE EARLY EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 59 
 
 brought about by Gottsched, by the Swiss critics, 
 Bodmer and Breitinger, in their differences with the 
 former, by Gellert, Lessing, and Herder, the revelation 
 of new models by the numerous translations and 
 adaptations in the first half of the century prepared the 
 soil in which their genius was to flourish. The lyrical 
 poets of the early years of the century, such as 
 Hagedorn and Haller, were men of culture and wide 
 reading. They were acquainted with contemporary 
 literature in France, Italy, and England, and borrowed 
 suggestions frankly and freely from these sources. 
 But the foreign element in Hagedorn and Gleim was 
 too pronounced. They had learned to write lightly 
 and gaily, they had acquired the art of penning 
 melodious and pleasing lines, but we scarcely ever 
 feel that they are true to themselves, there is so little 
 depth and seriousness in their work, and so much that 
 is superficial and eclectic. As regards Lessing, he is 
 totally dependent and insignificant in this sphere. 
 Great critic though he was, he had little interest in 
 the pure lyric of feeling, and little insight into the 
 elements of lyrical and ballad poetry. During the five 
 trying years of literary apprenticeship in Berlin we 
 find him writing commonplace trivialities on the 
 pleasures of joy, wine, love, and idleness, a collection 
 scarcely worthy of Germany's greatest critic. Klop- 
 stock gave lyrical poetry a higher ideal, combined of 
 dignity and earnestness. He was an innovator, too, 
 both in metre and language. Unfortunately, the 
 classical metres which he favoured were not suited to 
 the genius of the German language, and he lacked 
 that spark of creative genius which gives shape and 
 life to new images. On the lines laid down by him 
 the German lyric would have made little progress
 
 6o THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 towards an artistic perfection, which would appeal to 
 the people as a whole. A different lyrical idea was 
 required, and the credit of discovering it is due to 
 Herder. It was extremely fortunate for German 
 letters that Lessing's acute criticism of the drama was 
 supplemented by Herder's intuitive genius in regard 
 to the lyric. He cannot be called an original poet 
 himself, but he was the first German critic to reveal 
 the pre-eminent merits of the Folksong, its warmth, 
 brevity, directness, sincerity, and simplicity. Not only 
 did he induce Goethe to study these models and 
 to begin collecting Folksongs in Alsace, but he also 
 inspired Burger's " Lenore," one of the greatest models 
 of German ballad-writing. Accordingly, in the years 
 1770 to 1786 the lyric and the ballad attained to their 
 highest perfection. But in addition to Herder's in- 
 fluence, we should note that about 1770 the literary 
 atmosphere is simply charged with new suggestions 
 which bore immediate and splendid fruit. Jean 
 Jacques Rousseau's enthusiasm for nature affected 
 Goethe and Schiller directly. In the development 
 of both the revolutionary ideas of the " Sturm und 
 Drang " played an important part. The bases of 
 poetry were further strengthened and extended by the 
 patriotic and bardic tendencies of the Gottingen group 
 of poets known as the Hain, About 1786 a new 
 literary current made itself felt, a return to classical 
 simplicity and calm grandeur, but this was more 
 favourable to the drama than to the lyric. The 
 '* Kunstler " certainly denotes a stage in the develop- 
 ment of Schiller's philosophical lyrics, but on the 
 whole he had become uncertain of his powers iji^the 
 lyrical field, and Goethe's lyrics, apart from the 
 " Romische Elegien," have grown more diffuse and
 
 THE EARLY EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 6i 
 
 less impressive in character. But in the last ten years 
 of Schiller's life these two poets, working hand in 
 hand, produced a collection of lyrics, ballads, and 
 epigrams which are unequalled in the German 
 language. The century is thus an extremely interest- 
 ing one. One literary movement succeeds another — 
 Gottsched's reforms, the counter-movement of the 
 Swiss critics to give originality and imagination free 
 play, the Anacreontists, the innovations of Klopstock, 
 the resuscitation of the Folksong, the patriotic move- 
 ment of the Hain, the "Sturm und Drang" with its 
 contempt of rules, the classical revival, and finally, 
 though this belongs really to the nineteenth century, 
 the dawn of a new era under the banner of Romanti- 
 cism. The scope and influence of these movements 
 will become more apparent when we study the work 
 of the poets themselves. Some influenced the lyric 
 directly and permanently, others only indirectly and for 
 a time. All, however, stimulated interest in literary 
 questions and educated the critical faculty of poets 
 and public alike. There is no period when criticism 
 and creative work were so closely connected and 
 mutually helpful. Goethe is pre-eminent in original 
 genius, mental ability, and personality, but before he 
 began to write, translators had introduced a mass of 
 educative models from abroad, critical canons had 
 been established, the simple beauty of the German 
 lyric in early days had been revealed, new metres 
 had been tried, the language had been purified and 
 enriched, so that we are indebted not only to 
 pre-eminent individuals but to a large number of 
 second-rate men for the really high position which 
 the lyric had attained at the end of the eighteenth 
 century.
 
 62 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 Johann Christian Glinther (1695- 1723) is a 
 pioneer, a true poet but an unfortunate one. Alfred 
 Biese, at the end of a very fine appreciation/ compares 
 this poet to an early spring bud nipped by the linger- 
 ing frosts of winter. The son of a Silesian doctor, he 
 studied in Wittenberg and Jena, but his want of 
 principle and strong passions blighted his career, and 
 caused his premature death at the age of twenty-eight. 
 Cut off by his father, he wandered from town to 
 town, and it was only through the kindness of friends 
 and patrons that he succeeded in keeping soul and 
 body together. He had learned from the art poetry 
 of the seventeenth century and from the Folksong, but 
 he really needed no teacher, for his poetry is the 
 candid expression of the changing feelings of his 
 unhapp)-, unlicensed, but deeply religious nature. It 
 is the experiences of his chequered life that he sings. 
 We find in him the passionate song of love, the lusty 
 student's song, the sad lament over wasted time and 
 strength, the religious poem of deep feeling and hope- 
 ful faith. Glinther might under happier conditions 
 have become an Anacreontist, but he clings firml}' in 
 his hours of despondency and repentance to the 
 Lutheranism of the seventeenth century. The verses 
 are admirable in simplicity and directness : — 
 
 Briider, lasst uns lustig sein, 
 Weil der Friihling wahret 
 Und der Jugend Sonnenschein 
 Unser Laub verklaret ; 
 Grab und Bahre warten nicht, 
 Wer die Rosen jetzo bricht, 
 Dem ist der Kranz bescheret. 
 
 * Deutsche Literaturgeschichte, i. 456.
 
 THE EARLY EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 63 
 
 He has a foreboding of his early death, but he 
 bears it bravely ; looking back upon his short life 
 he wonders at the flight of time, but in a spirit of 
 resigned piety he seeks to reconcile himself to God 
 and his fellow-men. " Bussgedanken " reminds us of 
 Walther von der Vogelweide's " Elegie," but in this 
 and other poems like " Abendlied " there are more 
 modern notes, the calm pensiveness of the seventeenth 
 century hymn, and the vividness of the imagery from 
 nature : — 
 
 Der Feierabend ist gemacht. 
 Die Arbeit schlaft, der Traum erwacht, 
 Die Sonne fiihrt die Pferde trinken. 
 Der Erdkreis wandert zu der Ruh. 
 Die Nacht drCickt ihm die Augen zu. 
 Die schon dem siissen Schlafe winken. 
 
 In point of time Giinther is a contemporary of Besser 
 and Neukirch ; they were much older men, but 
 Giinther died before them. If we compare their 
 poetry with his, Giinther's great importance becomes 
 apparent. There fanciful trivialities cleverly put 
 together, here undoubted genius and a poetry spring- 
 ing from life and experience, not yet a great poetry, 
 for Giinther's culture and mental acquirements were 
 too limited for that, but nevertheless something 
 genuine and heartfelt, a very promising beginning for 
 the new century. 
 
 In the seventeenth century we already noticed that 
 the nursery of poetry had shifted from the south to the 
 north : Silesia, Konigsberg, Hamburg, were the centres 
 of culture and poetical interest. The impetus given 
 to thought and religious life by Luther was one 
 reason ; a still stronger was the fact that the south, 
 as the battlefield of Catholic and Protestant, suffered
 
 64 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 more severely from the great war. Inter arma silent 
 Musae. Even such a subjective art as lyric poetry is 
 extremely sensitive to contemporary events, more 
 particularly when these happenings are on so great a 
 scale as to revolutionise social conditions. With the 
 picture of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries 
 before us we are almost tempted, like Taine, to ascribe 
 nearly everything in literature to surroundings. We 
 see the great wheel of fate revolving, nothing seems 
 capable of arresting its ponderous weight. The 
 individual is moulded by events, seldom they by him. 
 Where poetry had flourished silence reigns. In the 
 north, particularly in Hamburg, where the tramp of 
 armies and marauding hordes was little more than 
 a distant echo, where a new gate to industry, enter- 
 prise, and wealth was opening up towards the west, 
 in the train of peace and affluence literary societies 
 and poetical production flourished. It is not without 
 interest that the two streams of poetry which are 
 especially characteristic of the first half of the 
 eighteenth century took their rise in Hamburg. 
 Hagedorn is representative of the lighter vein, Brockes 
 of the serious. No two more essentially different 
 conceptions of life and poetry could be found, and 
 this again is proof that the individual element in art 
 is in the end decisive. Genius may be thwarted, may 
 be deeply influenced or even silenced by adverse 
 surroundings, but given fairly promising conditions 
 it will strike out in its own congenial path. 
 
 Friedrich von Hagedorn (1708-54) was a man of a 
 much higher stamp than Gunther. He was brought up 
 in comfortable circumstances and enjoyed a good 
 education. He spent three years in England as Secre- 
 tary to the Danish Embassy, and all his work gives the
 
 THE EARLY EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 65 
 
 impression of a cultured man of the world, not quite 
 free from pedantry, but frank and sincere. His early 
 poetry is completely under the influence of Horace,^ 
 his later lyrics owe much to France. He was an 
 admirer of Prior and Gay, and testifies repeatedly to 
 his indebtedness to these models. His fables and 
 narrative poems were most popular during his lifetime ; 
 his literary fame is based, however, chiefly on his 
 merits as a lyricist. He is an optimist, an enemy of 
 melancholy, hatred, and narrow-mindedness. There 
 is freshness and vigour in his songs of youth and love, 
 he reveals a roguish humour in mildly satirical 
 sketches of morbid sentimentality, such as " Die 
 verliebte Verzweiflung." The charge of indelicacy 
 which is sometimes made against him has no justifica- 
 tion, nor is the fact that he suffered from gout proof 
 either that he was a wine-drinker, or that his songs 
 of wine are based upon experience. It matters very 
 little whether they are or not. His praise of nature 
 and country life is free from the conventional colouring 
 of the idyllic poetry. He retains the pastoral names, 
 because they are as convenient as any others, but 
 nothing more. He had a fine ear for rhythmical 
 effects, and reveals a neat fancy in some of his short, 
 half-humorous pieces, such as " Die Rose," " Der 
 Frlihling," " Der Kuss," " Das Kind " :— 
 
 Siehst du jene Rose bliihen ? 
 
 Schonste, so erkenne dich. 
 Siehst du Bienen zu ihr fliehen, 
 
 Phyllis, so gedenk an mich. 
 
 ^ For the great popularity of Horace at this time see A. 
 Lehnerdt : Die deutsche Dichtung des 1 7 und 1 8 Jahrhunderts 
 in ihren Beziehungen zu Horaz^ 1882. 
 
 5
 
 66 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 Deine Bliite lockt die Triebe 
 
 Auf den Reichtum der Natur 
 Und der Jugend siisse Liebe 
 
 Raubt dir nichts, und nahrt sich nur. 
 
 This kind of poetry was sufficiently new at the 
 beginning of the eighteenth century to justify 
 Hagedorn's explanatory " Vorbericht," in which he 
 says he has aimed not so much at the " sublime " 
 as at the " pleasing " character of the ode, by which 
 the latter acquires more charm and social interest. 
 " The Muse of lyrical poets bids them sing not 
 only of Gods or Kings and heroes, but also, in the 
 words of Horace, 
 
 'Juvenum curas et libera vina referre.'" 
 Hagedorn is the forerunner of the Anacreontic 
 poetry, of Lessing and the youthful Goethe. His 
 elegant, whole-hearted joy in life, coupled with formal 
 talents of a high order, was like a fresh breath of 
 air after the sombre dulness of the preceding age. 
 He only lacked depth and earnestness, and this 
 we find in the other stream of poetry, Brockes, 
 Haller, Klopstock, and their numerous following. 
 
 Barthold Heinrich Brockes (1680- 1747) was, like 
 Hagedorn, a man of travel, experience, and culture. 
 His poetry is inspired chiefly by Thomson, whose 
 " Seasons " he translated, by Milton and Pope. To 
 this he added his own German earnestness, and a 
 piety and love of nature reminiscent of the Kirchen- 
 lied. His Irdisches Vergniigen m Gott is a long, 
 rambling work, and its chief interest nowadays lies 
 in the fact that here an unprecedented worship of 
 nature in its minutest beauties, and as a revelation 
 of God's greatness, reveals itself as the very essence 
 of the poet's being. Its expression is sometimes
 
 THE EARLY EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 67 
 
 awkward enough, but the detail, sincerity, and 
 originality of the content were all-important. He 
 must be noted in any history of the development 
 of the feeling for nature in the eighteenth century, 
 that feeling which culminated in Rousseau, and 
 which in German art had to break down the arti- 
 ficiality of the Rococo, with its gardens trimmed 
 and bedecked out of all semblance to natural 
 beauty. 
 
 It was naturally in the courts of Germany that the 
 influence of French taste predominated. Sanssouci 
 was built from 1745 to 1747, and it marks the high 
 tide of the Rococo style, a style which left its mark 
 upon almost every manifestation of the artistic life. 
 In Dresden and Stuttgart the imitation of the 
 splendour of Louis XIV. was carried to more ex- 
 travagant lengths. In personal dress, in furniture 
 and house decoration, in the laying out of the 
 gardens there was the same endeavour to improve 
 upon nature that we observe also in statuary, paint- 
 ing, and poetry. The sense for true, simple beauty 
 was lost ; shrub and tree had to submit to the 
 pruning shears of the gardener ; the brook had to 
 leave its pebbly bed and glide gently over marble 
 steps ; the lawn was rude and barbaric without 
 an artificial fountain, and the thicket needed the 
 presence of a marble fawn or nymph. This style 
 of national taste is so completely a thing of the 
 past that we are now amused by its oddity, caprice, 
 and picturesqueness. But it took many years before 
 the beauty of wild, simple nature was appreciated. 
 And the forerunners of the new movement were men 
 who had been brought up in other than courtly 
 surroundings, Brockes and Hagedorn in Hamburg,
 
 68 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 and Albrecht von Haller in Switzerland. Haller 
 was born in Berne in the year 1708 ; from 1736 to 
 1753 he was Professor in Gottingen ; he died in his 
 native town in 1777. He was one of the most 
 distinguished men of science of his day, and it was 
 again a sign that poetry was advancing, that a 
 man of his learning and importance should attempt 
 to celebrate his native country in the Versuch 
 sch-dueizerischer Gedichte (1732). Poetically the book 
 leaves much to be desired. It is full to overflowing 
 with intimate detail of the vegetation and appearance 
 of the Alps, the life of the people, and the moral 
 influence of the landscape upon the inhabitants. To 
 describe this in passable Alexandrines was regarded 
 as an achievement, and it certainly was at that time. 
 But later Haller himself disclaimed the title of 
 poet, and Lessing showed where he had failed. He 
 describes like a botanist, and the reader is unable 
 to visualise the object. There is no life or action 
 in the poem, no imagination ; all is cold and objec- 
 tive, and consequently monotonous : — 
 
 " Dort senkt ein kahler Berg die glatten Wande 
 
 nieder, 
 den ein verjahrtes Eis dem Himmel gleich getiirmt, 
 Sein frostiger Kristall schickt alle Strahlen wieder, 
 den die gestieg'ne Hitz' im Krebs umsonst bestiirmt. 
 Xicht fern von diesem streckt, vol! futterreicher 
 
 Weide, 
 ein furchtbares Gebirg den breiten Riicken her ; 
 Sein sanfter Abhang glanzt von reifendem Getreide, 
 und seine Hiigel sind von hundert Herden schwer." 
 
 Even from this short passage it will be seen that 
 Haller's point of view is somewhat utilitarian and 
 prosaic ; the grandeur and magnificence of the scene
 
 THE EARLY EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 69 
 
 are beyond him ; but his " Alpen " was nevertheless 
 a most important step towards a due appreciation 
 of nature. 
 
 In this respect the Anacreontic movement seems 
 a step backwards, for here nature appears only in 
 conventional images. Johann Peter Uz (1720-96) 
 had certainly some of the seriousness of Brockes 
 and Haller, but the other members of the school 
 were men of a different mould. The Anacreontists 
 linked on to Hagedorn, but they added a new 
 element — direct imitation of the form and content 
 of the Greek Anacreontica. The movement began 
 in 1744, when J. W. L. Gieim (17 19-1803) published 
 his Versuch in scherzhaften Liedern. Two years 
 later Johann Nikolaus Gotz (1721-81) published 
 the Oden Anakreons in imgereivite^i Versen. The 
 model thus revealed was not without its merits. 
 Here the lyric became again singable. In regard 
 to content it is altogether unimportant ; the motto 
 of Gleim's Versuch was " nos haec novimus esse 
 nihil." But great as were the services of Brockes 
 and Haller in setting up a new ideal of nature, 
 they were heavy and tuneless in expression. The 
 Anacreontists introduced the lighter touch, the play- 
 ful humorous tone, and the elegance of their French 
 models. Gleim in particular owed a very great deal 
 to the court poetry of France, from Marot onwards 
 to men like Chapelle, Pavilion, Voiture, La Fare, 
 and Grecourt. From them he learned in particular 
 to be pointed and witty. He is most successful 
 with short songs of light and humorous content on 
 love, friendship, joy in life, springtime, wine and 
 song. He wishes to see dull care dispelled, and 
 bids joy come and be his sister : —
 
 70 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 " Komm, du rarte 
 Weise Freude, 
 Komm und werde 
 Meine Schwester, 
 Komm und trinke 
 Mit den Briidern." 
 
 His shortest poems are invariably his best. When 
 he attempts anything ambitious he becomes prosaic 
 and tiresome. His romances, his songs in imitation 
 of the Folksong, his translations of the Minnesang, 
 are of little importance. He is remembered as Father 
 Gleim, the friend of poets, and for an achievement 
 which must be discussed in another chapter, his 
 " Kriegslieder." Uz was probably less of a poet, 
 though more of a thinker, than Gleim. He very 
 soon turned from the themes of love and wine, 
 preferring to sing of earnest things. After 1767 he 
 became silent altoge*:her. His attitude to nature is 
 freer and more natural than that of his brother-in- 
 arms : — 
 
 " Er geht in Biischen und sie bliihen ; 
 Den Fluren kommt ihr frisches Gnin, 
 Und Waldern wachst ihr Schatten wieder, 
 Der West, liebkosend schwingt 
 Sein thauendes Gefieder 
 Und jeder frohe Vogel singt.'' 
 
 Gotz is little more than a skilful reproducer of 
 motives culled from French poetry.^ The most 
 modern of the Anacreontists, the onl)- real genius 
 among them, was Johann Georg Jacobi (1740-1814). 
 His early poems are spoiled by conventional conceits 
 
 ' In support of this judgment see the author's German 
 Anacreontic Poetry in the i8th Century (Aberdeen, 191 1), 
 pp. 10 f., 1 16.
 
 THE EARLY EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 71 
 
 and mythological figures, cupids, amorettes, goddesses, 
 nymphs, etc., which are mere names with no meaning. 
 In some of his latest poems, too, that on the Schwarz- 
 wald, for example, he can be unspeakably prosaic, 
 but he has also given us a fev/ poems which strike a 
 new note altogether, and are worthy to rank with the 
 best. One is the poem, "Von dir, O Liebe, nehm' 
 ich an " ; another the song of spring, " Sieh, wie der 
 Hain erwacht " ; and still another, the song, " An die 
 Nachtigall " : — 
 
 " Siiss, du im Hain Verborgene ! 
 Steigt dein Gesang empor : 
 O Nachtigall, du Klagende ! 
 Sing mir dein Leiden vor. 
 Gem ist der Hofifnungslose 
 Dem Trauerliede nah, 
 Wenn er die letzte Rose 
 Des Lebens welken sah." 
 
 Such easy mastery of the theme, such brevity and 
 tunefulness, united to real lyrical feeling, were very 
 rare among the versifiers of this age. Jacobi is, in 
 fact, a link between the imitative poetry of the first 
 half of the century and the artistic productions of 
 the later half. Up till 1770 the Anacreontic poetry 
 enjoyed great popularity, though well-known critics 
 like Bodmer would have none of it. Goedeke names 
 more than fifty Anacreontic poets. Lessing followed 
 the prevailing fashion in his Kleinigkeiten, and in 
 Goethe's Leipzig poems there are many signs that 
 he was familiar with and appreciated the tendencies 
 of the school of Gleim. 
 
 What was required to raise the lyric to a higher 
 plane was deeper feeling, greater earnestness, and more 
 mastery of the poetical language. These qualities
 
 72 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 were found in Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock ^ 
 
 (1724- 1 803). He was born in Quedlinburg, educated 
 at Jena and Leipzig, and made his reputation in 1748 
 with the publication of the first three cantos of his 
 Messias. In spite of its technical faults this epic 
 showed the advent of a poetical genius. It was 
 great poetry, and it settled once for all the vexed 
 question which Gottsched and his opponents had 
 been trying theoretically to solve. " When Cantos 
 I.-III. of this epic appeared in the spring of 1748, 
 they shattered the fabric of Gottsched's poetics, and 
 reduced even the theories of the Swiss, who had 
 helped to put the young poet on the right path, 
 to a mere beating of the air," - In the lyrical 
 sphere Klopstock's historical importance is equally 
 great. In early poems, like " Das Rosenband," he 
 follows the Anacreontists, but this tendency did not 
 last long. Even as a young man he is seriously 
 inclined ; thoughts of death, immortality, and the 
 meeting of kindred spirits hereafter form the burden 
 of his song. Not infrequently, as in " Die Verwand- 
 lung," traces of sentimentality occur. But the most 
 striking feature of his lyrical work in its maturity is 
 his sincerity and sense of dignity as singer. He feels 
 himself bard, seer, prophet. This tends to wearisome- 
 ness in the long run ; but just as Klopstock's faults are 
 mostly merits from a different point of view, so this 
 new sense of dignity and importance as poet did the 
 German lyric a great service. Poems like " Der 
 Erloser " and " Friihlingsfeier " not only inspired the 
 Hain poets, Matthison and Lenau, but are the essential 
 
 • F. Muncker, F. G. Klopstock, Stuttgart, 1888. 
 
 - J. G. Robertson, History of German Literature, p. 260.
 
 THE EARLY EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 73 
 
 forerunners of the philosophical lyrics of Goethe and 
 Schiller. But this grandioseness, this feeling for the 
 limitless possibilities of poetry, must not blind us to 
 Klopstock's artistic limitations. If we compare his 
 poem, " Der Ziiricher See," with Goethe's " Auf dem 
 See," we feel at once the infinite difference between 
 enthusiasm, blended with love of nature and a still 
 greater love of reflection, and what is really great 
 poetry. The unrhymed stanzas of Klopstock are 
 frequently unsatisfactory. Here he followed the 
 example of Pyra and Lange in their Freundschaftliche 
 Lieder (1737). With them, as with Klopstock, the last 
 line often falls extremely flat. Alfred Biese ^ cannot 
 express too much admiration for Klopstock's love 
 poetry. He speaks of " Das Wiedersehen " as " the 
 greatest, most immortal of these pieces." The 
 genuineness and warmth of the sentiment no one will 
 deny, but what of the verses ? 
 
 " Der Weltraum femt mich weit von dir, 
 so femt mich nicht die Zeit. 
 War iiberlebt das siebzigste 
 schon hat, ist nah bei dir. 
 Lang sah ich, Meta, schon dein Grab 
 und seine Linde wehn ; 
 Die Linde wehet einst auch mir, 
 streut ihre Blum' auch mir." 
 
 Surely there is something very tuneless and prosaic 
 about the fourth and last lines here ! " Liebeslied " 
 and " Trinklied " are also examples of the inadequacy 
 of Klopstock's unrhymed verse for certain lyrical 
 themes. He was wrong also in trying to adapt German 
 rhythm to classical metres designed for the play of 
 
 ^ Literaturgeschichte^ i. p. 523.
 
 74 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 long and short syllables. Some of the odes suffer 
 from obscurity, and it is no excuse to say that this is 
 a lazy age which won't take the trouble to read care- 
 fully. Some of Klopstock's lines are so laboured and 
 unmelodious that even the most painstaking reader 
 may be excused. Take, as an example chosen at 
 random, the first stanza of " Mein Vaterland." 
 
 "So schweigt der Jiingling lang, 
 Dem wenige Lenze verwelkten, 
 
 Und der dem silberhaarigen tatenumgebenen Greise, 
 Wie sehr er ihn liebe, das Flammenwort hinstromen will," 
 
 Herder was certainly right in regarding Klopstock 
 as head and shoulders above his early contemporaries, 
 but his remark that an ode of Klopstock " outweighed 
 the whole lyric literature of Britain " is simply rubbish. 
 He does rise to considerable heights in some of the 
 shorter pieces, such as " Die Genesung," " Klagode," 
 and " Die friihen Graber." The last poem in par- 
 ticular is lucid, concise, and harmonious in sentiment 
 and expression. In many of his poems the outlines 
 are dim ; his contemplation of nature is too much 
 blended with reflection to appeal to the inner eye of 
 the reader. He was a great patriot, a warm-hearted 
 friend, fervent in religion, but orthodox rather than 
 profound. His poetry is the antithesis of the Folk- 
 song, indeed of song of any kind. The great difference 
 between him and Milton, whom he emulated, is that 
 he lacks creative genius. He never lifts us out of 
 ourselves by one of these flashes which we see in 
 much lesser men. The mystical and the mysterious 
 do not call him ; his horizon is that of the ordinary 
 high-souled man. All the events in the course of his 
 life have left their reflex on his poetry, but the 
 chronicle is uninspired. He denotes an advance in
 
 THE EARLY EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 75 
 
 the development of the lyric by his earnestness, his 
 experiments with metres of various kinds, his enrich- 
 ment of the vocabulary, and above all, by the 
 example which he gave of a strong, national, patriotic 
 tendency. But at the same time, all but his most 
 fervid admirers must admit that he is frequently flat, 
 his epigrams reveal little wit or pointedness, his odes 
 lack colour and distinction. Like so many of the 
 men of the eighteenth century, he was hailed on his 
 appearance as a star of the first magnitude, but he 
 was almost immediately obscured by others of greater 
 and more lasting brightness. 
 
 Klopstock's influence upon the group of poets 
 known as the Hain was very great ; but, before 
 discussing them, mention should be made of one or 
 two minor writers, who contributed in various ways 
 to the rise of German poetry. Christian Fiirchtegott 
 Gellert (1715-69) was the most distinguished of the 
 writers of fables, or short narratives of the fable 
 character. His Fabeln appeared in 1746. But the 
 influence of his sincere, elegant personality was greater 
 than that of his poems. He was one of Leipzig's most 
 admired teachers, and impressed Goethe in his early 
 university days. Karl Wilhelm Ramler (1725-98) 
 wrote odes and cantatas, but his merit lay in the 
 strict rules which he applied to the form of poetry. 
 Even Lessing availed himself of his services as a 
 reviser. But in many of the collections of poetry 
 which Ramler edited he took such undue freedom 
 that even his best friends quarrelled with him. 
 Salomon Gessner (1730-88) brought pastoral writing 
 to the height of its popularity with his Idyllen (1756). 
 He has the light touch of the Anacreontists and the 
 elegance of his French models. He has all the old
 
 76 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 conventions, but he has at the same time the keen 
 eye of the artist. In France these prose idylls were 
 extremely popular. In Germany, too, he took an 
 important part, along with Brockes, Haller, and 
 Klopstock, in the development of a closer contact 
 with nature. The poetry of war, which is sparsely 
 represented in the eighteenth century, attaches itself 
 to the achievements of Frederick the Great. Gleim's 
 Preussische Kriegslieder von eineni Grenadier (1758) 
 were received with acclamation, and they had the 
 merit, as Goethe remarked later, of springing from and 
 being a reflex of the prevailing sentiment of pride 
 and patriotism. But the best work in this field was 
 accomplished by a man who was both poet and 
 soldier, Ewald Christian von Kleist (1715-59). 
 There is something touching in the contrast between 
 Kleist's gentle, elegaic nature and his fate — he fell in 
 the battle of Kunersdorf He had begun under 
 Gleim's influence as an Anacreontist ; then he fell 
 under the spell of Thomson's " Seasons," which he 
 sought to emulate in a poem of which only the first 
 part, " Der Friihling," was completed. Then the war 
 claimed him, and he addressed to his comrades in 
 arms the famous " Ode an die preussische Armee ! " 
 
 " Uniiberwundenes Heer, mit dem Tod und Verderben 
 in Legionen Feinde dringt, 
 um das der frohe Sieg die giildnen Fliigel schwingt, 
 O Heer, bereit zum Siegen oder Sterben." 
 
 One cannot help comparing Kleist's poetry and 
 fate with those of Theodor Korner, and indeed we 
 shall not meet these bold patriotic tones again till 
 we come to the poetry of the War of Liberation in 
 the nineteenth century. 
 
 The programme of the Hain poets, to cultivate
 
 THE EARLY EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 77 
 
 religion, virtue, feeling, and an innocent wit, was 
 derived from Klopstock. Part of it sounds like a 
 reproof of the Anacreontists, and still more of 
 Wieland, whom they cordially hated. The society 
 was formed in 1772 by the brothers Miller, Voss, 
 Holty, and Hahn, under circumstances of remarkable 
 " Schwarmerei " and sentimentality, which Voss 
 describes in one of his letters.^ Still more amusing 
 were some of the meetings of this poetical union. 
 " We celebrated," writes Voss, " Klopstock's birthday 
 gloriously : a long table was set and adorned with 
 flowers. At the top was an empty armchair for 
 Klopstock, and on it rested his complete works. 
 Under the table lay VVieland'-s ' Idris ' in fragments. 
 The spills were made out of Wieland's writings. 
 Boie, who does not smoke, had also to light up and 
 stamp upon the ' Idris.' Then we drank Rhine wine 
 to the health of Klopstock, and the memory of Luther 
 and Hermann. We spoke of liberty, with our hats 
 on, of Germany, the songs of youth, and you can 
 fancy how ! Finally, we burned Wieland's portrait 
 and his ' Idris.' " It is remarkable how often in the 
 history of German poetry we meet with these societies, 
 and in this, as in most, it was a case of " much cry 
 and little wool." The best work was done by men 
 who had only a slight connection with the original 
 society. Heinrich Christian Boie (17/^4-1806) had 
 founded in 1770 the Gottinger Musenalmenach, and 
 this publication became the organ of the Hain. It 
 was destined to play a great role in the development 
 of the German lyric, for Burger, Goethe, Lessing, 
 and Klopstock were among the contributors. Boie 
 
 ' See Witkop, i. p. 219
 
 78 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 himself is poetically of no importance. Johann 
 Heinrich Voss (175 1-1826) was the soul of the union, 
 and he has made his fame secure by his admirable 
 translations of Homer and by his idylls, in which he 
 has succeeded in throwing off much of the unreality 
 of the old pastoral poetry. The lyrical genius of the 
 group was Ludwig H. C. Hblty (1748-76). His 
 career was cut short b)- consumption at the age of 
 twenty-eight, but he had already written a consider- 
 able amount of poetry. He tried the ode, the ballad, 
 the idyll, and the elegy. Joy in country life, the 
 moon, the nightingale, longing for love, nearness to 
 God, and calm anticipation of death are his favourite 
 themes. The ballads are not serious or impressive. 
 In form Holty is more lucid and tuneful than his 
 model, Klopstock. In his lighter poems, on subjects 
 like wine, joy, the wisdom of enjoying life, Holty re- 
 verts to the Anacreontic, and has thus given us some 
 of his happiest songs. His appreciation of nature 
 is warmer and more directly expressed than in the 
 older school : — 
 
 " Noch tont der Busch vol! Nachtigallen 
 Dem Jiingling siasse Fiihlung zu ; 
 Noch strbmt, wenn ihre Lieder schallen, 
 Selbst in zerriss'ne Seelen Ruh I 
 O wunderschdn ist Gottes Erde, 
 Und wert, darauf vergniigt zu sein ! 
 Drum will ich, bis ich Asche werde, 
 Mich dieser schonen Erde freun ! '"' 
 
 Shortly after its inception the Counts Stolberg, 
 Christian and Friedrich, joined the Hain, and added 
 to its standing. The former is best known for his 
 translation of Sophocles, while the latter is more 
 important as a lyricist. He is a forerunner of the
 
 THE EARLY EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 79 
 
 romantic in his love of Catholicism and mediaevalism. 
 He anticipated Heine in his poetry of the sea, a 
 theme which few German poets celebrated before 
 the nineteenth century. His " Lied eines deutschen 
 Knaben " : — 
 
 "Mein Arm wird stark und gross mein Mut 
 Gib, Vater, mir ein Schwert ! " 
 
 is his best-known poem. 
 
 Closely connected in sympathy with the Hain poets 
 was the Holstein writer, Matthias Claudius (1740- 
 18 1 5). He too came under the influence of Klop- 
 stock. He called himself " Der Wandsbecker Bote," 
 from the name of a provincial paper which he edited 
 for four years. He led a happy, pious, useful life, 
 with his hens and goats and cows, his peasant wife 
 and twelve children in patriarchal simplicity. With 
 his homely wisdom and sunny optimism, he made 
 a considerable name as a writer. The poetry, though 
 wonderfully harmonious, direct, and simple, is, how- 
 ever, not a high type of art. His most beautiful poem 
 is that " Abendlied," which in its melody and elegaic 
 sentiment reminds us of Paul Gerhardt : — 
 
 " Der Mond ist aufgegangen, 
 die goldnen Sternlein prangen 
 am Himmel hell und klar ; 
 der Wald steht schwarz und schweiget, 
 und aus den Wiesen steiget 
 der weisse Nebel wunderbar." 
 
 In the truth and directness of his attitude to nature, 
 in the spontaneous expression of his emotions, 
 whether he be moved by joy or sorrow, Claudius 
 approaches the simplicity and immediateness of the 
 Folksong, but he has also the tendency, the reflection.
 
 8o THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 and some of the stiffness of the school of Klopstock. 
 He began consciously to imitate the popular tone, 
 and that was at once fatal. But a number of his 
 poems, " Christiane," " An den Tod," " Abendlied 
 eines Bauersmanns," and the lines " Heute will ich 
 frohlich, frohlich sein," are admirable. His Rhein- 
 weinlied, " Bekranzt mit Laub den lieben vollen 
 Becher," and his Weihelied, " Stimmt an mit hellem 
 hohem Klang," are still favourite songs for social 
 gatherings. The latter is the best expression which 
 we possess of the patriotic bardic enthusiasm so 
 characteristic of the Hain. 
 
 Gottfried August Biirger^ (1747-94) is connected 
 with the Hain, through Boie, who proved a most 
 valuable friend and adviser to this unhappy poet, and 
 published in the MusenalmenacJi for 1774 his famous 
 ballad " Lenore." Otherwise Biirger is an inde- 
 pendent writer, free from all the tendencies of the 
 Hain. Unfortunately, for a man of Burger's tempera- 
 ment, he was compelled for most of his life to live 
 in very straitened circumstances, as an official in a 
 village near Gottingen, later as an unsalaried teacher 
 in the university of that town. About his great 
 mental gifts there can be no doubt ; he was a good 
 linguist and was conversant with the poetry of France, 
 with the lyrics of Parnell and Prior, with Spanish and 
 Italian. But he was a sensualist by nature, a fact 
 which rendered his married life a miserable failure. 
 His connection with the Klotz circle in Halle during 
 his student days had much to do with his later 
 excesses. But the fact remains that Burger was a 
 rebel against convention and morality, a rebel through 
 
 ' W. von Wurzbach, Burgers Lebcn, Leipzig, 1900.
 
 THE EARLY EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 8i 
 
 weakness and not strength, for ever and anon he is 
 overwhelmed by despair, filled with ideal longing, but 
 eventually sinking back into his natural self. Such a 
 nature, unguided for any length of time by any moral 
 or aesthetic principle, was bound to affect his poetry, 
 for the best that a lyrical poet can give us is, after all, 
 himself Not that poetry need have a moral tendency, 
 but the instability of Burger's character, the lack of 
 restraint, the failure to recognise any such things as 
 virtue and resignation, his contempt for classical 
 traditions and forms, his extraordinary egoism pre- 
 vented him from ever attaining a clear view of the 
 essence of art and beauty. His best lyrics were 
 inspired by Molly, the younger sister of his wife, 
 with whom he fell violently in love. " Elegie " is an 
 example of his strength and his weakness. The lines 
 are polished ; there is distinct lyrical sweetness in 
 some of the conceptions, others are nothing less 
 than revolting. The general purport is conveyed in 
 
 the lines : — 
 
 " Freier Strom sei meine Liebe, 
 Wo ich freier SchifFer bin ! 
 Das Gewoge seiner Triebe 
 Walk dann ruhiger dahin." 
 
 In the ballad Burger's peculiar talents found a much 
 more suitable sphere for their activity. His great 
 achievement was " Lenore," which is in many respects 
 the most striking ballad in German. From the very 
 first stanza, with its dramatic question — 
 
 " Lenore fuhr um Morgenrot 
 Empor aus schweren Traumen : 
 'Bist untreu, Wilhelm, oder tot? 
 Wie lange willst du saumen?' . . ." 
 
 he grips the imagination of the reader, and retains it 
 6
 
 82 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 by the vividness, rapidity, and realism of the delinea- 
 tion. The theme is based on the popular tradition 
 of the dead bridegroom rising from the grave to fetch 
 his bride. We find this theme treated, for example, 
 in the Scottish ballad, " Sweet William's Ghost," but 
 the latter falls far behind Burger's poem. Burger has 
 given the event an historical setting at the end of the 
 Seven Years' War. He has added the dramatic 
 motive that the maiden has brought her fate upon 
 herself by her longing to die, and her refusal to 
 accept heavenly consolation. Burger had heard a 
 country girl sing the refrain : — 
 
 "Der Mond, der scheint so helle, 
 Die Toten reiten so schnelle ; 
 Feins Liebchen, graut dir nicht ? " 
 
 He may also have known the general theme from 
 some Low German ballad, but the great merits of the 
 poem are his own — the magnificent command of 
 language, the striking climax in the dialogue between 
 Lenore and her mother, the dramatic entrance of the 
 rider who may be the returning lover or the spectre 
 Death, the great skill in the description of the ride, 
 at first distinct and modulated, then wild and 
 indefinite : — 
 
 "Wie flog, was rund der Mond beschien, 
 Wie flog es in die Feme I 
 Wie flogen oben uber bin 
 Der Himmel und die Sterne I " 
 
 Very skilful, too, is the delineation of the change in 
 the maiden, from tenderness and joyful compliance to 
 awe subdued by love and confidence, and from that 
 to terror in the presence of death : " O weh ! Lass 
 ruhn die Toten ! " If exception be taken to anything
 
 THE EARLY EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 83 
 
 in so brilliant a piece of work, it must be to the last 
 few stanzas, where the transformation of the rider to a 
 skeleton with scythe and hour-glass, and the dance of 
 the howling spirits round the graves, are too fully 
 dwelt upon to be anything but gruesome. Much as 
 we admire the poem, we cannot compliment Burger 
 on the self-admiration expressed by him in a letter to 
 Boie, on 12th August 1773 : " Now I am finished with 
 my immortal ' Lenore ' ! Is it possible that the mind 
 of man can invent anything so fine? I am astonished 
 at myself, and can scarcely believe that I have made 
 it." Burger's mode of composition was slow and 
 painful ; he was most frequently inspired by other 
 poetry. In regard to "Lenore" he had derived 
 valuable suggestions from Herder. " O Boie, Boie, 
 what a delight," he writes, " when I found that a man 
 like Herder said concerning popular and nature 
 poetry, with more clearness, just what I had long 
 vaguely thought and felt. I think that ' Lenore ' 
 should in some degree correspond to his doctrine." 
 " Lenore " is not Burger's only ballad of note. He 
 reveals admirable humour in " Der Kaiser und der 
 Abt," imagination and force in " Der wilde Jager." 
 Mention should be made also of " Das Lied vom 
 braven Manne," " Der Bruder Graurock und die 
 Pilgerin," " Die Weiber von Weinsberg," and " Des 
 Pfarrers Tochter von Taubenheim ! " With these pieces 
 he raised the German ballad to a new level ; he gave 
 it vitality, dramatic interest, an imaginative back- 
 ground, and that connection with the songs, legends, 
 and superstitions of the people which is perhaps the 
 most valuable, as it is the most popular, element of 
 his work. Nowadays one must regret Schiller's 
 merciless criticism of Biirger's poems. It was well
 
 84 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 meant, but it came too late, three years before 
 Burger's death. Schiller was right in his main 
 contention that Burger lacked ideality, and that the 
 aim of all poetry should be truth and beauty. But 
 to Biirger such advice was useless. He could never 
 rise to an aesthetic ideal till his whole personality was 
 changed, nor could he ever aspire to the poetry that 
 should be practised by pure hands. What Schiller 
 failed to see was the clear fact that Burger had great 
 gifts as a naive realistic singer for the people. In a 
 ruder, less cultured age he might have developed into 
 a great poet, moulding the feelings, the mythology, 
 and the folklore of his age into simple popular poetry. 
 But he failed to realise his proper calling ; mentally 
 and morally he is constantly in conflict with the 
 current of his time, so that his career presents a 
 strange picture of success and failure, of genius 
 occasionally triumphant but never able to maintain 
 itself for long. 
 
 We have seen the value which Burger attached to 
 Herder's theories on popular poetry, and it is time 
 to consider this remarkable man and his connection 
 with the development of the lyric. Johann Gott- 
 fried Herder ^ was born in 1744, studied in Konigs- 
 berg, began to issue his critical writings in 1767, and 
 from 1776 to his death in 1803 continued to be one 
 of the literary forces in Weimar. In 1773 he 
 contributed to the Blatter von deutscher Art und 
 Kunst a paper entitled " Auszug aus dem Briefwechsel 
 liber Ossian und die Lieder alter Volker." It had been 
 written earlier, and the new ideas which it contained 
 had already been communicated by Herder to Goethe 
 
 ' E. Kijhnemann, Herders Leben, Munich, 1895,
 
 THE EARLY EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 85 
 
 in Strassburg. He opens with objections to the 
 translation of Ossian by Denis into hexameters, and 
 goes on to discuss the origin and character of popular 
 song. Ossian in German hexameters, no matter how 
 fine they may be, is no longer Ossian. Ossian's 
 poems are songs, songs of the people, and the 
 wonderful power of such popular poetry depends on 
 the living, lyrical, and, as it were, dance element in 
 it, on the vivid actuality of the images, the connection 
 and absolute necessity of the content and the emotions, 
 the symmetry of the words, syllables, and sometimes 
 even of the letters, the progress of the melody, and 
 a hundred other things. Poetry must have action, 
 must be action. The beauty of the language in these 
 old poems is due to the fact that the authors had no 
 abstract terms ; there is nothing artificial or premedi- 
 tated ; the expression is natural, clear, vivid ; they 
 utter directly and exactly what they feel. Nowa- 
 days, with the growth of education and civilisation, 
 we no longer see and feel, but think and ponder only. 
 These poems are full of abrupt transitions, but this 
 again is natural, for they spring from the direct 
 presence, the immediate enthusiasm of the senses 
 and the imagination. He mentions " Sweet William's 
 Ghost " as an example, and asks, what could be more 
 boldly sketched, more disjointed, and yet more 
 natural, more according to the manner and character 
 of the people ? He goes on to say that the Germans, 
 too, must have possessed such folksongs. " But who is 
 there to collect them ? to trouble about them ? to 
 interest himself in songs of the people ? in the streets, 
 and lanes, and market-places ? songs which often do 
 not scan and are badly rhymed ? who would collect 
 them and print them for our critics, who can count
 
 86 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 syllables and scan so well ? " He points out the effect 
 of the omission of the article, and the mute syllable 
 in old English poetry. He laments the decadence 
 of the " Romanze," and hopes that the resuscitation of 
 the beautiful old folksongs may give the German 
 lyric a new future. In the years 1778 and 1779 he 
 issued two collections of Volkslieder, translating many 
 from foreign tongues with great skill. In the intro- 
 duction to the second part he apologises for the 
 field-flower, which makes but a poor show when 
 transplanted to the flower-bed of white paper, and is 
 eyed, plucked, and examined as if it were a flower for 
 show and splendour. He explains clearly and forcibly 
 what he regards as song (Lied). " The essence of the 
 Lied is song, not picture ; its perfection lies in the 
 melodious movement of the passion or feeling, which 
 might be characterised by the old apt expression 
 ' Weise.' If a song lacks this, if it has no melody 
 (Ton), no poetic modulation, no continued move- 
 ment and progression of the latter — though it have 
 images, and composition and prettiness of colours, 
 as much as it may : it is no longer song. . . . Song 
 must be heard, not seen ; heard with the ear of the 
 soul, which does not count individual syllables merely, 
 and measure, and weigh, but is carried along by 
 the melodious movement." Herder's own lyrical 
 work is of little importance in comparison with his 
 translations and criticism ; no one in the whole 
 history of the German lyric has contributed towards 
 the development of German song to the same extent 
 as he. He revealed new methods, new motives, 
 a new ideal of popular poetry altogether, and at a 
 critical period stimulated creative geniuses like Burger 
 and Goethe.
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 The Classical Age of German Poetry 
 
 The eighteenth century is a history of progress not 
 only in the lyric but in all other branches of literature. 
 Burger is greater than Hagedorn or Giinther, Klop- 
 stock an advance upon Haller and Brockes. Yet 
 even the best of these writers fall far short of what 
 is universally regarded as great lyric poetry. Klop- 
 stock's failure was not due to the same reason as 
 that of Burger, nor Burger's failure similar to that 
 of Haller. There was something lacking in each, in 
 some of them a great deal. We could point to 
 Burger's want of character and personality, but 
 Klopstock and Haller possessed these. Haller was 
 perhaps too engrossed in analytical studies to acquire 
 deep insight into the essence of poetry, to feel what 
 poetry is ; this insight and feeling Klopstock certainly 
 had. In him, again, we miss the sweet cadence, the 
 rounded phrase, the sense for beautiful style. This 
 shows how extremely difficult it is to excel in poetry, 
 perhaps the most difficult thing in the world. Men 
 like Gleim fail to take the task seriously, and pos- 
 terity is doubtful whether such deserve the name of 
 poet at all. Others, like Jacobi, succeed once or 
 twice in reaching the highest stage, but the few pearls 
 have to be diligently sought for among a huge heap 
 
 87
 
 88 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 of traditional lumber and tawdry ornaments. The 
 slopes of Parnassus are certainl)^ roomy, and the 
 man who has ascended even a little way need not 
 be despised. But when we see the spectacle of another 
 man who has climbed to the summit, and stands there 
 pre-eminent, we can appreciate all the better the great- 
 ness of his achievement. It is certainly not possible 
 to explain the genius of a Goethe ; we can say this 
 and that, we can talk about his surroundings, his 
 development, his great innate gifts ; we may be almost 
 certain that some events and circumstances in his life 
 have aided him, that the presence of certain other 
 things might have thwarted him ; we may make it 
 clear that his artistic work is the true and necessary 
 expression of his personality and experience, but even 
 then are we so very much nearer to an explanation ? 
 What is this personality of genius? And how did 
 Goethe acquire that sovereign ease of artistic song, 
 the golden line, the apt word, the vivid image, the 
 perfect harmony between feeling and utterance ? 
 How is it that he contrived to remain great for so 
 long and in so many spheres? German critics talk 
 glibly of descending into the poet's workshop, and 
 studying the poem in the process of development. 
 An interesting, and, in Goethe's case, an easy task ! 
 But when we ask ourselves, whether anyone has ever, 
 even in the remotest sense, been able to imitate this 
 craftsman, his skill in the mingling of metals, in 
 wielding the hammer and shaping the object which 
 he had in view, it becomes apparent that the metaphor 
 and the method are but touching the shadow of the 
 matter, that this God-given skill is something rare 
 and strange, mysterious even to its possessor, un- 
 approachable and inimitable. A poet must read.
 
 THE CLASSICAL AGE OF GERMAN POETRY 89 
 
 observe, study ; there we can follow him. But what of 
 that other gift of which Coleridge speaks, the " hear- 
 ing of that divine and nightly whispering voice which 
 speaks to mighty minds of predestinated garlands, 
 starry and unwithering " ? There is an optimistic 
 feeling among modern German critics that the poet's 
 secret has at length been wrung from him, that they 
 know not only what great poetry is, but how and 
 under what conditions it is produced. " Die bequeme 
 Lehre von der Inspiration ist heute widerlegt," says 
 Witkop. Such certainty in speculative matters is 
 something to be envied. And from this it is but a 
 step with the more reckless to the setting up of rules 
 and formulas which they apply to the poetical pro- 
 duction of all poets. But the history of art, and of 
 literary criticism above all, has shown how frequently 
 the acutest minds, from an Aristotle to a Lessing, have 
 been at fault, how in poetry and genius it is the un- 
 expected, the seemingly impossible thing that is 
 ultimately achieved. Carlyle speaks of Goethe's crea- 
 tive work as " dawning mysterious on a world that 
 hoped not for it." The poet has helped us all that 
 he could ; he has spoken of himself, his experiences, 
 his whole inner being with a candour which is pardon- 
 able only in so great a man, and which in England, 
 where Goethe is not yet known as he ought to be, 
 has contributed to retard his popularity. Everyone 
 knows how difficult it is to understand, still more to 
 explain one's own mental inheritance and development. 
 It must, therefore, take a courageous critic to say that 
 Goethe's wonderful development and power were due 
 to this and that, and a still more daring one to set up 
 Goethe as the touchstone of all later lyricists, to keep 
 his example, so to speak, in the mind's eye, and con-
 
 90 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 demn or extol according to the principles deduced 
 from his experience. The critic is wise who remembers 
 that, in addition to the "fieri" there is also the "nasci," 
 and, in regard to the latter, we are still in a " no man's 
 land," a region vast, uncharted and undefined. 
 
 No poet, not even Shakespeare, has been more 
 fully investigated than Goethe, and the mass of facts, 
 as opposed to mere hypotheses, collected regarding 
 him is enormous. We know that in originality of 
 mind, strength of character for overcoming obstacles, 
 power of drawing inspiration from everything around 
 him, and capacity of lyrical expression, he has no 
 equal. He goes to no predecessor for his theme ; 
 nature and life are his teachers. He sings directly 
 what he feels, nothing less and nothing more, with 
 spontaneity, freshness, and simplicity. He is never 
 at a loss for a subject, because his sensitive mind was 
 alive to every suggestion and he could not rest, or 
 rather could not move onward to a new mood till 
 he had found in lyrical form the natural and necessary 
 expression for his feelings. He is one of the most 
 subjective of poets. He does not always use the 
 personal form, not even in the lyric, but behind 
 almost all his artistic creations, be they presented in 
 epic, dramatic, or lyrical garb, we can feel the person- 
 ality and mind and experience of the man. From 
 this fact two conclusions are apparent, that the study 
 of Goethe's lyric will furnish us with a history of his 
 emotional life in a continued though incomplete form, 
 and that a very considerable knowledge of Goethe's 
 life and of his relationships to men and movements 
 of his time is the indispensable preparation for a 
 thorough understanding of his work. He himself 
 was not of this opinion, for he intentionally discarded
 
 THE CLASSICAL AGE OF GERMAN POETRY 91 
 
 the chronological arrangement of his poems and 
 expressed the fear that the analytic critic might 
 reduce to prosaic elements the artistic whole which 
 he had created. But no pedantry can destroy the 
 inheritance which Goethe has bequeathed. " Ein 
 geistreich ausgesprochenes Wort wirkt auf die Ewig- 
 keit." His charm is indestructible, and the labours 
 of historical criticism have not only revealed the 
 reality and genuineness of every poetical creation, 
 but have also brought home to us the extraordinary 
 richness of Goethe's inner life, his wonderful insight, 
 his self-knowledge. These qualities he did not 
 always possess, and here again we discover one of 
 the secrets of his greatness, his unique power of 
 development. We see Goethe grow in mental breadth 
 and strength, in harmoniousness of mind, in moral 
 and aesthetic culture, in ideality. When the crown 
 is laid upon the structure we stand spellbound at the 
 majesty and beauty of the edifice, but it does one 
 good to reflect that it was toilfully raised after many 
 a slip and error. Such a life is a monument to the 
 power of human endeavour, for Goethe as poet and 
 man is one of the greatest phenomena of history. 
 
 Johann Wolfgang Goethe ^ (1749- 1832) was the 
 son of well-to-do parents and passed a sunny youth in 
 Frankfort-on-the-Maine. Unlike so many German 
 poets he was, throughout his life, one of fortune's 
 favourites. Bode calls him " der frohliche Goethe," 
 and this bright optimism was the result of health, 
 comfort, and cheerful society. His earliest poem, 
 "Die Hollenfahrt Christi," shows no particular promise, 
 
 ^ B. Litzmann, Goethes I.yrik, Berlin, 1903. E. Lichten- 
 berger, Etude sur les poesies Jyriques de Goethe, Paris, 1882,
 
 92 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 and even the pieces written by Goethe when a student 
 in Leipzig, the " Annette " songs and the Neue Lieder, 
 published in 1769, are too much under the spell of 
 Anacreontic tradition, too gallant and erotic to be the 
 expression of Goethe's inmost self " Die schone 
 Xacht " is characteristic in its borrowed cynicism but 
 one of the best in form and feeling for nature. In 
 the spring of 1770 Goethe came to Strassburg to 
 complete his legal studies, and here, under the 
 influence of Herder's tuition and the awakening of 
 his soul through his passionate love for Friedrike 
 Brion, the daughter of the pastor of Sesenheim, 
 Goethe became a great lyrical poet. No reader of 
 the Neue Lieder could have expected the author to 
 have produced, a year or two later, such a poem as 
 " Mailied," which is as fresh and irresistible as the 
 song of the skylark exulting in love and sun- 
 shine : — 
 
 "So liebt die Lerche 
 
 Gesang und Luft, 
 
 Und Morgenblumen 
 
 Den Himmelsduft, 
 
 Wie ich dich Hebe 
 Mit warmem Blut, 
 Die du mir Jugend 
 Und Freud' und Mut 
 
 Zu neuen Liedem 
 
 Und Tanzen gibst. 
 Sei ewig glijcklich, 
 Wie du mich liebst ! " 
 
 Still more impressive is that brilliant picture of his 
 journey on horseback through the black night, his 
 arrival and departure contained in " VVillkommen und 
 Abschied." What an eye for the m\sterious effects
 
 THE CLASSICAL AGE OF GERMAN POETRY 93 
 
 of the mist and the moonlight, what power of re- 
 producing them in a few words : — 
 
 " Schon stand im Nebelkleid die Eiche 
 Ein aufgetiirmter Riese da, 
 Wo Finsternis aus dem Gestrauche 
 Mit hundert schwarzen Augen sah." 
 
 " Mit einem gemalten Band " gives us the lighter side 
 of this love idyll, while " Heidenroslein," a masterpiece 
 of delicate suggestion, is full of the elements of 
 tragedy. No such love poetry had ever been written 
 in German before. 
 
 The lyrics of the Frankfort and VVetzlar period 
 are more varied both in form and content. He tried 
 his hand at unrhymed stanzas, but with indifferent 
 success, in poems like " Elysium " and " Pilgersmor- 
 genlied." " Der Wanderer," a pretty idyll in dialogue, 
 representing the sweetness of simple domestic life, is 
 riper in conception and in execution. Other poems, 
 " Kiinstlers Morgenlied," " Kunstlers Abendlied," 
 " Kunstlers Fug und Recht," deal with the relation of 
 art to life, with critics and criticism in a humorous, 
 epigrammatic manner. He attempted a higher flight 
 in a series of philosophical poems, some of them 
 fragments, " Der ewige Jude," " Mahomets Gesang," 
 " Ganymed," " Adler und Taube," " An Schwager 
 Kronos," etc. The greatest of them is " Prometheus," 
 a magnificent ode on the spirit of strength, self- 
 reliance, and defiance. These works represent the 
 storm and stress of Goethe's youth, his aspirations, 
 his unsettled longing, his revolt, and stand even 
 higher than his poems of love, for they are not merely 
 song but the utterance of a great mind and person- 
 ality. He has, however, still the tenderness of a 
 singer of the people, as the graceful lines of " Das
 
 94 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 Veilchen " and the inimitable simplicity and sweet- 
 ness of " Der Konig in Thule " prove. The love 
 poetry of the period inspired by Lili Schonemann, 
 the daughter of a Frankfort banker, is less passionate 
 than the Sesenheim lyrics. In " Xeue Liebe, Xeues 
 Leben," " An Belinden," " Lili's Park " we see the 
 poet struggling, protesting against a tie from which 
 he ultimately wrenched himself free. The episode is 
 worthily closed by the beautiful poem, " Auf dem 
 See " :— 
 
 " Und frische Nahrung, neues Blut 
 
 Sauf ich aus freier Welt ; 
 
 Wie ist Natur so hold und gut, 
 
 Die mich am Busen halt I " 
 
 Thus the poem opens with a hint of the situation, 
 on nature's breast, abruptly as if the pen had suddenly 
 caught the train of the poet's reflection. As he sails 
 across the Swiss lake, the mountains in the distance 
 before his eyes, the image of Lili rises before him and 
 makes him pause ; the new feeling is expressed by a 
 change in the metre : — 
 
 " Aug', mein Aug', was sinkst du wieder .'' 
 Gold'ne Triiume, kommt ihr wieder.' 
 Weg, du Traum ! so gold du bist ; 
 Hier auch Lieb' und Leben ist.'' 
 
 Then, to strengthen his resolution, the stars, the 
 morning wind, and the ripening fruit appear before 
 him and suggest in admirable symbolism a brighter 
 and happier future : — 
 
 '■ Auf der Welle bHnken 
 tausend schwebende Sterne. 
 Weiche N'ebel trinken 
 rings die turmende Feme.
 
 THE CLASSICAL AGE OF GERMAN POETRY 95 
 
 Morgenwind umfliigelt 
 die beschattete Bucht, 
 Und im See bespiegelt 
 Sich die reifende Frucht." 
 
 As in the best of Goethe's poems there is here a 
 clear movement from one mood to another, a crescendo 
 to a definite artistic climax. 
 
 As he returned from Switzerland Goethe was in- 
 troduced to the young Duke of Weimar, who invited 
 him to his court and succeeded in retaining him 
 there. As an official, and latterly the factotum of the 
 Duke, he showed administrative ability of the highest 
 order. During the first Weimar period, 1775 to 1786, 
 he did not succeed in finishing the longer works 
 which he undertook, but in the sphere of minor 
 poetry he attained to his highest achievements. The 
 refinement of court life, practical work, and cultured 
 society gave him a new outlook and freed him from 
 the inartistic rebellious mood of his Sturm und Drang 
 years ; with the aid of Frau von Stein, his new con- 
 fidant, he acquired a higher ideal of life and art. 
 This lady was already past the first bloom of youth, 
 and the mother of seven children, when Goethe met 
 her, and it was by her personal magnetism and great 
 mental gifts that she attracted the youthful poet. She 
 seems to have understood Goethe better than any other. 
 She knew, as he says, every fibre in his nature : — 
 
 " Kanntest jeden zug in meinem Wesen, 
 spahtest, wie die reinste Nerve klingt, 
 konntest mich mit einem Blicke lesen, 
 den so schwer ein sterblich Aug durchdringt. 
 Tropftest Massigung dem heissen Blute, 
 richtetest den wilden, irren Lauf, 
 und in deinen Engelsarmen ruhte 
 die zerstbrte Brust sich wieder auf."
 
 96 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 He opened his heart to her without restraint, and this 
 opportunity of revealing himself, his ideas and aims, 
 to another, not vaguely and in the general terms of 
 passion, but in the intimacy of cultured friendship, 
 gave Goethe a clearer insight into his own nature 
 and his surroundings. That self-knowledge and self- 
 mastery which we admire in the Goethe of mature 
 life was largely acquired at this stage in his develop- 
 ment. The calmness of self-recognition, the joy at 
 the discovery and certainty of his vocation and his 
 strength, are nobly expressed in " Zueignung," v\-hich 
 was written in 1784, and later prefixed to his poems. 
 " Ilmenau " is of the same character, giving a poetical 
 picture of the situation in W'eimar, with its dangers 
 and distractions, but confident and hopeful in tone. 
 Some of the finest lyrics, "Rastlose Liebe," "Wanderers 
 Xachtlied," " Ein Gleiches," " An Lida," were inspired 
 by Frau von Stein ; they are hardly love poems in 
 the ordinary sense of the word, though the poet's 
 passion breaks forth here and there, but rather con- 
 fessions, expressions of feeling, from which the singer 
 has been freed by artistic utterance : — 
 
 " Gab mir ein Gott zu sagen was ich leide." 
 
 They exemplify Goethe's own explanation of 
 
 poetry, " Thus I feel what makes the poet, a heart 
 
 full, absolutely full of an emotion." But the form is 
 
 as chaste as the emotion. In "Wanderers Xachtlied," 
 
 " Der du von dem Himmel bist 
 
 alles Leid und Schmerzen stillest, 
 
 den, der doppelt elend ist, 
 
 doppelt mit Erquickung fullest, 
 
 ach, ich bin des Treibens miide I 
 
 Was soil all der Schmerz und Lust .'' 
 
 Siisser Friede, 
 
 komm, ach komm in meine Brust I "
 
 THE CLASSICAL AGE OF GERMAN POETRY 97 
 
 the inversion of the relative clause, the grammatical 
 looseness, the anacoluthon, the irregularity of the 
 verses, all express the dissonance and unrest of his 
 soul. The heartfelt prayer is so naturally and power- 
 fully uttered that form and content are one. Some- 
 times Goethe expresses his ideas in short epigrams, a 
 form of which he grew very fond later ; examples 
 are to be found in the group, " Antiker Form sich 
 nahernd." Sometimes he strikes a nobler note, as in 
 the great philosophical poems, " Gesang der Geister 
 iiber den Wassern," " Die Grenzen der Menschheit," 
 and " Das Gottliche." The two latter are magnificent 
 examples of the power of unrhymed verse. If the 
 reader will compare them with the unrhymed stanzas 
 < of Klopstock, if he will read the. one after the other, 
 he will be surprised ; nothing will bring home to him 
 so effectively the lucidity, the melody, the supreme 
 mastery of phrase, line, and stanza in Goethe's poetry. 
 They mark a new stage in Goethe's attitude to life. 
 How different the calm but confident tone as compared 
 with the ambition and passion of the Mahomet and 
 Prometheus poems ! He has now recognised his 
 limitations as a human being, his dependence upon 
 nature, his subordination to a higher will. Let man 
 be helpful and good, for this is his distinction. Nature 
 and fortune are blind and feelingless, man alone can 
 distinguish, choose, and judge : — 
 
 " Er allein darf 
 Den Guten lohnen. 
 Den Bosen strafen, 
 Heilen und retten 
 Alles Irrende, Schweifende 
 Niitzlich verbinden."' 
 
 On one occasion Goethe said, " All my lyrics are 
 7
 
 98 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 poems of the moment (Gelegenheitsgedichte) ; they 
 are inspired by actuality, and rooted therein." A well- 
 known example is the " Gesang der Geister iiber den 
 Wassern," the theme of which occurred to Goethe 
 while watching the Staubbach Fall near Lauterbrunnen 
 in the Bernese Oberland. But one important point 
 must here be noted, and it applies to nearly all of 
 Goethe's philosophical poems. The theme has become 
 transfigured, generalised ; as the poem stands in its 
 completed ideality, the " Gelegenheit," the occasion 
 or impulse, vanishes. It matters little or nothing what 
 waterfall was before his eyes ; the philosophical thought 
 or idea, the comparison of human life with falling 
 water is the burden of the song. So too in " Ganymed," 
 " Prometheus," " Das Gottliche," and " Die Grenzen 
 der Menschheit," though we know that they embody 
 Goethe's experience, yet the form is impersonal, and 
 it is even doubtful if we are entitled to identify Goethe 
 in each case with all the sentiments of his heroes. 
 When Goethe wrote his love lyrics, for example, 
 
 " Wie herrlich leuchtet 
 Mir die Natur ! 
 Wie glanzt die Sonne ! 
 Wie lacht die Flur ! " 
 
 it is as if he had thrown open his window in Sesen- 
 heim, and in the freshness and glow of awakened 
 enthusiasm, with the glorious spectacle before him, 
 and love warming his heart, he had given immediate 
 utterance to his emotion. In the philosophical poems 
 he has gone further. The ephemeral impression, the 
 chance impulse, the temporal thing has become 
 eternal. The love poems are impassioned action, 
 subjective and dramatic ; the philosophical lyrics are 
 objective truth. In some cases the two forms are
 
 THE CLASSICAL AGE OF GERMAN POETRY 99 
 
 happily combined. Take, as an example, the poem, 
 " An den Mond " :— 
 
 " Fullest wieder Busch und Thai 
 Still mit Nebelglanz, 
 Losest endlich auch einmal 
 Meine Seele ganz ; 
 Breitest iiber mein Gefild 
 Lindernd deinen Blick, 
 Wie des Freundes Auge mild 
 Uber mein Geschick." 
 
 Goethe has gone forth in the evening for a walk near 
 his " Gartenhauschen," when the moonlight with its 
 soothing influence, and the rustling stream by which 
 he is wandering play upon the poet's senses and 
 suggest feelings and thoughts of relief, of love past 
 and gone, but also of hopefulness and poetical 
 
 activity : — 
 
 " Rausche, FIuss, das Thai entlang, 
 Ohne Rast und Ruh, 
 Rausche, fliistre meinem Sang 
 Melodien zu. . . ." 
 
 Outward nature and the human mind are in wonderful 
 harmony, the " musical thought " springs from the 
 direct inspiration of external suggestions ; but as the 
 emotion softens and dies down, the poet raises him- 
 self above his surroundings, reaching his climax in the 
 consoling thought that in friendship and retirement 
 man finds support and happiness : — 
 
 " Selig wer sich vor der Welt 
 Ohne Hass verschliesst, 
 Einen Freund am Busen halt 
 Und mit dem geniesst. 
 Was von Menschen nicht gewusst 
 Oder nicht bedacht, 
 Durch das Labyrinth der Brust 
 Wandelt in der Nacht. '
 
 loo THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 The early W'eimar period is noteworthy, too, for 
 the ballads which Goethe now wrote. " Der Sanger " 
 is a glorification of the bard who sings freely and 
 for no reward. In "Der Erlkonig " the mysterious 
 powers that besiege the human mind in peril and 
 trouble are made to live with rare dramatic power. 
 The very willows and the dry leaves of autumn seem 
 to breathe, while the shadowy form of the king of the 
 elves grows to gigantic, demonic proportions. The 
 language, with the variation of hard and soft con- 
 sonants, the play of high and low vowels, the ever- 
 changing rhythm, above all the rapid development of 
 the action as seen in the words of the Erlking, the 
 increasing fear of the child, and the final terror of its 
 father, make this poem a masterpiece of ballad 
 literature. Goethe has here succeeded in solving a 
 problem, where the Romanticists at a later age failed, 
 in making the incredible live, in giving the super- 
 natural such tangible shape and voice that it grips 
 the imagination of every reader. If in "Erlkonig" 
 it is the supernatural, in "Der Fischer" nature itself, 
 the spirit of the calm, cooling water on a broiling 
 summer day, is represented as attracting and over- 
 powering the senses of man. This is true poetry : 
 few but have experienced the feeling, but who could 
 give it voice with the simplicity and powers of language 
 which he has shown ? In this period of great activity 
 many poems of less note were written, "Auf Miedings 
 Tod," "Hans Sachsens poetische Sendung," "Die 
 Harzreise im Winter," " Meine Gottin," " Mut," " Ein- 
 schrankung," etc. They show us Goethe's wide in- 
 terests and sympathies, his mental attitude to things, 
 and testify to the store of human wisdom which he had 
 acquired in the first few )'ears of his life at Weimar.
 
 THE CLASSICAL AGE OF GERMAN POETRY loi 
 
 In September 1786 Goethe set out for Italy, where 
 he remained till the summer of 1788. Quite suddenly 
 he tore himself free from the Weimar influences ^ and 
 lived in a new world, a new nature, a new art, J. J. 
 Winckelmann (17 17-1768) had been the first to 
 attract attention to Italy as the guardian and keeper 
 of the treasures of antiquity, and now Rome had be- 
 come the Mecca of art for the European world. 
 Goethe travelled here and there, saw, studied, sketched, 
 discussed art principles with artists of note, Tischbein, 
 Trippel, and Angelika Kaufmann, and revelled in the 
 exhilaration of this bright, artistic Italian milieu. 
 When he returned to the cold North, he was absolutely 
 out of sympathy with the still lingering tendencies of 
 the Sturm und Drang, his admiration for Gothic art had 
 given place to the conviction that in the calm, majestic 
 beauty of antique sculpture he had found the highest 
 ideal of art. In his great dramas, Iphigenie and Tasso^ 
 these new principles bore splendid fruit ; but in the 
 lyrical sphere there is less poetry of a high standard. 
 He has curbed his youthful fire, his spontaneous 
 subjectivity, and poems like " Gefunden," " Erster 
 Verlust," " Beherzigung," show a greater tendency to 
 objectivity and reflection. The " Roman Elegies " are 
 the most noteworthy product of this period : in them 
 Goethe excels in statuesque imagery, but the sensual 
 delights of Italian life are painted too boldly for many 
 readers. The " Epigram.s from Venice " contain 
 many short poems of note, revealing neatness of 
 expression and freshness of thought. 
 
 Goethe's close intimacy with Schiller, which began 
 
 ' For Goethe's reasons for this step see R. M. Meyer, Goethe^ 
 p. 217 f.
 
 I02 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 in 1794, was the means of awakening him to a deeper 
 interest and a greater activity in literary affairs. 
 The satirical " Xenien," which the two poets wrote in 
 collaboration, failed in their object, which was to 
 chastise the unworthy scribblers of the day, and pave 
 the way for an appreciation of true art. Both asserted 
 themselves much more effectively by the magnificent 
 series of ballads which they produced. In " Die Braut 
 von Korinth," " Der Gott und die Bajadere," " Der 
 Zauberlehrling," Goethe's art has grown more ex- 
 pansive, more epic, more ornate than in the earlier 
 pieces, but his delicacy in rounding off the main 
 theme and his skill in rhythmical language are as 
 great as ever. The lyrics of this period, " Nahe des 
 Geliebten," " Friihzeitiger Friihling," " Trost in 
 Thranen," " Meeresstille," are more objective, more 
 pensive, less enthusiastic than the youthful pieces. 
 They have not the same personal interest, but excel 
 inform. " Nachtgesang," 
 
 " O gib vom weichen Pfuhle 
 Triiumend ein halb Gehor ! 
 Bei meinem Saitenspiele 
 Schlafe ! Was willst du mehr. . . ." 
 
 is an example of a playfully humorous piece in lines 
 of exquisite smoothness and melody. Mention should 
 here be made of the songs in Wilhelin Masters 
 Lehrjahre,\x\\\c\\ was published in 1795-96 : they mark 
 the culmination of Goethe's art as a song-writer: each 
 of them deserves to be printed in letters of gold. Here 
 are the songs of the old harper : " Wer sich der Ein- 
 samkeit ergibt," " An die Turen will ich schleichen," 
 " Wer nie sein Brot mit Thranen ass," and the songs 
 of his ill-starred daughter, Mignon : " Heiss mich
 
 THE CLASSICAL AGE OF GERMAN POETRY 103 
 
 nicht reden, heiss mich schweigen," " Nur wer die 
 Sehnsucht kennt," " Kennst du das Land, wo die 
 Citronen bliihn," " So lasst mich scheinen, bis ich 
 werde." No other German poet has written seven 
 songs which are so beautiful in conception and so 
 admirable in the simplicity and grandeur of their 
 form as these. Some of them were written earlier, 
 but their effect is enhanced by their setting in the 
 novel. Goethe is here objective in form but yet 
 personal, " Kennst du das Land " breathes his own 
 longing for the land of the blue skies. Indeed it is 
 more ; in it the deep-seated German love of sunny 
 Italy has received final and perfect expression. 
 Among the noteworthy productions of the period 
 were the " Elegien," or Idylls — Goethe uses the words 
 as practically synonymous — " Alexis und Dora," 
 " Pausias und sein Blumenmadchen," " Amyntas," 
 " Euphrosyne." They were written with great ease, as 
 Goethe tells us, after the classical scheme of the hexa- 
 meter, followed by the pentameter. In the " Episteln " 
 there is the charm of wise reflection, the carefully 
 balanced thought of a mature mind, which has safely 
 ridden through the storms of youthful passion, and 
 attained the perfect equilibrium which marks, as 
 Legras says, the happy hours of great poets. A 
 number of the group, entitled " Gesellige Lieder," 
 were written during this time ; some were composed 
 much earlier, and some in Goethe's mature years, 
 and naturally they are of very different character. 
 " Ergo Bibamus " is still a popular drinking song. 
 " Freeh und Froh," " Bundeslied," and " General- 
 beichte " are in the same jovial strain, while others, 
 like " Zum neuen Jahr " and " Kophtisches Lied," 
 are more thoughtful and sedate. The second Cophtic
 
 ro4 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 song is one of Goethe's most successful didactic 
 
 poems : — 
 
 " Geh ! gehorche meinen Winken, 
 Nutze deine jungen Tage, 
 Lerne zeitig kluger sein ; 
 Auf des Gliickes grosser Wage 
 Steht die Zunge selten ein ; 
 Du musst steigen oder sinken 
 Du musst herrschen und gewinnen, 
 Oder dienen und verlieren, 
 Leiden oder triuniphiren, 
 Amboss oder Hammer sein." 
 
 After Schiller's death in 1805 Goethe proceeded on 
 his majestic course alone. None of his contemporaries 
 understood him so well, and could stimulate his 
 poetical activity so successfully, as Schiller had done. 
 The new literary movements, the great political 
 struggles, were unable to arrest his attention more 
 than cursorily. He was now fifty-six years of age, and 
 even his ever-active mind was bound to lose something 
 of its receptivity, and concentrate more upon itself and 
 its own interests. He was led by the example of the 
 Romantic school, particularly of Zacharias Werner, 
 to try the sonnet form. There are seventeen of these 
 poems in his completed works, supposed to be inspired 
 by Minna Herzlieb, but these expressions of love are 
 not to be taken quite literally. Goethe has here raised 
 the individual to the typical, and one of the best, 
 " VVarum ich wieder zum Papier mich wende," repre- 
 sents the imaginary answer of the maiden to her 
 lover. In the "Epilog zu Schillers Glocke" (1806) 
 Goethe has written one of the finest elegiac tributes 
 ever given by one poet to another. He celebrates 
 Schiller as friend, historian, dramatist, and enthusiastic 
 idealist : —
 
 THE CLASSICAL AGE OF GERMAN POETRY 105 
 
 " Indessen schritt sein Geist gewaltig fort 
 Ins Ewige des Wahren, Guten, Schonen, 
 Und hinter ihm, im wesenlosen Scheine 
 Lag, was uns alle bandigt, das Gemeine." 
 
 One form of poetry shows a falling off in power. 
 Ballads such as " Die wandelnde Glocke " and " Der 
 getreue Eckhart " are lacking in interest, less effective 
 in diction, and more didactic in tone than this form 
 can bear. He continued to feel the influence of love, 
 and the expression of his emotion is graceful and 
 tender, sometimes laconic, half-apologetic. The most 
 noteworthy work of this character is the " West- 
 ostlicher Divan," in which his affection for Marianne 
 von Willemer is combined with the wisdom of the 
 East, to which Goethe's attention has been drawn by 
 Hammer-Purgstall's translation of the " Divan " of the 
 Persian poet, Hafiz. This love poetry and that of 
 the " Trilogie der Leidenschaft," which was inspired by 
 Ulrike von Levezow, whom he met in 1822, are 
 altogether different from the love poetry of Goethe's 
 youth. It is not so spontaneous and passionate in 
 tone : there is more blending of thought with the 
 emotion, but what the poems have lost in youthful 
 fervour is made up by ripeness of insight and self- 
 knowledge : — 
 
 " In unsers Busens Reine wogt ein Streben, 
 Sich einem Hohern, Reinern, Unbekannten, 
 Aus Dankbarkeit freiwillig hinzugeben, 
 Entratselnd sich den ewig Ungenannten ; 
 Wir heissen's : fromm sein ! — Solcher seligen Hohe 
 Fiihl' ich mich teilhaft, vvenn ich vor dir stehe." 
 
 In the epigrammatic and philosophical poems of his 
 last twenty years we see Goethe in the fullness of his 
 maturity. The groups, " Epigrammatisch," and " Gott
 
 io6 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 and Welt,"' contain his ripest thoughts on man, life, 
 God, eternity, and kindred subjects. Poems like 
 " Angedenken," " Lebensgenuss," " Procemion," " Eins 
 und AUes," are worthy of attention as expressions of 
 essential elements in Goethe's philosophy of life. In 
 every other line the reader meets sentences of deep 
 import, such as, 
 
 " Im Innern ist ein Universum auch," 
 
 or- 
 
 or — 
 
 " Uns zu verewigen 
 Sind wir ia da," 
 
 " Ich scheine wir an keinem Ort 
 Auch Zeit ist keine Zeit, 
 Ein geistreich aufgeschlossenes Wort 
 Wirkt auf die Ewigkeit." 
 
 In these epigrams we recognise the mind of the poet 
 who created " Faust." In another sphere, too, he has 
 lost none of his erstwhile power in the poetical 
 visualising of the beauties of nature. Some of the 
 nature lyrics in the second part of " Faust " belong 
 to his last years, and they are a remarkable testimony 
 to his freshness of vision, his sensitiveness to impres- 
 sions, and his command of language and metre. 
 There is delicate imagery in lines like 
 
 " Und in schwanken Silberwellen 
 Wogt die Saat der Ernte zu," 
 
 and spirit and movement in the song of Lynceus. 
 But for melody and poetic beauty the poems, " Dem 
 aufgehenden Vollmonde," and 
 
 " Dammrung senkte sich von oben, 
 schon ist alle Nahe fern, 
 doch zuerst emporgehoben 
 holden Lichts der Abendstem," 
 
 are difficult to surpass.
 
 THE CLASSICAL AGE OF GERMAN POETRY 107 
 
 In his long life, so rich as it was in experience, 
 there are few lyrical themes which Goethe did not 
 touch upon. We do not find in his poetry the treat- 
 ment of traditional themes such as friendship or 
 patriotism, though love of country and love of friends 
 frequently occur by the way. Faith in God and the 
 love which united him to his wife he regarded as 
 sacred heart-secrets, and he expressed his joy at the 
 fact that he had never by public celebration desecrated 
 these feelings. The religious lyric in the narrow sense 
 of the word he did not cultivate, yet the subject of 
 religion with man's relation to man and to a higher 
 being was illuminated frequently in his work with 
 profound insight. Abstract things had no attraction 
 for him. He drew his inspiration from the real, 
 which he idealised in his own inner consciousness. 
 He was a poet because he felt intensely and found 
 the utterance of emotion a necessity. He was a great 
 poet because of the brilliance of his mental gifts, 
 the strength of his individuality, the purity and 
 ideality of his mind, and the profundity of his inner 
 experience. 
 
 Johann Friedrich Schiller (1749-1805), Goethe's 
 great compeer, started with none of the advantages 
 in life which Goethe enjoyed. The petty tyranny of 
 the Duke of Wiirtemberg, in whose service his father 
 was, hung heavy upon his youth, and when he found 
 that the only prospect of freedom lay in flight, a long, 
 arduous struggle with poverty awaited him. His 
 development was not so rapid as Goethe's, but it was 
 much more feverish : history and philosophy claimed 
 some of his best years before he settled to his great 
 dramatic work, and he was cut off just when he had 
 reached the summit of his power. His lyrical poetry
 
 io8 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 is easy to survey, for it is not wide in range, and 
 his friend, Korner, has arranged the poems in three 
 chronological groups. In the year 1803, when issuing 
 an edition of his poems, he discussed the omission of 
 many of his youthful products. " Perhaps," he says, 
 " in a collection of these poems a more critical choice 
 should have been made. Here will be found the wild 
 products of a youthful dilettantism, the uncertain 
 attempts of an art which is only beginning, and of a 
 taste which is not yet matured, side by side with those 
 which are the fruit of riper judgment. . . . But in a 
 collection of poems the poetical value is not the only 
 criterion. . . . Even what is faulty denotes a stage in 
 the intellectual development of the poet." He adds 
 that he is glad that he has advanced, but he is not 
 ashamed of his weaknesses. The poems of the first 
 period, most of which were published in the Antko- 
 logie auf das JaJir 1782, possess only an historical 
 interest. The subjects are varied, rhapsodies on love, 
 extravagant odes on persons and things, a poem on 
 the parting of Hector and Andromache, which is 
 clearer in style than most, and a fairly successful 
 ballad, " Graf Eberhard." On the whole, the senti- 
 ment is not original nor individual, the moralising is 
 commonplace. In regard to the style still more 
 objection could be taken. The metre is frequently 
 defective, words are forced out of their natural order, 
 the predicate is sometimes omitted, the rhymes are 
 inexact. He shows no command of language ; words 
 are employed in a sense which is unusual, and the 
 epithets are seldom apt. He inclines to abstract 
 themes such as friendship, fortune, wisdom, the 
 dignity of man, but in the treatment there is very 
 little promise of the great philosophical poetry of
 
 THE CLASSICAL AGE OF GERMAN POETRY 109 
 
 later years. The poems of the second period were 
 written between 1783 and 1794. They are few in 
 number, for Schiller devoted most of his time to the 
 drama, journalism, to history, and the study of Kant's 
 aesthetic writings. " Der Kampf" and "Die Resigna- 
 tion " are two strong poems, for in them we feel the 
 genuine passion of the poet, the despair which has 
 seized him when he finds his strength failing in the 
 struggle towards virtue, duty, and faith. Brighter 
 prospects opened up before the poet when he became 
 acquainted with C. G. Korner, the father of Theodor 
 Korner, and Schiller's devoted friend, and the " Lied 
 an die Freude " is as extravagantly jubilant as "Die 
 Resignation " was pessimistic. 
 
 " Freude, schoner Gdtterfunken, 
 Tochter aus Elysium, 
 Wir betreten feuertrunken, 
 Himmlische, dein Heiligtum. 
 Deine Zauber binden wieder. 
 Was die Mode streng geteilt ; 
 Alle Menschen warden Briider, 
 Wo dein sanfter Fliigel weilt." 
 
 The two most striking poems of the time are " Die 
 Gotter Griechenlands " and " Die Kunstler." The 
 former is a regret for the disappearance of the 
 Hellenic age, which he celebrates with enthusiasm as 
 the " holdes Blutenalter der Xatur," the lovely age of 
 nature's blossoming. The latter gives us Schiller's 
 ideal view of art and of artists, with their value in the 
 scheme of things. He speaks of the relations of art 
 to science and knowledge, touches on the part played 
 by art in human culture, the Hellenic age, the 
 Renaissance, and the new interest in art in his own 
 time. The poem is ultra-optimistic, and the fond dream
 
 no THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 that man was already, through the aid of artists, near 
 to perfection, was soon to be shattered by the spectacle 
 of the French Revolution. The diction of the poem 
 is not free from obscurities, but it is fervent and 
 brilliantly rhetorical ; the reader is carried away by 
 the poet's glowing enthusiasm for art, beauty, and 
 human progress. In regard to rhythm he has learned 
 above all the use of variety and modulation, which 
 were so frequently absent from the earlier poems. 
 The final address to the artists may serve as an 
 example : — 
 
 " Der Menschheit Wiirde ist in cure Hand gegeben, 
 
 Bewahret sie ! 
 Sie sinkt mit euch ! Mit euch wird sie sich heben I 
 
 Der Dichtung heilige Magie 
 Dient einem weisen Weltenplane, 
 Still lenke sie zum Ozeane 
 
 Der grossen Harmonic ! . . ." 
 
 Between the composition of " Die Kiinstler " and 
 Schiller's riper lyrics lie four or five years of remark- 
 able artistic development. Prolonged historical study, 
 social life in Jena and Weimar, his marriage to a 
 cultured lady, meditation over Kant's aesthetics, did 
 much to refine his taste and extend his culture. But 
 he needed the friendship of Goethe to waken him to 
 song. They had met before in 1788, but with reserve 
 and coldness on Goethe's part. In 1794 they met 
 again, by accident, and were surprised to find how 
 much they had in common. The story of the 
 subsequent friendship is well known ; their corre- 
 spondence reveals an association without parallel 
 among poets of such individual greatness, an exchange 
 of ideas which gave a powerful stimulus to the pro- 
 ductivit)' of both. In Goethe's words, " From the
 
 THE CLASSICAL AGE OF GERMAN POETRY iii 
 
 moment when we drew closer to each other there was 
 an irresistible development of our philosophical 
 education and artistic activity." Previous to this, 
 Schiller had become doubtful about his vocation as 
 poet. Comparing his work with the Classics and 
 with Goethe, he found them to be fundamentally 
 different. He perceived that Goethe belonged to the 
 great naive poets like Homer and Shakespeare, while 
 his own productions hitherto had been what he calls 
 "sentimental," that is, reflective. The naive poet is 
 he who imitates the actual as fully as possible, the 
 sentimental represents the ideal. " The former moves 
 us by nature, by the truth of sense, by vivid presenta- 
 tion of actuality, the latter by ideas." Many critics 
 have taken these words in too narrow a sense, and 
 jumped to the conclusion that Goethe is a realist, 
 Schiller an idealist. But Goethe is just as ideal as 
 Schiller, we saw that in his philosophical lyrics, and 
 Schiller is just as much of a realist as Goethe ; if he 
 were not something more than an idealist, he would 
 not be a great dramatist, not even a great poet. 
 Formulas like these are of little value in literature ; 
 they are subject to too many limitations. Between 
 the artistic result in a poem like " Der Spaziergang " 
 and one of Goethe's philosophical lyrics there is, after 
 all, not so great a difference. As Schiller says, " At 
 the first glance it appears as if there could be no 
 greater contrasts than the speculative mind which 
 proceeds from the unity, and the intuitive, which 
 proceeds from the manifold. But if the former with 
 chaste and faithful intention seeks experience, and the 
 latter with spontaneous free power of thought seeks 
 the law, they cannot fail to meet half-way." So that 
 if we recognise the fact that Schiller changed, that he
 
 112 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 became conscious that in his early work the philoso- 
 pher frequently interfered with the poet and the poet 
 with the philosopher, we shall see that in his maturity 
 it is principally in method and attitude rather than in 
 result that he differs from Goethe. He could not, like 
 Goethe, yield to the rapture of the moment, especially 
 in the contemplation of nature. Thoughts were 
 suggested to him b)- experience, or he pvrojected his 
 thoughts outward, and gave them corporeal form. 
 He felt himself to be essentially meditative and 
 inclined to philosophise. But his great philosophical 
 poems are not abstract philosophy. They are his life 
 and soul, his experience, his whole being. Schiller 
 was very frank about his debt to others, to men like 
 Wilhelm von Humboldt, Fichte, and Goethe. " What- 
 ever good I may have," he says, " has been planted in 
 me by a few pre-eminent men : a kind fate introduced 
 them to me at the decisive moment of my life." The 
 critical essay, Uber naive und sentimentalische Dichtung, 
 shows how his view of poetry has become clarified 
 He has regained the confidence that enabled him to 
 write the great poems of his later years, the dramas, 
 ballads, and philosophical lyrics. 
 
 The subjects of Schiller's ballads are drawn from 
 n>any sources, but he gets below the surface of the 
 bald narrative, grasps the ethical idea that runs 
 through it, and brings this out with all his dramatic 
 genius, without being in the least didactic. The 
 most astonishing thing in these poems is his mastery 
 of form. The obscurity and the rhetoric of the two 
 earlier periods have vanished ; almost every line is 
 distinguished by some striking image or apt ex- 
 pression. All critics have admired the vividness with 
 which he has described, not from observation but
 
 THE CLASSICAL AGE OF GERMAN POETRY 113 
 
 purely from imagination, the movement of the 
 whirlpool : — 
 
 " Und es wallet und siedet und brauset und zischt, 
 Wie wenn Wasser mit Feuer sich mengt, 
 Bis zum Himmel spritzet der dampfende Gischt 
 Und Flut auf Flut sich ohn' Ende drangt, 
 Und will sich nimmer erschopfen und leeren, 
 Als wollte das Meer noch ein Meer gebaren." 
 
 This is, however, only one of the beauties of the 
 piece. The motives, words, and actions of the young 
 diver are vividly rendered, the monsters of the deep 
 are effectively pictured without exaggeration, great 
 skill is shown in the use of the impersonal pronoun, 
 " es," to denote the unknown, the mysterious, the 
 pathetic. The attendants of the king are like the 
 chorus in a Greek tragedy, and the reader feels as if 
 he were among them, so deeply is he moved by 
 every action in this short, impressive tragedy. Of 
 the other ballads, " Der Handschuh," " Die Kraniche 
 des Ibykus," " Der Gang nach dem Eisenhammer," 
 " Der Kampf mit dem Drachen," " Die Burgschaft," 
 " Der Graf von Habsburg," it is difficult to place one 
 above the other. They are so varied in theme and 
 level in excellence. " Der Graf von Habsburg" is a 
 model of the historical ballad, sustained, ornate, broad, 
 but true to life, and profoundly impressive. It is tempt- 
 ing, in fact it is almost inevitable, to compare these 
 ballads with those of Goethe. In some of them, for 
 example " Die Kraniche des Ibykus," there was almost 
 a collaboration, for the subject and the plan had been 
 discussed between them. Philipp Witkop writes,^ 
 "In the ballads we see again the great difference 
 
 1 L.C., i. pp. 322, 323.
 
 114 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 between Goethe's and Schiller's manner : Goethe's 
 ballads show us the most perfect unity of Ego and 
 World, an unprecedented subjective-objective blend- 
 ing ; Goethe directly expresses in the life of others his 
 own ! " As to Schiller, he says that " he turns his 
 subject this way and that, and looks at it, as it were, 
 only from the outside." This sounds somewhat arti- 
 ficial, and it is not surprising that another contempor- 
 ary writer, Alfred Biese, expresses the very opposite 
 opinion. " Goethe's ballads," he says, " were not the 
 product of direct experience." And in regard to 
 Schiller he emphasises the fact that in all his poetry 
 he has " looked at life as clearly and closely as any 
 other." ^ The truth here probably lies between the 
 two extremes. No poet can write great ballads 
 who has not the power of projecting himself into the 
 life and fate of others. Goethe's " Konig in Thule " 
 is as objective as any other ballad. The difference 
 between him and Schiller is to be found rather in 
 the style. One might emphasise Schiller's swelling 
 rhythm, his ornate imagery, and Goethe's plastic 
 portraiture, his mellower, deeper art. But as to 
 subjectivity, there is quite as much in Schiller as in 
 Goethe. All this world of action, in which bravery 
 is triumphant, insolence punished, virtue rewarded, 
 in which love and friendship prove superior to every 
 obstacle, and the criminal is brought to justice, in 
 which perseverance and humility prevail — that is 
 Schiller's own world, his own self. He suppresses 
 everything personal, but the choice of the subjects 
 and the way in which they have been deepened and 
 transfigured are characteristic of the man. 
 
 ' Z.t., pp. 90, 218.
 
 THE CLASSICAL AGE OF GERMAN POETRY 115 
 
 Schiller's philosophical lyrics show us the poet at 
 the height of his power. They represent his mature 
 thought, his ripe experience illuminated by the glow 
 of poetical feeling, and expressed in fervid, rhetorical 
 language. We marvel at his productivity in these 
 last nine years. In this sphere alone we have to 
 consider poems of such length and importance as 
 " Der Spaziergang," " Das Lied von der Glocke," " Die 
 Macht des Gesanges," " Die Wiirde der Frauen," 
 " Die Ideale," " Das Ideal und das Leben," " Die 
 Teilung der Erde." What an advance in style since 
 the composition of " Die Kunstler " ! The " Song of 
 the Bell " is as original in conception as it is masterly 
 in form. The bell of a German village is closely 
 connected with the life of the individual and the 
 community, and it was a happy idea to describe the 
 actual casting of a bell, and to associate therewith the 
 moulder's thoughts on man's life, his birth, marriage, 
 and death, his struggles and his joys. The most strik- 
 ing feature of the poem is the way in which the metre 
 is varied to suit the thoughts expressed. We find bright 
 trochaic movement for the bridal ceremony : — 
 
 " Lieblich in der Briiute Locken 
 Spielt der jungfrauliche Kranz, 
 Wenn die hellen Kirchenglocken 
 Laden zu des Festes Glanz " ; 
 
 rapid iambics for the restless activity of the mother of 
 the household, slow movem.ent, and long, heavy vowels 
 in the lines that describe the burial of the matron : — 
 
 "Von dem Dome, 
 Schwer und bang, 
 Tont die Glocke 
 Grabgesang. 
 
 Ernst begleiten ihre Trauerschlage 
 Einen Wanderer auf dem letzten Wege."
 
 ri6 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 The same skill in accommodating the rhythm to the 
 thought is seen in " Die Wiirde der Frauen." The 
 ideas here expressed seem nowadays very far away, 
 but the beauty and fluency of the language still 
 exercise their spell. His philosophy in "Die Ideale " 
 and " Das Ideal und das Leben "' is just as unconvinc- 
 ing. His own point of view, in fact, has changed 
 since the appearance of " Die Kiinstler." He is far 
 from optimistic now ; too many dreams have been 
 shattered ; his tone is now one of resignation and 
 calm hope. Here we see how closely these poems 
 are connected with Schiller's own personal experience. 
 He clings to the security of friendship, the certain 
 consolation of ceaseless activity, the confidence that 
 ideals will be realised, if not here, then hereafter. He 
 takes Alcides as the symbol of his thought : here 
 toiling as no other toiled, successful and yet unsuccess- 
 ful, in another world he receives his due : — 
 
 " Des Olympus Harmonien empfangen 
 Den Verkliirten in Kronions Saal, 
 Und die Gottin mit den Rosenwangen 
 Reicht ihm lachelnd den Pokal." 
 
 In the epigrams, which are serious and philo- 
 sophical, or sharply satirical, Schiller did not excel. 
 Poems like " Der Tanz," on the other hand, show a 
 remarkably light touch and gracefulness in language 
 and metre. There is no doubt that after 1795 
 Schiller acquired an altogether different command 
 of poetical language. It is scarcely credible, for 
 example, that the author of the immature songs to 
 Minna in the Anthologie should have written such 
 perfect lines as we find in " Die Erwartung." It 
 expresses the feelings of a lover who is waiting for
 
 THE CLASSICAL AGE OF GERMAN POETRY 117 
 
 his mistress, while every sound, every shape in the 
 dim Hght seems to herald her coming. It is remark- 
 able how near Schiller here comes to Goethe's style, 
 the poetical vision is so much clearer, the attitude to 
 nature so much naiver than usual, and there are lines 
 and images well worthy of Goethe : — 
 
 "Die Frucht ist dort gefallen, 
 Von der eigenen Fiille schwer" ; 
 
 or the picture of 
 
 " der Saule Flimmern 
 An der dunkeln Taxuswand " ; 
 
 or the coming of the maiden, 
 
 " Wenn seine schone Biirde, leicht bewegt, 
 Der zarte Fuss zum Sitz der Liebe tragt." 
 
 There is no evidence that this poem is based on any 
 experience, or that Schiller ever had the scene before 
 his eyes. Nevertheless, it is one of the finest poems 
 in the German language, and our admiration must be 
 all the greater for the poet who, from imagination and 
 memory, could conjure up so complete and satisfying 
 a picture. The outlines of the situation are naturally 
 drawn, and the detail is worked in, not only accurately, 
 but with extraordinary insight and delicacy. There 
 can be no doubt that Schiller did study nature, had 
 listened to the melody of things, and gathered in his 
 mind a store of motives for use when needed. Here 
 the lyric borders on the epic, as it sometimes does 
 even in Goethe — the poems of this period, like " Trost 
 in Thranen," " Schafers Klagelied," etc., are examples 
 — and as it frequently does in the great song writers 
 of the nineteenth century. In Schiller's case it 
 was feasible because of his teeming imagination
 
 Ti8 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 and rich dramatic power, his faculty of making 
 the visions of his mind stand before us as if they 
 were part of nature. Goethe's universality Schiller 
 certainly did not possess ; his knowledge was not so 
 wide nor so accurate, his insight into human nature 
 not so profound ; compared with his friend, the 
 summer of his artistic maturity was short. But he 
 has great qualities both as man and poet, his sublime 
 view of the duties of man, his lofty striving, his 
 enthusiasm for virtue and humanity. Carlyle^ was 
 very near the mark when he wrote, " his greatest 
 faculty was a half-poetical, half-philosophical imagina- 
 tion : a faculty teeming with magnificence and bril- 
 lianc)' ; now adorning, or aiding to erect, a stately 
 pyramid of scientific speculation ; now brooding over 
 the abysses of thought and feeling, till thoughts and 
 feelings, else unutterable, were embodied in expres- 
 sive forms, and palaces and landscapes, glowing in 
 ethereal beauty, rose like exhalations from the bosom 
 of the deep." 
 
 Friedrich Holderlin- (1770- 1843) should be 
 mentioned immediately after Goethe and Schiller as 
 the third great l)Ticist of the classical age. He was 
 born at Lauffen on the Neckar. W^hen two years of 
 age he lost his father, and his stepfather when only 
 nine. He was educated for the Church, but the 
 convictions which he formed in his eager study of 
 philosophy determined him to give up the idea of 
 actually officiating as a minister. His earliest poems 
 reveal the influence of Schiller both in their rhetorical 
 
 ' T. Carlyle, Life of Schiller, London, 1845. The latest 
 English book is Robertson's Schiller after a Hundred Years. 
 ' C. C. T. Litzmann, F. Holderlins Leben, Berlin, 18S0.
 
 THE CLASSICAL AGE OF GERMAN POETRY itg 
 
 form and in the tendency to abstract themes, destiny, 
 freedom, humanity, beauty. He shared Schiller's 
 enthusiasm for Greece, and both of his longer 
 works — the novel Hyperion and the unfinished 
 drama Empedokles — have a Greek background and 
 atmosphere. Both are distinctly subjective in their 
 delineation of the youthful enthusiast who goes 
 out with high hopes into the world, but after mis- 
 fortune and failure sinks into resignation or pessimism. 
 Holderlin, too, failed to find a place for himself 
 in the scheme of things. Private tutoring is in no 
 case a career, to a poet it is the most miserable 
 of existences, and Holderlin's life is the history of 
 few and short moments of happiness, with long spells 
 of hopeless drifting and despondency. Beyond doubt, 
 there must have been some brain weakness to account 
 for his peculiarities, for the sorrows of his life would 
 not have shattered a man of normal strength and 
 temperament. His love experiences form one of 
 the elements of his poetry. The early affection for 
 Elise Lebret, to whom the Lyda poems are addressed, 
 was short-lived ; the nature of the girl was too super- 
 ficial to attract him for long. In 1796, however, 
 when he went to Frankfort as tutor to the children 
 of the banker, Gontard, he found a worthy theme for 
 his poetry. Frau Gontard was a woman of culture 
 and nobility of character ; she possessed, too, the 
 warm human sympathy which Holderlin craved, 
 and the poet became passionately devoted to her. 
 This hopeless love proved the tragedy of his life and 
 the inspiration of his poetry. Poems like "Diotima" 
 and " Abbitte " spring from the depths of his heart, 
 and in the glow of his emotion the style has become 
 clear and beautiful : —
 
 I20 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 " Heilig Wesen ! gestort hab ich die goldene 
 Gotterruhe dir oft, und der geheimeren, 
 tiefern Schmerzen des Lebens 
 hast du manche gelernt von mir. 
 O vergiss es, vergib ! gleich dem Gewoike dort 
 vor dem friedlichen Mond, geh ich dahin und Du 
 ruhst und glanzest in Deiner 
 
 Schone wieder, Du susses Licht." 
 
 The second feature of Holderlin's poetry is his devo- 
 tion to nature. From early boyhood he had been 
 something of a lonely spirit, who found companionship 
 with the flowers and trees, with the sunshine and the 
 breezes, rather than with other men : — 
 
 " Mich erzog der Wohllaut des sauselnden Hains, 
 Und lieben lernt' ich unter den Blumen." 
 
 In *• Menons Klage um Diotima " the two themes are 
 beautifully blended. So, too, in " Die Heimat " ; here 
 he sings of his home, the woods and cool streams that 
 once were his joy, his mother and sisters ; he hopes 
 to greet them soon, but he fears that even they cannot 
 bring him peace of mind : — 
 
 "aber ich weiss, ich weiss, 
 der Liebe Leid, dies heilet so bald mir nicht, 
 dies singt kein Wiegengesang, den trostend 
 Sterbliche singen, mir aus dem Busen." 
 
 He sings of the sun as a Greek would have sung of 
 Helics. The whole universe is for him alive ; he 
 feels himself to be a part of it, as he watches the 
 unfolding of nature's beauty, and listens to the move- 
 ment and harmony of her being. This melancholy is 
 ever present, but it is too full of nobility and too 
 restrained to weary us. We feel that the greater 
 his unity with nature, the more helpless is he in the 
 struggle of life, so that he pathetically appeals to the
 
 THE CLASSICAL AGE OF GERMAN POETRY 121 
 
 forms of things around hinn to withhold their charm ; 
 the pleasures they would give are turned to mockery : — 
 
 "Was weckt ihr mir die Seele ? was regt ihr mir 
 Vergangenes auf, ihr Guten ? o schonet mein 
 Und lasst sie ruhn, die Asche meiner 
 Freuden, ihr spottet nur." 
 
 The series of poems entitled " Emilia vor ihrem 
 Brauttag " reveal deep insight into the human soul 
 in emotion, and very great skill in the use of the 
 unrhymed metre. His poems read quite differently 
 from those of Klopstock, and the reason is that he 
 has not only a fine ear for the musical rhythm of the 
 individual line, but contrives also so to vary his lines 
 and group them together that the stanza is itself an 
 artistic structure. And what the line is to the stanza, 
 that the latter is to the poem, a perfectly fitting part 
 of the harmonious whole. We see this above all 
 in " Hyperions Schicksalslied " which is universally 
 regarded as his most striking poem. It embodies 
 the pessimistic conviction that the human being is 
 but the sport of destiny, like a drop of water in the 
 cataract thrown from cliff to cliff into uncertain depths. 
 In the first stanzas he pictures the bright happiness 
 and ease of the gods : — 
 
 " Ihr wandelt droben im Licht 
 auf weichem Boden, selige Genien I 
 Gliinzende Gotterliifte 
 riihren euch leicht, 
 Wie die Finger der Kiinstlerin 
 
 heilige Sailen. 
 Schicksallos, wie der schlafende 
 Saugling, atmen die Himmlischen; 
 Keusch bewahrt 
 
 In bescheidener Knospe, 
 Bliihet ewig
 
 122 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 Ihnen der Geist, 
 Und die seligen Augen 
 Blicken in stiller 
 Ewiger Klarheit." 
 
 In the last verse he contrasts the helplessness and 
 dependence of man : — 
 
 " Doch uns ist gegeben, 
 Auf keiner Stiitte zu ruhn, 
 Es schwinden, es fallen 
 Die leidenden Menschen 
 Blindlings von einer 
 Stunde zur andem, 
 Wie Wasser von Klippe 
 Zu Klippe geworfen, 
 Jahrlang ins Ungewisse hinab." 
 
 This is Holderlin's confession, his view of life. The 
 simplicity and artistry of these lines, the way in 
 which the rhythm brings out the thought, without the 
 use of a single word that could be left out or improved, 
 reveal the master hand. This poem alone would 
 give Holderlin a place among the great lyricists. His 
 poetical springtime was verj^' short, ten years or so ; 
 the shadows that had darkened his view of life grew 
 thicker and thicker; in 1804 he became insane, and 
 remained in mental darkness till his death in 1843. 
 But he has left his mark upon German poetry, as a 
 l}Ticist of great originality, and as a forerunner of the 
 romanticists in his ardent love of nature, which to 
 him is something nearer and more intimate than it 
 was even to Goethe. He has not the sound judgment, 
 the knowledge, the profundity of a poet of the fore- 
 most rank. His great merit lies in the artistic delinea- 
 tion of nature, tinged with gentle melancholy and in 
 the peculiarly haunting melod\- of his language. The 
 history of his inner life is that of an idealist, he shows
 
 THE CLASSICAL AGE OF GERMAN POETRY 123 
 
 it in his enthusiasms and in his faikires ; his attitude to 
 nature is, however, that of a realist, and it is this strange 
 blending of the world of sense and the world of emotion 
 that constitutes the peculiar charm of his poetry. 
 
 Of the mihor poets of the classical age, brief mention 
 must be made. Christian F. D. Schubart (1739-91) 
 is a Sturm und Drang nature, a " regular poetical 
 Vesuvius," as Burger called him. His revolutionary 
 tirades, which savour more of the journalist than the 
 poet, had great influence upon Schiller's early work, 
 Schubart had many gifts, but his tactlessness and 
 unprincipled character rendered his life a misery to 
 himself and a constant worry to his friends. In 1777 
 the Duke of Wiirtemberg had him confined in the 
 prison of Hohenasperg, where he remained for ten 
 years, till a poem in honour of Frederick the Great 
 led to his liberation. " Das Kaplied " and " Die 
 Fiirstengruft " are his best poems. Like Giinther, 
 Schubart sways back and forwards between the 
 extremes of piety and of sensuality ; his outbursts 
 against despotism, to which he owed much of his 
 popularity, no longer attract us ; he seldom, though he 
 possessed talents as a musician and as a poet, rises 
 above his own turbulent self to harmony of thought 
 or life. Johann Peter Hebel (1760- 1826) struck a 
 popular note with his AlemanniscJie Gedichte. They 
 are in the dialect of the Black Forest, and delineate 
 with humour and pathos the simple emotions of 
 peasant life. Johann Martin Usteri (1763- 1827) 
 wrote songs, ballads, and idylls in the dialect of Zurich, 
 " Freut euch des Lebens " is his best known song. 
 Johann Gottfried Seume (1763- 18 10) led an ad- 
 venturous life in America, Poland, and France, having 
 been kidnapped and sold for service in war. In " Der
 
 124 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 Wilde " he was one of the first to choose a theme which 
 many poets since have attempted — a contrast between 
 the nobility of the savage and the injustice of the white 
 man. In his other poems there is little lyrical feeling 
 or metrical skill. Christian August Tiedge (1752- 
 1841) made a reputation, which has not stood the 
 test of time, by a didactic poem " Urania," which 
 treats of God, immortality, and freedom. Johann 
 Gaudenz von Salis-Sewis (1762- 1834) followed in 
 the footsteps of Klopstock and the Gottingen school. 
 He delineates the charms of nature with great detail 
 but without originality. He celebrates the virtues 
 in poems like " Die stillende Mutter" or he inclines 
 to meditation as in " Das Bild der Lebens." There is 
 an old-world air about his sentiments, his descriptions 
 of the scenes of his youth, and the aspect of the fields 
 in different seasons. In his best pieces, such as " Der 
 Entfernten " and " Lied eines Landmanns in der 
 Fremde," there is tenderness and simple grace. But 
 he generally lacks imagination and warmth ; it is 
 seldom that he rises above mediocrity. Friedrich von 
 Matthison (1761-1831) is also a disciple of Klopstock. 
 He is fond of sentimental contemplation of nature, 
 from which he passes to meditation upon human life. 
 Elegiac themes like the ephemeralness of life and 
 beauty, love and friendship suit his style best. He 
 is fond to excess of mythological allusions, as we see 
 even in the titles of his poems, " Amors Zauber," 
 " Eros," " Psyche." He has a poem to Ossian, and 
 there are many Ossianic touches in his poetry, as : — 
 
 " Wie der Mond aus j,^rauer 
 Nebeldanimrung Flor, 
 Hebt aus oder Trauer 
 Sich mein Geist empor."
 
 THE CLASSICAL AGE OF GERMAN POETRY 125 
 
 Many of his poems have been suggested by scenes in 
 Switzerland and Italy, but the picture is seldom 
 impressive. His love poetry, as in " Lied der Liebe," 
 is cold and reflective. Only once, in the well-known 
 song " Adelaide," did he achieve lyrical success. 
 Beethoven's music has contributed very greatly to 
 the popularity of this song, but the four stanzas are 
 lyrically conceived, the imagery is well chosen, and 
 the emotion, without being profound, rises to an 
 artistic climax : — 
 
 " Einst, O Wunder, entbliiht auf meinem Grabe, 
 Eine Blume der Asche meines Herzens ; 
 Deutlich schimmert auf jedem Purpurblattchen : 
 Adelaide."
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 The Nineteenth Century 
 1 800- 1 848 
 
 A PERIOD of great achievements in the literary sphere 
 is always of limited duration. Some years of decline 
 must follow as inevitably as autumn takes the place 
 of summer. In the first twenty years of the nineteenth 
 century no book of really international importance 
 was produced ; the romantic drama and the novel in 
 particular were in a bad way. But it would be wrong 
 to regard the nineteenth century as being inferior to 
 the eighteenth on the whole. In fact, there is a distinctly 
 higher standard of excellence, and a very much larger 
 number of really gifted writers. No previous century 
 could produce five names which, as a group, rank 
 higher than Heine, Morike, Keller, Meyer, and Storm. 
 And to these a few more could easily be added : 
 Uhland, Hebbel, Platen, Droste-Hiilshoff, Liliencron, 
 whose merits in the lyrical sphere are nearly as great. 
 The century hangs very closely together as a whole ; 
 there is a constant and consistent development, and the 
 influence of Goethe is very strong even at the present 
 moment. On closer examination, however, it will be 
 found that three main stages in the movement can 
 be distinguished, from 1800 to 1848, from 1848 to 
 about 1880, and from 1880 to the present day. Within 
 
 126
 
 THE NINETEENTH CENTURY, 1800-1848 127 
 
 these periods again there are various clearly defined 
 movements, sometimes of thought, or enthusiasm, or 
 merely fashion : writers group themselves in schools, 
 either owing to similarity of aims, or because they 
 may have a local connection. Such well-known poetical 
 circles are the romanticists, the patriotic poets, the 
 Swabians, the political revolutionaries, the Munich 
 school, the naturalists, and so on. On the other 
 hand the nineteenth century is rich in men of great 
 originality, of strongly marked individuality, who are 
 hardly influenced at all by contemporary currents 
 and traditions. 
 
 The romantic movement dominates the first thirty 
 years of the century ; in the lyric its influence lingers 
 almost to the end. If we trace romanticism back to 
 its origin, we shall find that it is rooted in the Sturm 
 und Drang, and that it developed strength and con- 
 sciousness in a number of young writers who objected 
 to the suppression of freedom, the homage paid to 
 authority and the triumph of mediocrity incident to 
 the Aufklarung. It meant the revolt from the purely 
 logical part of Lessing's criticism and the emphasising 
 of the more imaginative elements of the work of 
 Goethe and Schiller. It was not a mere reaction 
 against classicism ; to suppose that would be to shut 
 our eyes to the all-embracing character of the move- 
 ment, and, moreover, the brothers Schlegel, who with 
 Tieck are regarded as the founders of the school, were 
 classical scholars and enthusiasts for Greek culture. 
 If we look at their writings, we see that their aims 
 were ambitious but their idea of how to attain them 
 somewhat hazy. In the AthencBum for 1798, the 
 organ of the movement, Friedrich Schlegel says that 
 the new art " shall now mingle, now fuse poetry and
 
 128 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 prose, genius and criticism, art-poetry and nature- 
 poetry ; it shall make poetry living and social, and life 
 and society poetical ; it shall poetise wit and fill the 
 forms of art with suitable cultural content of every 
 kind." One thing very soon became apparent, that 
 the new movement meant the overthrow of all 
 established rules. Eagerly they grasped the support 
 of Fichte's philosophy and made the Ego of the artist 
 independent and autocratic in art as in life. Imag- 
 ination and feeling dominated reason and criticism. 
 The mysticism of the past, the novelty and charm of 
 Oriental poetry became objects of poetical rapture. 
 Inevitably the new movement drifted further and 
 further from the reality of contemporary life, and the 
 political subjection of Prussia engendered a feeling of 
 despair, from which relief was sought in the contempla- 
 tion of a more glorious past. The ideal age seemed 
 to be that of chivalry, the ideal religion that of the 
 Catholic Church. Not merely the atmosphere and 
 the background, but even the central figures and 
 themes of much of the romantic literature are 
 mediaeval. It may be said that the movement thus 
 had the germs of disease in it from the first, for a 
 poetry that loses touch with the present and lives 
 only in the past is bound to become unreal, abstract, 
 and artificial. The artistic freedom which was claimed 
 and taken degenerated into formlessness. This above 
 all is the chief defect of the romantic drama and 
 novel. The best service rendered by the romanticists, 
 apart of course from the enthusiasm which a new move- 
 ment always awakens, was the collection of the German 
 Folksongs and Volksbiicher. Arnim and Brentano 
 allowed themselves considerable liberty with the 
 texts which they published under the title Des Knaben
 
 THE NINETEENTH CENTURY, 1800-1848 129 
 
 Wunderhorn (1805- 1808). But this homage to con- 
 temporary taste had not a little to do with the 
 immediate success of the book. Herder's Volkslieder 
 had been cosmopolitan in character, the Wunderhorn 
 was national, a revelation of the poetical genius of the 
 German people. Like the Volksbucher of Gorres, it 
 was something to cling to in a period of national 
 depression. It became a song-book for the people 
 and a model for the singers of the nineteenth century. 
 The poetry of Uhland, Eichendorff, Heine, Morike, 
 Greif, Storm and others is steeped in its influence. 
 The romantic movement also contributed a mass of 
 new motives, images and forms to the German lyric, 
 and is seen at its best in Uhland, Eichendorff, and 
 Heine. In Heine, however, the reaction against the 
 vagueness and unreality of romanticism is equally 
 marked, even in his Book of Songs, and later he was 
 to be the leader of a new movement, known as 
 Young Germany. The Young Germans had a strong 
 political bias, but they were equally revolutionary in 
 other departments, such as religion and letters. As 
 far as lyric poetry is concerned, their attitude and 
 aims were unfavourable, they gave a much greater 
 stimulus to the critical journal, the feuilleton, and the 
 daily press. They are the forerunners of the political 
 poets, Herwegh, Freiligrath, Dingelstedt, etc., who 
 flourished about 1840. Thus till the middle of the 
 century there is an easily followed line of develop- 
 ment, but there are other contemporary movements, 
 such as the poetry called forth by the War of Liberation 
 which ended in 18 15, the resuscitation of romantic 
 tendencies in Swabia between 1830 and 1840 ; and at 
 the same time some of the greatest talents, such as 
 Droste-Hiilshoff and Hebbel, had begun to issue work 
 9
 
 J so THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 which was hardly affected at all by the great move- 
 ments of the time. 
 
 The Romanticists 
 
 The most important lyricist among the early 
 romanticists was Novalis, or, to give him his proper 
 name, Friedrich von Hardenberg ^ ( 1 772- 1 80 1 ). He 
 first came into touch with literary affairs as a student 
 at Jena in 1791, when he made the acquaintance of 
 Fichte, Reinhold, and Schiller. To Schiller he was 
 especially attracted, recognising in him "the higher 
 genius who rules over centuries." Of delicate constitu- 
 tion, finely strung mind, sensitive to new impres- 
 sions, Novalis was the very man to be carried away by 
 romantic tendencies. He died at the age of twenty- 
 nine, before the romantic movement had fully estab- 
 lished itself, and before his own development was ripe. 
 We may say of him, as Friedrich Schlegel said in a 
 different connection, that he might have become any- 
 thing — or nothing. The turning point in his short 
 career, and the fact that made him a poet was his 
 meeting with Sophie von Kiihn in 1794. She was 
 still a girl, unripe, of incomplete education, but the 
 beauty of youth fascinated the poet, and when she 
 died of consumption at the age of fifteen, she was 
 raised by the imagination of the dreamer to a poetical 
 ideal. From his diary we know that for a time Sophie's 
 sudden end formed the object of his constant medita- 
 tion. He frequently expresses the wish to die and 
 join her in another world. He has a strong faith in 
 a future life, he is deeply religious, the teaching of 
 
 * E. Heilborn, Novalis, der Romantiker, Berlin, 1901.
 
 THE NINETEENTH CENTURY, 1800-1848 131 
 
 the mystics has filled his mind. From this event dates 
 the formation of his artistic conception of life. When 
 he died in 1801 very little of his poetry had been 
 printed. Tieck and Friedrich Schlegel issued his 
 works later, but it is only in recent years that the 
 possibilities of Novalis have been recognised. His 
 novel, Heinrich von Ofterdingen, remained a frag- 
 ment, but its tendency is clear. The hero goes out 
 to seek the " blue flower " of romanticism, in 
 other words to find the highest art. There is more 
 finished work in the " Geistliche Lieder " and the 
 " Hymnen an die Nacht," the latter a series of 
 rapturous outpourings of his soul in poetical prose 
 and poetry. In spite of the sadness of his experience 
 and of some of his utterances, Novalis was no pessi- 
 mist. He found consolation in his solution of life's 
 problems. The present and the future are but one, 
 there is no gulf nor separation, no change. He has no 
 complaint against the present world, it is good, 
 beautiful and free from sin ; it is only a part of that 
 other world for which he longs as the abode of his 
 bride and his Saviour. He does not devote himself 
 to philosophy to find a system ; his system is already 
 complete, he feels what he wants to believe, and 
 believes what he feels. He has strong leanings to 
 Catholicism, but all dogma and observance, all fears 
 of eternal punishment, all idea of asceticism and 
 repentance are foreign to his nature. His mind is 
 virgin soil, ready to receive whatever seed may fall 
 upon it. His poems do not cover a wide range, 
 thoughts and situations recur, but the lyrical feeling 
 is deep and artistic, the verses uniformly good. His 
 religious ardour and dreamy attitude are seen in the 
 poem " Maria."
 
 132 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 " Ich sehe dich in tausend Bildern, 
 Maria, lieblich ausgedriickt, 
 Doch keins von alien kann dich schildcrn, 
 Wie meine Seele dich erblickt. 
 Ich weiss nur, dass der Welt Getiimmel 
 Seitdem mir wie ein Traum verweht, 
 Und ein unnennbar siisser Himmel 
 Mir ewig im Gemiite steht. . . ." 
 
 Other noteworthy poems are " Gern verweil' ich," 
 " Wenn alle untreu werden," and " Wenn ich ihn nur 
 habe." The essential elements in Novalis' poetry are 
 mysticism, Catholicism, and the longing for the future 
 life to be gained by death, and with such a basis, if 
 he had lived longer, he might have become a really 
 great poet. 
 
 Ludwig Tieck ( 1 783- 1 853) is an interesting figure in 
 many literary departments, the drama, the fairy tale, 
 the short story, but in the lyric he is not nearly so 
 consummate an artist as Novalis. He is, among the 
 romanticists, the chief representativeof that sentimental 
 adoration of nature in vague language which was 
 afterwards held up to scorn by the opponents of 
 romanticism : — 
 
 " Mondbegliinzte Zaubernacht, 
 Die den Sinn gefangen hiilt, 
 Wunderbare Miirchenwelt, 
 Steig auf in der alten Pracht !" 
 
 He is a lover of the flowers, the birds, and the sun- 
 shine, and was influential in popularising that feature 
 of the romantic poetry which is known as "Naturbesee- 
 lung." Here he was the model of Heine. This 
 attitude to nature is peculiarly German. It is different 
 from pantheism, it is not mere personification by 
 metaphor, it has nothing in common with Words- 
 worth's feeling for natural beauty as
 
 THE NINETEENTH CENTURY, 1800-1848 133 
 
 " The anchor of my purest thoughts, the nurse. 
 The guide, the guardian of my heart, and soul, 
 Of all my moral being." 
 
 The poet looks upon the units of the inanimate world 
 as his like. They are not employed by him as ima^^es 
 or symbols to convey his thought or emotion. They 
 stand apart, speak and act like living beings : — 
 
 " Der Schmetterling ist in die Rose verliebt, 
 Umflattert sie tausendmal, 
 Ihn selber aber goldig zart 
 
 Umflattert der liebende Sonnenstrahl. . . ." 
 
 Sometimes Heine uses this style with great effect, 
 but he very soon perceived that such an attitude to 
 nature is apt to become artificial and meaningless. 
 It proved dangerous to the development of the lyric, 
 in that it induced the poet too frequently to suppress 
 his own personality, to step into the background, and 
 let nature alone speak. In Tieck, Brentano, and even 
 Eichendorff, this weakness is painfully manifest. The 
 poems become vague, they lack human interest, and 
 Heine conferred no greater service upon the German 
 lyric than when he restored to it by the irrepressible 
 force of his personality a living human interest and 
 content. 
 
 In Clemens Brentano ( 1778- 1842) the same want of 
 contact between man and nature, the same "Beseelung" 
 of external objects are to be found. In a poem like 
 " Abendstandchen " : 
 
 " Hor, es klagt die Flote wieder, 
 Und die kiihlen Bronnen rauschen ; 
 Golden vvehn die Tone nieder ; 
 Stille, stille, lasst uns lauschen, . . ." 
 
 it is the flute, the fountains, the music that form the
 
 134 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 content of the poem : of their influence upon the soul 
 of the h'stener, of the poet's mood, there is scarcely 
 an indication. The same passivity on the part of the 
 singer appears in " Der Abend " and " Wie so leis die 
 Blatter wehen." In Brentano's case the absence of a 
 subjective interest is due to some extent to the fact 
 that the poems occur in his longer works, and illustrate 
 the moods of certain characters. He excels in the 
 delineation of the sombre aspects of nature : — 
 
 " Wenn der Mitternacht heiliges Grauen 
 Bang durch die dunklen Blatter hinschleicht, 
 Und die Biische gar wundersam schauen, 
 AUes sich finster, tiefsinnig bezeugt. . . ." 
 
 " Sprich aus der Feme," " Sausle, Hebe Myrte," 
 " Wiegenlied," and "Trost" are the best of his poems, 
 but it is not so much to them as to his share in the 
 collection of the Folksongs that he owes his place in 
 the history of the German lyric. The first volume of 
 Des Knaben WunderJiorn, which appeared in 1805, 
 and was warmly greeted by Goethe, was the work of 
 Arnim and Brentano, the second and third volumes 
 being issued by Arnim alone. By their romantic 
 attitude to nature they were led to modernise many 
 of the texts here printed, and it was left to the more 
 accurate scholarship of the nineteenth century (Uhland, 
 Bohme, Liliencron)^ to edit the poems in their 
 original form. 
 
 Josef Freiherr von Eichendorff (1788-1857) was 
 the greatest of the purely romantic lyricists. Born 
 
 ^ L. Uhland, A^ie hoch- und niederdeutsche Volkslieder, 
 1844-45 ; F. M. Bohme, A//deulsc/ies Ljederl>uc/i, Leipzig, 1887 ; 
 R. V. Liliencron. D/r historiscJie?} VolksUeder der Ih-iitschen, 
 Leipzig, 1865-69.
 
 THE NINETEENTH CENTURY, 1800-1848 135 
 
 at Schloss Lubowitz, in Upper Silesia, he was educated 
 at Halle and Heidelberg. In Heidelberg the influence 
 of Gorres, Arnim, and Brentano was at its height. 
 His poetry is rooted in a strong attachment to the 
 Silesian landscape, amid the beauties of which he 
 grew up to manhood. Like Novalis, he sought to 
 emulate Goethe's Wilhelm Meister with a novel of 
 his own, Ahming Jind Gege?rwart^ which lacks reality 
 and form, but contains some fine lyrics. He fought 
 against Napoleon in the campaign of 1814-15, and 
 then entered the service of the State. In 1821 he 
 published his most successful work, Aus dem Leben 
 eines Taugenichts, a delightfully refreshing story of 
 an easy-going good-for-nothing, who goes through life 
 simply trusting to luck, and is surprisingly successful. 
 Eichendorff was a man of strong practical sense, a 
 soldier and a statesman, and this saved him from the 
 sentimentalism and formlessness of most of the con- 
 temporary romanticists. He is lucid and precise in 
 language, simple and delicate in conception. In his 
 verse the forest plays a great part. It is to him a 
 symbol of purity and patriotism, it inspires him to 
 manly virtue, and supports him in his resolutions : — 
 
 " Was wir still gelobt im Wald, 
 Wollen's draussen ehrlich halten, 
 Ewig bleiben treu die Alten : 
 Deutsch Panier, das rauschend wallt, 
 Lebe wohl, 
 Schirm dich Gott, du schoner Wald. . . ." 
 
 He loves it especially in the dim twilight, when the 
 moon rises and spreads her beams over the tree-tops, 
 while the nightingale is heard in the distance. In 
 some of his finest pictures of nature, such as " Nachts," 
 our only regret is that the poet seems to fear to
 
 136 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 disturb the calm majesty of the scene by intruding a 
 personal note : — 
 
 " Ich wandre durch die stille Nacht, 
 Da schleicht der Mond so heimlich sacht 
 
 Oft aus der dunklen WolkenhuUe, 
 
 Und hin und her im Tal 
 
 Erwacht die Nachtigall, 
 
 Dann vvieder alles grau und stille. 
 O wunderbarer Nachtgesang : 
 Von fern im Land der Strome Gang, 
 
 Leis Schauern in den dunklen Biiumen 
 
 Wirrst die Gedanken mir, 
 
 Mein irres Singen hier 
 
 1st wie ein Rufen nur aus Triiumen." 
 
 There are delicate perception, music, and suggestive- 
 ness here, but at the same time a misty vagueness in 
 the sentiments of the poet himself; it is like an echo 
 from the land of dreams. The German love of 
 wandering, an old poetical motive, is well illustrated 
 in the songs, " Wer in die Fremde will wandern " and 
 " Wem Gott will rechte Gunst erweisen." In the 
 poems, "In der Fremde" and " Riickkehr," the 
 emotion springs from a feeling of disappointment, 
 loneliness, and despair on visiting the scenes of former 
 happiness and love. Heine has treated the same 
 motive in some of the pieces of his " Heimkehr." 
 A genuine Folksong in its simplicity and gentle 
 melancholy is " Das zerbrochene Ringlein." The 
 associations of the mill, the disappearance of the 
 maid, the broken ring as a symbol of broken troth, 
 the contemplation of death as the only escape from 
 pain, are well-known motives in the German love song ; 
 they conjure up the atmosphere of simple rustic life, 
 and the unaffected abruptness of the language is in 
 harmony with the theme : —
 
 THE NINETEENTH CENTURY, 1800-1848 137 
 
 " Hor' ich das Miihlrad gehen, 
 Ich weiss nicht, was ich will — 
 Ich mocht' am liebsten sterben ; 
 Da war's auf einmal still ! " 
 
 Eichendorff is a thorough romanticist in his love for 
 the mysterious and the supernatural, in his songs of 
 elves and fairies, in his pictures of hermits and 
 pilgrims. He tried to shape the legend of the Loreley, 
 but his ballad is somewhat vague and ineffective. 
 His attitude to nature is frequently unreal and purely 
 imaginative, for example, in a poem like " Sehnsucht," 
 where we receive a vision of mysterious rocky clefts, 
 fountains wrapped in darkness, and palaces in moon- 
 shine — a land of longing, not of reality. His themes 
 are well varied, and yet not quite free from monotony 
 in their treatment. There are scenes of farewell and 
 homesickness, of love and faithfulness, the charm of 
 night, and the rustle of the pine trees and the water- 
 fall ; what we seek in vain is a strong personal note, 
 or in other words, the throb of human emotion. He 
 is greatest when something deeply moves his heart, 
 as in the beautiful elegies on the death of his child. 
 There is something of the tenderness and passion of 
 Storm in the lines : — 
 
 " Das ist, was mich ganz verstoret : 
 Dass die Nacht nicht Ruhe halt, 
 Wenn zu atmen aufgehoret 
 Lange schon die miide Welt. 
 Dass die Glocken, die da schlagen, 
 Und im Wald der leise Wind 
 Jede Nacht von Neuem klagen 
 Urn mein liebes, susses Kind." 
 
 The simplicity and directness of Eichendorff's style 
 remind us of Goethe and the Folksong, but there is
 
 138 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 no trace of slavish copying of these models. Certainly, 
 in this case, the style is the man. He was a clear- 
 thinking, imaginative personality, whose poetry, 
 though not profound enough or sufficiently many- 
 sided to be placed in the front rank, will retain 
 its value as the utterance of a gifted and tasteful 
 singer. 
 
 Adalbert von Chamisso ( 178 1 -1838) was born in 
 France at Schloss Boncourt, from which he had to 
 flee with his parents on the outbreak of the Revolution. 
 He studied natural science at Berlin, took part from 
 181 5-18 in a Russian voyage of discovery to the South 
 Seas, and was subsequently appointed custodian of 
 the Botanical Collections in Berlin. He formed one 
 of the Berlin group of romanticists, but in him the 
 lucidity of form characteristic of the French genius 
 is united to the deep, warm feeling of the German. 
 As a foreigner by oirth, though not by education, he 
 seems to have grasped with unerring judgment what 
 he could learn from Goethe, Schiller, and the romanti- 
 cists. He made his literary reputation with Peter 
 Schlemihls Wundersame Geschichte, the story of the 
 man who sold his shadow, and it v/as comparativel)' 
 late in life before he wrote the poems on which his 
 fame as a lyricist is based. " Schloss Boncourt " 
 springs from the vivid recollection of the home of his 
 early boyhood. In the cycle of poems, " Frauen- 
 Liebe und Leben " (1830), he adopts with great 
 success the simple forms of the Folksong, filling them 
 with new ideas and imagery of his own : — 
 
 " Seit ich ihn gesehen, 
 Glaub' ich blind zu sein ; 
 Wo ich hin nur blicke, 
 Seh' ich ihn allein ;
 
 THE NINETEENTH CENTURY, 1800-1848 139 
 
 Wie im wachen Traume 
 Schwebt sein Bild mir vor, 
 Taucht aus tiefstem Dunkel 
 Heller mir empor." 
 
 From his voyage round the world he drew the 
 inspiration which gave rise to his most impressive 
 poem, " Salas y Gomez." It is in terza-rima, and 
 represents the fate and feelings of a sailor shipwrecked 
 on a remote desert island. He has a liking for the 
 narrative poem and objective presentation. Some- 
 times the subjects are of a somewhat sensational type. 
 " Die Lowenbraut " and " Die Sonne bringt es an den 
 Tag" are examples of a type of poem which just 
 fails to carry that amount of conviction which the 
 ballad should do. " Burg Niedeck " and " Die 
 Weiber von Weinsberg" are better subjects, but 
 treated rather diffusely and didactically. The best 
 of all these ballads is the short poem, " Der Soldat," 
 which is living, strong, and natural : — 
 
 " Es geht bei gedampfter Trommel Klang ; 
 Wie weit noch die Statte ! der Weg wie lang I 
 O war' er zur Ruh und alias vorbei ! 
 Ich glaub' es bricht mir das Herz entzwei. . . ." 
 
 Chamisso can only be regarded as partly romantic in 
 style and tendency. As a scientist, he was in the 
 habit of looking at things as they are. In his interest 
 in the common people and their needs, as shown by 
 poetical sketches like " Die alte Waschfrau," he 
 introduces a non-romantic and thoroughly modern 
 note. 
 
 Patriotic Poetry 
 
 The lyrics of Arndt, Kurner, and Schenkendorff 
 possess what the romantic poetry of the first
 
 140 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 decade of the century lacked, a close connection 
 with the national life. They sprang from a real 
 feeling, the slowly dawning consciousness of the 
 unity of the German people, language, and thought, 
 and the necessity of shaking off the fetters of slavery. 
 But for the common object of hatred. Napoleon, this 
 sentiment might not have developed so rapidly, and 
 the patriotic lyric would have lacked its principal 
 impulse. None of this poetry reaches a high 
 standard, but as a tendency it was invaluable, for it 
 showed that the lyricist should not live alone for the 
 past, but for the present and the future as well. 
 Ernst Moritz Arndt (1769- 1860) was Professor of 
 History in Bonn, a man of strong liberal and national 
 convictions. His most popular, though by no means 
 his best poem, is " Des Deutschen Vaterland." The 
 repetition of question after question : — 
 
 " Was ist des Deutschen \'aterland ? 
 Ist's Preussenland ? Ist's Schwabenland ? 
 Ist's wo am Rhein die Rebe bliiht?" etc., 
 
 may be due to emotional feeling, but it is tiring and 
 inartistic. The language is smoother and more 
 pleasing in " Vaterlandslied " and " Die Leipziger 
 Schlacht." Arndt's personality carried great weight, 
 but in his poetry we miss the finer qualities, imagina- 
 tion, melody, originality. Theodor Kdrner (1791- 
 181 3) reveals more poetical fire than Arndt in the 
 poems published after his premature death under 
 the title Leier mid Schwert. In particular, " Liitzows 
 wilde Jagd" and " Harras, der kUhne Springer" have 
 the spirit and swing of the old historical Folksong 
 in them. His well-known call to arms, " Frisch auf, 
 mein V'olk, die Flammenzeichen rauchen," is a
 
 THE NINETEENTH CENTURY, 1800-1848 141 
 
 spirited appeal, but the enthusiasm flags, and in some 
 of the lines the commonplace and the reflective 
 elements are not lacking. As in the case of Arndt, 
 there is a metallic hardness about the verses of 
 Korner, and they no longer appeal to us as they did 
 to contemporary sentiment. Max von Schenkendorff 
 (1783-1817) is the truest lyricist of the three. He has 
 more imagination and less of the clang of arms, more 
 tenderness in his outlook upon nature amid the 
 horrors of war. He has also a profounder conception 
 of the possibilities of German unity. One of his 
 poems, " Muttersprache, Mutterlaut ! Wie so wonne- 
 sam, so traut ! " still lives, and in his other pieces 
 there are many stanzas which rise above the usual 
 level of the poetry of liberation. " Soldaten-morgen- 
 lied " is a poem as pleasing in sentiment as in form, 
 and in " Friihlingsgruss an das Vaterland " there are 
 touches of nature which relieve the monotony of the 
 patriotic appeal : — 
 
 " Alles ist in Griin gekleidet, 
 AUes strahlt im jungen Licht, 
 Anger, wo die Herde weidet, 
 Hiigel, wo man Trauben bricht. . . ." 
 
 Mention should here be made of the " Geharnischte 
 Sonette " of Friedrich Riickert, who in other spheres 
 at a later time wrote much better poetry. For the 
 sonnet form is as ill-suited for the expression of this 
 kind of patriotic sentiment as could be imagined. 
 Content and form seem in continual discord, and 
 Riickert's contribution to patriotic poetry is only 
 saved from mediocrity by the vigour and epigram- 
 matic preciseness of one or two lines that occur here 
 and there. Altogether it was not a high type of 
 poetry that the War of Liberation gave birth to, and
 
 142 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 it died away as soon as German freedom was achieved. 
 It carried on the lyrical style seen in Gleim's " Krieg- 
 slieder," and it will recur again with more artistic 
 success in connection with the war of 1 870. 
 
 The Swabian Poets 
 
 The earliest Swabians stand in close connection 
 with the Heidelberg group of romanticists, they show 
 the same tendencies to subjects drawn from the past, 
 and to the popular forms of the Volkslied. While 
 preserving the romantic traditions, they surpassed 
 their predecessors in vividness of presentation, natural 
 strength, and lucidity. While Heine and the younger 
 generation of poets, strongly interested in political 
 questions, viewed the extravagances of the early 
 romanticists with dislike and contempt, romanticism 
 in a new form was kept alive in Southern Germany. 
 In Kerner, Schwab, and Morike all that was best in 
 the movement was preserved, and handed on by them 
 in turn to such comparatively recent writers as Storm 
 and Keller. Yet it would be wrong to regard the 
 Swabians as mere descendants of the romanticists. 
 They possess peculiarities and merits of their own 
 which deserve our closest attention. Ludwig Uhland 
 (1787-1862), the most distinguished member of the 
 early group, was reared in the learned atmosphere of 
 the small university town of Tubingen, where his 
 father was Secretary to the University, and his 
 grandfather had been a Professor of Theology. 
 He himself became Professor of Literature there 
 in 1829, but in 1833 he resigned his office for 
 political reasons. His life was devoted to three 
 pursuits, poetry, politics, and literary research, and he 
 earned distinction in all three. He began to write at
 
 THE NINETEENTH CENTURY, 1800-1848 143 
 
 a very early age, and the great bulk of his verse was 
 composed before he was thirty years of age. He 
 shows practically no development as a lyric poet. 
 His first^'poems are thoroughly romantic ; in not a few 
 of them he indulges in a sentimentality which, con- 
 trasting strongly with his practical nature, must be 
 regarded as a yielding to literary tradition. Nuns, 
 monks, harpers, pilgrims, kings, shepherds and 
 shepherdesses, are the favourite figures in these early 
 pieces. Yet the subjects are handled with so much 
 freshness and artistic judgment that we must rank 
 some of these poems, such as " Das Schloss am Meer," 
 or " Die Kapelle," among Uhland's best. His attitude 
 to nature is calm, earnest, almost devotional, but 
 without fervour, his mastery of technique is remarkable 
 at so early an age : — 
 
 " Droben stehet die Kapelle, 
 Schauet still ins Tal hinab, 
 Drunten singt bei Wies' und Quelle 
 Froh und hell der Hirtenknab. 
 Traurig tont das Glocklein nieder, 
 Schauerlich der Leichenchor ; 
 Stille sind die frohen Lieder 
 Und der Knabe lauscht empor. 
 Droben bringt man sie zu Grabe 
 Die sich freuten in dem Tal. 
 Hirtenknabe, Hirtenknabe, 
 Dir auch singt man dort einmal." 
 
 In poems like this, and there arc a number of the 
 same kind, " Des Knaben Berglied," " Der Schmied," 
 " Der gute Kamerad," it is the preciseness and yet 
 perfect plasticity of the picture that we admire, the 
 objective and yet warm personal tone of the delinea- 
 tion. We miss the glow of exuberant subjective 
 feeling, but Uhland makes up for it partly by that in-
 
 144 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 definable quality which the Germans call "Stimmung," 
 the imparting of the poet's own mood to the work of 
 art and to the reader. He was a calm but not a cold 
 nature, an affectionate husband but not a rapturous 
 lover. His more intimate feelings are generally 
 veiled by the epic form. He cannot write with the 
 irresistible inspiration of a Goethe, but he could not 
 have caught so effectively the subjective feeling of the 
 third person, the soldier, the smith, the huntsman, or 
 the herd-boy, had he himself not possessed lyrical 
 feeling of the deepest kind. He has the poet's heart, 
 but it is held in check by the head of the scholar. 
 He is shy of intruding the personal note. He prefers 
 to let nature and man speak in diverse forms, as in 
 " Schafers Sonntagslied," " Jagerlied," " Der Schmied," 
 etc. His poems drawn from nature, especially the 
 " Friihlingslieder "' and the "Wanderlieder," are sufficient 
 to establish his fame as a lyricist. Much greater, 
 however, is his merit in the ballad. When we take 
 into account the bulk and diversit}- of his ballad work, 
 and their uniformly high standard of excellence, we 
 can hardly hesitate to place him first in the role of 
 German ballad-writers. There is almost no limit to 
 the variety of his subjects, and he shows great mastery 
 of the various styles of treatment. " Der blinde 
 Konig" is dramatic and vivid in action as in dialogue. 
 The changing emotions of the old king who can hear 
 and feel, but not see, are splendidly portrayed, while 
 the attendants, moved from timidity to enthusiasm, 
 supply the information which his own sight cannot 
 provide. " Der Wirtin Tochterlein " and " Der gute 
 Kamerad " are in the style of the Folksong, ballads 
 in strong brilliant outlines and adapted for singing. 
 "Der weisse Hirsch" is sarcastic and humorous;
 
 THE NINETEENTH CENTURY, 1800-1848 145 
 
 " Schwabische Kunde " and " Siegfrieds Schwert " are 
 realistic, and appeal strongly to national sentiment ; 
 " Des Sangers Fluch " and " Taillefer " revel in detail 
 and ornate imagery, and excel in beauty of language. 
 In " Des Sangers Fluch," one of the masterpieces of 
 German ballad poetry, the contrasts between the 
 venerable minstrel and his son, between the gentle 
 queen and the hard-hearted king, are effectively drawn ; 
 so, too, the change in the background, from the smiling 
 beauty of the landscape at the beginning to the 
 shrivelled, curse-laden scene of desolation at the end. 
 The description of the minstrel's song might be 
 applied to Uhland's own art : — 
 
 " Sie singen von Lenz und Liebe, von sel' ger goldner Zeit, 
 Von Freiheit, Mannerwiirde, von Treu' und Heiligkeit, 
 Sie singen von allem Siissen, was Menschenherz durchbebt. 
 Sie singen von allem Hohen, was Menschenherz erhebt." 
 
 " Das Gliick von Edenhall " is in the same measured 
 epic strain, but remarkably concise and impressive, 
 as every line brings us a step nearer to the final 
 tragedy. As in Uhland's lyrics, so in his ballads 
 there is no development to speak of The only fact 
 to be pointed out is that his stay in Paris in 18 10, 
 when he was studying old French poetry, supplied 
 him with many new subjects for his ballads. But 
 apart from the sentimentality of some of the pieces 
 written before 1807, no one could say that there is any 
 noteworthy advance, from " Der Wirtin Tochterlein " 
 (1809) to "Bertran de Born" (1829), or that "Die 
 Rache" (1810) or "Das Schwert" (1809) is not as 
 faultless in construction and execution as the ballads 
 of later years. Uhland represents the poetry of 
 buoyant enthusiastic youth ; he is free from pedantry 
 and reflection, he loves the figures of romance, but he 
 10
 
 146 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 does not lose himself in Mediaevalism, nor does he 
 treat his theme with the ironical superiority which 
 we find in Heine and Brentano. His attitude is naive 
 and joyous, and no poet of the nineteenth century 
 has been more successful in expressing the life of the 
 past in the terms of modern art. His almost complete 
 silence during the last thirty years of his life is a 
 somewhat rare phenomenon among poets, but if we 
 consider his character and life, the explanation is not 
 far to seek. His early sentimental lyrics, which Goethe 
 laid aside with a feeling of weariness, were due to the 
 notion that poetry was a thing of fancy free from all 
 reality. In the simple straightforwardness of his soul 
 he soon recognised how little he was suited for lyric 
 poetry. His ballads sprang, to begin with, from his 
 warm democratic patriotism ; every vestige of the old 
 traditions, customs, legends which he could recover 
 filled him with enthusiasm, and prompted him to 
 ballad composition. But the political impulse grew 
 stronger than the literary. To politics he sacrificed 
 his professorship, he gave valuable years of his life ; 
 and what Goethe prophesied became true, his poetical 
 activity was destroyed. Poetry cannot live without 
 emotion, passion, rich personal experience, and such 
 things are far from the realm of politics, especially 
 such limited political agitation as was permitted to 
 Uhland in his liberal appeal to the deaf autocracy of 
 Wurtemberg. With him poetry was not a necessity 
 of life nor his " highest happiness," as it was to a 
 natural singer like Burns, and it may well be that his 
 democratic zeal, which induced him, for example, to 
 spend even his wedding day in political work, gradually 
 dried up every poetical impulse. 
 
 Justinus Kerner (1786- 1862) was, like Uhland,
 
 THE NINETEENTH CENTURY, 1800-1848 147 
 
 closely connected with the leaders of the romantic 
 school. He knew Arnim, Brentano, and F"riedrich 
 Schlegel. After a youth of hardship he succeeded 
 in taking his degree in medicine, and spent the greater 
 part of his life as a doctor in Weinsberg. His 
 hospitable home welcomed from time to time the 
 leading literary men of the time, not only the 
 Swabians, but also Lenau, Freiligrath, Geibel, and 
 others. He was a man of strange temperament : 
 with the warm heart and sunny humour of the 
 Swabian he combined the melancholy of the new 
 era, and, in later life, a morbid interest in spiritualistic 
 phenomena. His poetry is unequal : sometimes he 
 rivals the greatest, but he lacked the critical faculty, 
 and published much that is mediocre. He excels in 
 simple folksongs, which show not only imitative power, 
 but close natural interest in the people. The best 
 known example is " Wanderlied " : — 
 
 " Wohlauf noch getrunken 
 Den funkelnden Wein ! 
 Ade, nun, ihr Lieben ! 
 Geschieden muss sein. 
 Ade, nun, ihr Berge, 
 Du vaterlich Haus ! 
 Es treibt in die Feme 
 Mich machtig hinaus. . . ." 
 
 " Der reichste Fiirst " is an admirably clear and 
 effective ballad, which celebrates Eberhard of Wiirtem- 
 berg, who can lay his head with security in the lap 
 of any of his subjects. Perhaps the most artistic and 
 impressive of his poems is " Der Wanderer in der 
 Sagemiihle." The wanderer is the poet himself, and 
 the melancholy pervading the piece, which describes 
 how he watches a pine tree being cut into planks for
 
 148 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 his own coffin, is thoroughly characteristic of Kerner, 
 The introductory h'nes, the repetition of certain phrases, 
 the simple style of the verse, remind us of the Folk- 
 song : — 
 
 " Dort unten in der Miihle 
 Sass ich in siisser Ruh 
 Und sah dem Raderspiele 
 Und sah den Wassem zu. . . ." 
 
 And yet the art is more conscious, the melancholy 
 profounder, more reminiscent of the age of Lenau, 
 than of the ancient Folksong. Kerner possessed 
 poetical gifts of a unique kind, and the poem entitled 
 " Poesie " shows that he had a deep insight into the 
 essence of true poetry : — 
 
 " Poesie ist tiefes Schweigen 
 Und es kommt das echte Lied 
 Einzig aus dem Menschenherzen, 
 Das ein tiefes Leid durchzieht. . . ." 
 
 But his eccentricities, such as playing with the 
 fantastic shapes of ink-blots, and keeping his coffin 
 beside him in a room of his house, point to a lack of 
 balanced judgment. This and the want of a sure 
 aesthetic taste explain much that is disappointing in 
 his work. 
 
 Three other names should be mentioned here, 
 although their lyrical work is not of the highest — 
 Gustav Schwab (1792- 1850), Wilhelm Hauff(i8o2- 
 27), and Karl Mayer (1786- 1870). Mayer has never 
 enjoyed more than a local reputation, and Hauff has 
 written much more important prose than poetry. 
 His historical novel, Lichtenstein, was a thoroughly 
 pleasing imitation of the manner of Sir Walter Scott, 
 and he has also given us a few spirited songs, such 
 as "Morgenrot" and "StelV ich in finstrer Mitternacht."
 
 THE NINETEENTH CENTURY, 1800-1848 149 
 
 Schwab followed the model of Uhland in his ballads, 
 but even in the best of them, " Das Gewitter " and 
 " Der Reiter und der Bodensee," the content is some- 
 what sensational and undramatic. In the latter poem 
 everyone must admire the vivid description of the 
 ride over the snow-covered plain, but the sudden 
 death of the rider when he discovers that he has 
 unwittingly crossed the lake fails altogether to impress 
 the reader. So, too, in " Das Gewitter," the appalling 
 catastrophe, for which there is no poetical justification, 
 leaves us cold. It is not a human drama, but merely 
 a calamity. 
 
 The Passing of Romanticism 
 
 We have seen in Chamisso and even in Eichendorff, 
 in spite of their devotion to romantic themes, certain 
 tendencies to a more modern style of poetry based 
 upon the experiences of life. This movement became 
 stronger and stronger, until in certain writers it 
 culminated in opposition and revolt. Heine is a 
 romanticist, but at the same time he did more than 
 any other to break the prevailing tradition. Platen's 
 opposition was of a totally different kind, but equally 
 strong. At the same time there were many stragglers 
 in the romantic movement, and as they stand nearer 
 in spirit to the early school, it may be advisable to 
 consider them before discussing Heine and Platen. 
 Wilhelm Miiller (1794- 1827) was one of the most 
 gifted. He was born in Dessau, studied in Berlin, 
 took part in the War of Liberation, travelled in 
 Italy, was for a short time a teacher, and thereafter 
 librarian in his native town. He was the father of 
 Max Miiller, of Oxford. He was only thirty-three
 
 I50 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 years of age when he died, but he had already 
 written a great deal of verse, and much of it still 
 lives. He made his name by the " Lieder der 
 Griechen " (1821), followed by " Neue Lieder der 
 Griechen " (1823), but apart from one or two pieces 
 like " Alexander Ypsilanti auf Munkacs " and the 
 interesting poem, " Byron," these pieces are not 
 remembered so much to-day as the others in which 
 Mtiller reveals himself as the son of the people. 
 Heine expressed the opinion that he was frequently 
 more successful in his folksongs than even Uhland. 
 The Gedichte aus den hinterlassenen Papieren 
 eines Waldkorntsten appeared in 1821, and here 
 we find almost all the themes and styles which Muller 
 subsequently varied, without much noteworthy im- 
 provement. There are love songs in the favourite 
 Folksong style, songs of wandering, of country life, 
 songs of farewell, regret, home-sickness and loyalty, 
 in simple language and agreeable verse. " Wander- 
 schaft," "Wohin," " Ungeduld," "Die bose Farbe," 
 and " Das Hirtenfeuer in der romischen Ebene," 
 are among the best. Occasionally new motives are 
 introduced, as in the graceful poem, " Der Ohrring," 
 but they are thoroughly in the style of the Folksong. 
 His convivial songs are not so successful. Such a 
 theme is apt to become trite, and Muller seldom rises 
 above the ordinary Anacreontic strain. He is the 
 author of a few good ballads, " Der Glockenguss zu 
 Breslau," " Die Sage vom Frankenberger See bei 
 Aachen," " Die Scharpe," " Der Totgesagte," all of 
 which treat subjects of the romantic type with the 
 lucidity and realism of Uhland. In other poems, 
 " Vineta," " Die Braut," " Die Brautigamswahl," there 
 is a curious mingling of romance with reflection.
 
 THE NINETEENTH CENTURY, 1800-1848 151 
 
 The greatest of his songs is " Der Lindenbaum." 
 Schubert's melody is, of course, inseparable from the 
 words, but at the same time we must give Miiller 
 due credit for the beautiful sentiment of the poem. 
 Much is suggested by a few hints : the German love 
 of home, the cherished associations of the lime-tree, 
 the burden of life, the soft whispering of nature's 
 consolation, and the subdued but confident anticipa- 
 tion of final rest beneath the rustling trees : — 
 
 "Am Brunnen vor dem Tore 
 
 Da steht ein Lindenbaum ; 
 Ich traumt' in seinem Schatten 
 
 So manchen siissen Traum. 
 Ich schnitt in seine Rinde 
 
 So manches liebe Wort : 
 Es zog in Freud' und Leide 
 
 Zu ihm mich immer fort. . . ." 
 
 This is true folk-poetry — simple language, short 
 sentences, disjointed and yet harmonious, a song that 
 will live in the love of the people for all time. 
 
 Friedrich Riickert (1788- 1866) has already been 
 mentioned as a patriotic poet, but that is only one 
 sphere of his great productivity. In his youth, in 
 Italy, during the tenure of his Professorships of Oriental 
 Languages in Erlangen and Berlin, he wrote unceas- 
 ingly. His importance lies not so much in his origin- 
 ality or poetical power, as in the stores of thought 
 which his Oriental studies enabled him to introduce 
 into German in a popular form. Hammer-Purgstall, 
 who inspired Goethe's " West-ostlicher Divan," was 
 also instrumental in interesting Riickert in the Orient. 
 In emulation of Goethe he wrote his Ostliche 
 Rosen, among which one at least of his best poems 
 is found : —
 
 152 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 "Du bist die Ruh, 
 Der Friede mild, 
 Die Sehnsucht du, 
 Und was sie stillt. 
 Ich weihe dir 
 Vol! Lust und Schmerz 
 Zur Wohnung hier 
 Mein Aug und Herz. . . ." 
 
 His most ambitious work was the Weisheit der 
 Brahntanen, a collection of didactic and epigrammatic 
 poems in Alexandrines. More lasting and artistic 
 work is to be found, however, in the lyrical poems, 
 which show us the man of geniality in his love, his 
 home-life, his interest in children. He issued many 
 cycles of poetry, the two most noteworthy of which 
 are Agnes' Totenfeier and Liebesfriihling. The latter 
 contains about three hundred pieces, very unequal 
 in merit, and even in the best numbers, " Du meine 
 Seele, du mein Herz," " Ich Hebe dich, weil ich dich 
 lieben muss," there is a preponderance of reflection 
 over lyrical feeling. The way in which the ideas are 
 heaped together, without developing the one from 
 the other, is suggestive of the craftsman rather than 
 the artistic genius. The sonnet is a favourite form 
 with Riickert, but he has tried nearly every other 
 stanza that he encountered in his studies, among 
 others the ottava, the ritornelle, the Siciliane, the 
 ghazal, and the four-lined Persian stanza. His 
 success in these borrowed forms cannot be called 
 brilliant. A good deal of Riickert's verse is 
 wooden, though the seriousness of the man and 
 the weight of the content prevent it from being 
 trivial. Apart from his services as an innovator 
 in form, he will live as the author of a few 
 poems which stand out above the rest — " Die
 
 THE NINETEENTH CENTURY, 1800- 1848 153 
 
 Graber von Ottensen," " Der alte Barbarossa," " Aus 
 der Jugendzeit," " Chidher," etc. The Barbarossa 
 ballad, written between 18 14 and 18 17, is one of the 
 most effective expressions of the early German longing 
 for national unity. 
 
 Franz von Gaudy (1800- 1840) was, like Riickert, 
 a voluminous writer. Short sketches, songs, nar- 
 rative poems, and ballads flowed from his pen. He 
 helped Chamisso in the translation of Beranger, 
 an author who afterwards served as a model to 
 the political poetry of Germany. Gaudy's own 
 work is witty, sentimental, and trivial. The 
 " Kaiserlieder," which celebrate the rise, great- 
 ness, and fall of Napoleon, form his most solid 
 achievement. In other poems he shows himself 
 as the skilful imitator of Eichendorff, Heine, or 
 the English ballad. Occasionally he was able, 
 as in " Buccleugh, Lord von Branksome Hall," to 
 attain to a fairly high standard. 
 
 Julius Mosen (1803- 1867) deserves mention among 
 the ballad-writers of this period. One poem of his, 
 " Andreas Hofer," on the execution of the hero of 
 Tyrol, has become a favourite Folksong. Equally 
 spirited and fresh in treatment are the other patriotic 
 poems, " Der Trompeter an der Katzbach," and " Die 
 letzten zehn vom vierten Regiment." His epic and 
 dramatic work is not of great importance. Mosen 
 is a typical poet of the period in his combination 
 of the traditions of romance with the contemporary , 
 and equally romantic enthusiasm for Poland and 
 Greece. 
 
 While Miiller, Riickert, Gaudy, and Mosen did not 
 possess the originality to create a new movement, and 
 simply followed the traditional groove, the appearance
 
 154 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 of Heinrich Heine ^ (1797-1856) was to form a 
 turning-point in the history of the German lyric 
 Born under romantic traditions, and inclined to 
 romanticism by the force and trend of his imaginative 
 gifts, he was nevertheless compelled, at an early 
 period in his development, to experience the disso- 
 nance between romantic imagery and the hard facts 
 of life. Much as he loved the moonshine, the flowers, 
 the stars, and the bright glance of love, he felt so 
 keenly in his sensitive soul the disabilities of his 
 Jewish birth, his incapacity for practical business, and 
 the sting of disappointed love that he could not help 
 exclaiming : — 
 
 " Wie sehr das Zeug auch gefallt, 
 So macht's doch noch lange keine Welt." 
 
 This feeling of contrast, this clashing between the 
 roving imagination and the keen intelligence grew to a 
 conviction that romanticism was, if not unreal, at least 
 one-sided, and this is the explanation of Heine's satire 
 upon poetry and the idealistic conception of life. The 
 irony which startles us at the close of some of his 
 poems may not always be artistic, it is frequently a 
 mannerism for which he had examples in Jean Paul 
 and even some of the romanticists like Brentano and 
 Chamisso. But it is a genuine attitude and not a 
 pose, for it reflects exactly Heine's standpoint to his 
 predecessors. With his remarkable gifts as a song 
 writer, Heine could have produced and did produce 
 the highest poetry of which romanticism is capable. 
 But he was not content to rest there. He let in the 
 real light of day, and with mischievous glee watched 
 
 'J. Legras, Henri Heine poete, Paris, 1897. W. Bolsche, 
 Heinrich Heine^ 2nd ed., Leipzig, 1892.
 
 THE NINETEENTH CENTURY, 1800-1848 155 
 
 the fairy shapes and phantoms of romance wither 
 and dissolve before it. And to subsequent lyric, if 
 not to his own, this was a great service. As George 
 Eliot said, Heine is not an echo, but a real voice, and 
 though the voice is sometimes harsh, or bitter, or 
 unpleasantly discordant, it is like every real thing in 
 this world worth listening to, and certain it is, that 
 no lyricist of the nineteenth century has exercised 
 such influence upon subsequent singers. 
 
 The details of his upbringing and education are of 
 interest, for they entered largely into the making of 
 the poet. The Rhineland, which was the home of his 
 youth, and his early contact with French culture 
 under the Napoleonic era, bulk largely in his poetry. 
 The free thinking of the rector of the Diisseldorf 
 school and his own fruitless attempts to accommodate 
 himself to a mercantile career, permanently influenced 
 his outlook upon things. The trend of his favourite 
 reading, books like Don Quixote, Gulliver s Travels, 
 Uhland's Ballads, and the fantastic tales of E. T. W. 
 Hoff"mann, even the amusements of his leisure, 
 such as his acquaintance with the executioner's 
 daughter Josepha, are faithfully mirrored in his early 
 verse. A wealthy uncle, Salomon Heine, of Hamburg, 
 supplied him with the means of studying at a 
 university, and in Bonn, August Wilhelm Schlegel 
 encouraged him to write and translate, while at the 
 same time he gave him valuable hints on literary 
 form. Gottingen only contributed to awaken the 
 slumbering satirist, but in Berlin he found himself in 
 the chief literary centre of the time. He was received 
 in literary salons where Goethe, Byron, and Scott 
 were admired, he met the leading writers of the day 
 and very soon made a name for himself among the
 
 156 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 younger writers. The Gedichte which he published 
 in 1 82 1 have many faults, but the genuine poetic vein 
 which runs through them was recognised by no less 
 a critic than Immermann. They consisted of 
 dream pictures, songs, ballads, and sonnets. The 
 burden of the song throughout is disappointed love, 
 based on Heine's experiences with Josepha and his 
 cousin, Amalia Heine. The style is coloured by 
 the " Schauerromantik " of which Hoffmann was the 
 conspicuous representative. The language of the 
 " Dream Pictures " especially is burdened with ar- 
 chaisms, traditional phrases, and mannerisms from 
 the romantic school, the treatment is frequently 
 melodramatic. Two poems stand out conspicuously 
 among the rest, the ballads "Belsazar" and "Die 
 beiden Grenadiere." The former was written in 
 emulation of Byron's " Belshazzar " and differs from 
 the easy flow and reflective abandon of that poem in 
 being vigorously dramatic, concentrated in the barest 
 but most dazzling outlines, composed with an eye to 
 antithesis and vivid effect. " Die beiden Grenadiere," 
 a tribute to Napoleon, is one of the greatest ballads 
 in the German language. It begins calmly in the 
 true epic tone, telling of the return of two veterans 
 broken in spirit by the Russian campaign. The 
 dialogue in the concise rapid style of the Folksong 
 enhances the interest, as they express their feelings 
 when they hear of the capture of the Emperor. A 
 reminiscence of the grim fatalism of the old Scottish 
 ballad " Edward " is skilfully brought in : — 
 
 "Was schert mich Weib, was schert mich Kind, 
 Ich trage weit besseres Verlangen ; 
 Lass sie betteln gehn, wenn sie hungrig sind — 
 Mein Kaiser, mein Kaiser gefangen I "
 
 THE NINETEENTH CENTURY, 1800-1848 157 
 
 Then the language becomes more impassioned, 
 the rhythm more rapid and sonorous, as the grenadier 
 fervidly expresses undying admiration for the Emperor 
 and fidelity till death and after : — 
 
 '* So will ich liegen und horchen still, 
 Wie eine Schildwach' im Grabe, 
 Bis einst ich hore Kanonengebriill 
 Und wiehernder Rosse Getrabe. 
 Dann reitet mein Kaiser wohl iiber mein Grab, 
 Viel Schwerter klirren und blitzen ; 
 Dann steig' ich gewafifnet hervor aus dem Grab — 
 Den Kaiser, den Kaiser zu schiitzen ! " 
 
 In 1827 Heine issued in the Buck der Lieder the best 
 poems which he had published in various periodicals 
 and books up to that year. The first portion, " Junge 
 Leiden," corresponds roughly to the Gedichte just 
 discussed. In the second, the " Lyrisches Inter- 
 mezzo," he treated once more, but in a much more 
 artistic manner, the subject of his love. The spring- 
 time of hope, rising doubts, betrayal, disappointment, 
 and the winter of despair form the basis of a garland 
 of love poems which as a collection have never 
 been surpassed. Apart from the melody, grace, and 
 original beauty of individual poems such as " Auf 
 Flugeln des Gesanges," " Die Lotusblume angstigt," 
 and " Ein Fichtenbaum steht einsam," we are im- 
 pressed by the skill displayed in the grouping, in the 
 variation of metre, and the consequent absence of 
 monotony in the sixty-five pieces devoted to so 
 narrow a theme. The third section, " Heimkehr," 
 retains the same features and introduces new ones, a 
 bitterer indignation and a more biting irony. There 
 are more poems of a general character, and the 
 satire is directed not only against the fickleness of
 
 158 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 womankind, but the world as well, and the poet's 
 own folly in falling in love with his younger cousin, 
 Therese. The second poem of this group is the 
 beautiful ballad, " Die Loreley," in which there is at 
 least the suggestion of a comparison between his 
 own position and the boatman, whom the beauty of 
 the maiden draws inevitably to his doom. The 
 grouping is again excellent, the various sections 
 being connected by poems of an objective ballad 
 character. Here Heine first introduced poems of the 
 sea, which he had visited for the benefit of his 
 health. They all reach a high standard of originality 
 and power, while two in particular, " Du schones 
 Fischermadchen " and " Auf den Wolken ruht der 
 Mond," may be singled out as beautiful examples of 
 melodious verse, delicate sentiment, and fine con- 
 struction. The love poems reveal extraordinary 
 variety of style and sentiment. There is the irony 
 of pessimism in " Die Jahre kommen und gehen," 
 sweet tenderness in " Du bist wie eine Blume," the 
 tears of mocking laughter in " Wer zum ersten Male 
 liebt," something very like blasphemy in " Ich traumt', 
 ich bin der liebe Gott," poetry of sensual pleasure in 
 close proximity to romantic idealism. Everywhere 
 the strong personal note, the individuality of the man 
 revealing itself at its best and at its worst. The 
 greatest poetry in the book is to be found in the last 
 two sections, " Die Harzreise " and " Die Nordsee- 
 bilder," for here in presence of nature, with its majesty 
 and soothing consolation, the poet forgets his malady 
 and his querulous complaints. Nature now reigns 
 supreme. There are few poems in the language like 
 " Bergidylle," in its quaint combination of vivid 
 realism and romantic imagery, in the plastic figures
 
 THE NINETEENTH CENTURY, 1800-1848 159 
 
 that dwell in the cottage amid the pines, in the 
 beauty of individual verses where the language seems 
 to bring the action immediately before our senses : — 
 
 "Und die Kleine fliistert leise, 
 Leise, mit gedampftem Laut, 
 Manches wichtige Geheimnis 
 Hat sie mir schon anvertraut. . . ." 
 
 The special feature of the " Nordseebilder " is the 
 unrhymed irregular verse, a new medium for Heine, 
 in which he shows his well-known metrical skill in 
 suiting the rhythm to the movement of the waves, 
 the tossing of the ship, the sinking and rising of his 
 own emotions. Ossian and Homer have contributed 
 to the style, in regard to the colouring, the sea effects, 
 and the grandiose compounds coined by Heine to 
 beautify his lines. Like Byron, Heine had a deep love 
 for the sea ; he felt its influence upon body and soul, 
 and these poems are brighter and more buoyant than 
 the previous ones. How he has caught the spirit of the 
 waters, their music, movement, force, and mysterious- 
 ness, we may see from lines like the following : — 
 
 " Und die weissen, weiten Wellen, 
 Von der Flut gedrangt, 
 
 Schaumten und rauschten naher und naher — 
 Ein seltsam Gerausch, ein Fliistern und Pfeifen, 
 Ein Lachen und Murmeln, Seufzen und Sausen, 
 Dazwischen ein wiegenliedheimliches Singen. " 
 
 He rises above his own petty cares, and would fain 
 question the waves on the riddle of life, the origin and 
 destination of man, but he receives no answer : — 
 
 " Es murmeln die Wogen ihr ew' ges Gemurmel, 
 Es wehet der Wind, es fliehen die Wolken. 
 Es blinken die Sterne gleichgiiltig und kalt 
 Und ein Narr wartet auf Antwort."
 
 i6o THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 The Buck der Lieder as a whole lacks manliness and 
 spirituality, there is much in it that will offend a fine 
 aesthetic temperament, hut yet there is a strange 
 magic in this poet's song. No collection of lyrics has 
 made such an impression beyond the borders of the 
 Fatherland. With a word or a line he reminds us of 
 the Folksong, of Goethe, or Byron, he plays upon our 
 ear with many a borrowed note, but he has made what 
 is alien his own, and placed it in a new setting, insepar- 
 able from the expression of his personal experience. 
 
 Heine's second collection of poems, Neue Gedichte, 
 appeared in 1844. The author was now living in 
 Paris, where he felt himself in congenial surroundings 
 and beyond the reach of the Prussian censorship. For 
 the most part, these poems were published between 
 1833 and 1844, and reflect the new atmosphere in 
 which the poet lived. The first group, " Neuer 
 Friihling," retains most of the qualities of the 
 " Lyrisches Intermezzo," melody of verse, nature 
 symbolism, dainty conception, and imagery. There is 
 little irony, no great depth of feeling, but a lightness 
 and grace which have made some of the pieces, such 
 as " Der Schmetterling ist in die Rose verliebt," 
 extremely popular as songs. Some of Heine's more 
 seriously inclined critics talk slightingly of this kind 
 of verse as being merely "jingle," and lacking in 
 earnestness and depth. But the taunt is unjust. 
 Nature, too, in these aspects, the sporting of the sun- 
 beams, the flutter of the butterfly, is not profound, 
 but light, graceful, and beautiful. And German verse 
 is none too rich in the bright playful type of lyric 
 which is so plentiful in English from the Elizabethan 
 age onwards. The second group contains a few 
 poems of great beauty, especially "In der P'remde"
 
 THE NINETEENTH CENTURY, 1800-1848 161 
 
 and " Tragodie," but the great bulk is addressed to 
 the beauties of the Paris boulevards, the dethroned 
 queens of his heart. Gutzkow advised Heine not to 
 publish these poems, a piece of very sound advice, 
 which Heine carefully considered, but did not follow. 
 The " Romanzen " are more pleasing in tone, though 
 there is a lack of concentration of action in most of 
 them. The " Zeitgedichte " are too personal, much 
 of the satire upon contemporaries is unjust, and the 
 point of the wit is lost after the lapse of time. As a 
 whole the Neue Gedichte fall far short of the Buck der 
 Lieder: there is much less poetry, and a great deal 
 more cynicism and frivolity. 
 
 In 1 85 1 Heine issued a new collection of poems 
 under the title Romanzero, which was received with 
 great enthusiasm. In the last few years the poet's 
 view of life had changed considerably ; he speaks of 
 his conversion, and claims credit for consigning to 
 the flames many poems of which he no longer approved. 
 Most of the pieces are objective in form, broader and 
 richer in colouring than those of the earlier collections. 
 The ballad, " Azra," is an exception in brevity and 
 epigrammatic conciseness. Certainly themes like 
 " Der Schelm von Bergen " and " Das Schlachtfeld 
 von Hastings " do not lend themselves to brief treat- 
 ment, but Heine revels in epic detail, and leaves less 
 to the imagination of the reader than was his wont. 
 In spite of the ballad form a strong personal note 
 pervades the whole. We get a picture of the poet's 
 bitterness and anguish of soul, his proud granderjza 
 and brilliant intellect, his human sympathy and keen 
 insight into life. The fortitude with which Heine 
 bore his painful bodily weakness is one trait at least 
 which has excited the admiration of every biographer, 
 ij
 
 i62 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 and these poems testify that while the body gradually 
 grew more and more helpless, he retained his fresh- 
 ness and buoyancy of mind, his wit and humour to the 
 last. Life had become very earnest to him. In the last 
 poems, notably those addressed to his friend and nurse 
 " Die Mouche," there is little flippancy or irreverent 
 laughter. Regret, admiration, passionate and despair- 
 ing love, pain, and gratitude have seldom been ex- 
 pressed so touchingly. There are many critics who 
 do not care for the sudden changes of mood in the early- 
 poems, from romanticism to cold sarcasm, from delicacy 
 to harsh irony, and who, in their uncertainty as to the 
 genuineness of the poet's utterance, look upon these 
 last pieces as the greatest which Heine has written. 
 
 August Graf von Platen-Hallermiinde (1796- 
 1835) is one of the lonely figures in German literature. 
 He ver)' soon lost all sympathy with romanticism, 
 he has nothing in common with the Young Germans, 
 he quarrelled with Immermann, Heine, and Raupach, 
 and rather links on to the classical movement of the 
 eighteenth century in his love for Italy, and his careful 
 cultivation of form. The " Ghaselen," which appeared 
 in 1 82 1, show his interest in the Oriental work of 
 Rijckert. In 1824 he was able to satisfy his dearest 
 wish, to visit Italy and bask in the sunshine of the 
 antique world. The " Sonette aus Venedig " reveal 
 him as a man of fine aesthetic taste, of warm poetical 
 temperament, and a master of language. The beauty 
 of the modern city is veiled with a gentle melancholy 
 for its glorious past : — 
 
 " Venedig liegt nur noch im Land der Traume 
 Und wirft nur Schatten her aus alten Tagen, 
 Es liegt der Leu der Republik erschlagen, 
 Und ode feiem seines Kerkers Raume.''
 
 THE NINETEENTH CENTURY, 1800-1848 163 
 
 In 1826 Platen resigned his commission and settled 
 in Italy. He attempted the drama, and looked upon 
 his satirical comedies as his best work — work which 
 he fancied might rival Aristophanes. But his lyrical 
 pieces are more vital and enduring. Free from all 
 literary imitation, in the immediate contemplation of 
 Classical and Renaissance art, he perfected that chaste 
 beauty of style and grandeur of language which is his 
 great merit. Some of his poems seem to strike the 
 reader as cold, but he was a man of deep feeling and 
 serious contemplation, as poems like " Wer wusste je 
 das Leben recht zu fassen " and " Ich mochte, wenn 
 ich sterbe " clearly show. Longfellow translated one 
 of his most finished poems, " Wie rafft' ich mich auf 
 in der Nacht." Few of his lyrics will ever be popular 
 in the ordinary sense of the word. But at least two 
 of his ballads, "Der Pilger vor St Just" and "Das 
 Grab im Busento," have earned that distinction. 
 The former describes the entrance of Charles V. into 
 a cloister after his abdication, the latter tells in 
 beautifully balanced lines of the burial of Alarich in 
 the bed of the Busento. There is masterly command 
 of vowel and consonant effects in the long lines : — 
 
 "In der wogenleeren Hdhlung wuhlten sie empor die Erde, 
 Senkten tief hinein den Leichnam mit der Riistung auf dem 
 
 Pferde ; 
 Deckten dann mit Erde wieder ihn und seine stolze Habe, 
 Dass die hohen Stromgewachse wiichsen aus dem Helden- 
 
 grabe. 
 Abgelenkt zum zweiten Male ward der Fluss herbeigezogen ; 
 Machtig in ihr altes Bette schaumten die Busentowogen. . . ." 
 
 Platen struggled hard, but failed to express himself 
 fully and intimately in his lyrics. It is only since 
 the publication of his TagebilcJier in 1896 and 1900
 
 i64 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 that the strange story of the man's inner life has 
 become known. Repelled by the roughness and 
 routine of army life, he had withdrawn from life 
 altogether. He read ceaselessly, mastered language 
 after language, but sometimes even this failed to 
 satisfy him. The beauty of thoughts and words 
 seemed at times a poor substitute for life, and the 
 consciousness of this drove him to despair. But 
 where was he to find life ? Not in nature, for scenes 
 of wild grandeur did not appeal to him. He could 
 exult in the contemplation of works of art by 
 human hands or relics of ancient splendour such 
 as his beloved Venice presented to him, but the 
 scenery of the Alps did not move him. He wor- 
 shipped beauty ardently ; a fair face, a beautiful 
 figure filled him with rapture, but the very idea of 
 possession was abhorrent to him, and he was obsessed 
 with the contrast between beauty of form and inner 
 soullessness. He had most frequently found it so, 
 and hence his aloofness from women, his growing 
 asceticism, his detachment from all that men 
 commonly regard as life and experience. There re- 
 mained the possible consolation of religion to a sensi- 
 tive, high-souled man like Platen, but religion without 
 beauty was to him inconceivable ; to him beauty was 
 religion, and it failed to give him satisfaction and peace 
 of mind. Frequently he regretted his loneliness, but 
 that was like finding fault with his own nature. 
 Nothing in this world would have contented him for 
 long. Gradually he lost contact with life and contem- 
 porary history; he lived in the past, in his own world of 
 thoughts and ideals, and it is this absence of a real living 
 content and experience that is most characteristic of his 
 polished odes, with their austerity of artistic idealism.
 
 THE NINETEENTH CENTURY, 1 800-1 848 165 
 
 The Austrian Lyricists 
 
 From time to time German poetry has been enriched 
 by the genius of German-speaking peoples beyond the 
 boundaries of the Empire. Lenau and Grillparzer are 
 the most prominent among the Austrians, Keller and 
 Meyer among the Swiss. In the nineteenth century 
 in particular, and especially at the present day, German 
 letters owe a very great deal to the rivalry and origin- 
 ality of this art, which is so novel and independent in 
 its whole spirit and atmosphere, and yet so thoroughly 
 akin to the sentiment of Germany as a whole. The 
 Austrian poets of the first half of the century are 
 marked by one prevailingcharacteristic, their pessimism, 
 andLenau is the noblest exponentof this attitude tolife. 
 Nikolaus Niembsch von Strehlenau^ (1802-1850) 
 wrote in one of his letters that his collected works 
 were his life, and he might have added that his years 
 were spent with one object in view, the realisation of 
 his poetical ambitions. His poems are a genuine 
 reflection of his melancholy temperament, but he had 
 this in common with Heine, that he knew the source 
 of his greatness, and kept open, as Paul Heyse say.s, 
 the wounds that caused his suffering and supplied him 
 with the material of his art. Born in 1802 in the little 
 Hungarian village of Ctatad, at the age of five he lost 
 his father, the light-hearted, unprincipled Franz von 
 Strehlenau, and w^as brought up in straitened circum- 
 stances by a doting mother, whose excitable tempera- 
 ment, strictness of principle, tenderness, and melancholy 
 had much to do with the moulding of the character 
 of her son. A private education, in which music 
 
 * L. Roustan, Lenau ei son iemps, Paris, 1898.
 
 i66 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 figured largely, was probably not the best training for 
 a boy like Lenau : little attempt was made to develop 
 the qualities of self-reliance, perseverance, and practical 
 sense. In the year 1819 he entered the University of 
 Vienna with a view to studying literature and philo- 
 sophy. One of his friends, Seidl, tells us that no idea 
 of entering upon a career seemed to trouble him ; he 
 was like a guest at the table of learning, and as a 
 matter of fact he passed in turn from arts to law, from 
 law to agriculture, from that to law again, and from 
 law to medicine. An unfortunate love affair with a 
 girl who proved unworthy of the poet deeply wounded 
 his pride, and the tendency to dwell upon his sorrows 
 is reflected in a verse which bears upon this episode : — 
 
 " Was einmal tief und wahrhaft dich gekninkt. 
 Das bleibt auf ewig dir in's Mark gesenkt." 
 
 The death of his mother added to his grief His 
 health gave way, and he had to betake himself to the 
 Austrian Alps to recuperate. The visit not only gave 
 him new health and vigour, but opened his eyes to 
 the beauty of the hills. In 1831 he travelled to 
 Stuttgart to arrange with Cotta for the publication 
 of his poems. He was warmly received by the Swabian 
 poets, and the time which he spent in their midst 
 proved favourable to his lyrical development. A new 
 love inspired him, to the graceful and cultured Lotte, 
 but the poet's fatal irresolution and distrust of .self 
 prevented the consummation of a closer tie. He had 
 not the courage, as he said, " to enshrine this heavenly 
 rose in his dark breast." To his friends' surprise he 
 suddenly declared his intention to emigrate to America, 
 which he regarded as a land of hope and freedom. 
 " I require America for my development," he wrote,
 
 THE NINETEENTH CENTURY, 1S00-1848 167 
 
 and was determined to sacrifice everything to poetry, 
 to " crucify himself even, if only a good poem might 
 be the result." " He who does not risk everything 
 for the love of art is not her serious devotee." The 
 experiences in America were rich in inspiration, but 
 disappointing in every other way, and within a year 
 Lenau was back in Vienna. He returned to find 
 himself famous, as the poems which appeared during 
 his absence had made a deep impression. Their 
 beauty of form, their depth and earnestness, the 
 originality and even daring in the personification of 
 nature, their delicacy of conception, showed that a 
 new poet of great merit had arisen. Interest was 
 increased by the complete novelty of the landscape 
 portrayed, the Hungarian pustas, and by the vivid 
 delineation of the wanderers, gypsies, and recruiting 
 officers who seem so closely bound up with the scene. 
 Over all lay like a veil the poet's melancholy, the 
 sentimental but genuine expression of a joyless yet 
 ardent and noble temperament. The imagery of 
 these poems is often strikingly original and effective: — 
 
 " Und der Baum im Abendwind 
 Lasst sein Laub zu Boden wallen, 
 Wie ein schlafergriffenes Kind 
 Lasst sein buntes Spielzeug fallen. . . ." 
 
 Or again : — 
 
 " Der Himmel blitzt, und Donnerwolken fliehn, 
 Die lauten Stiirme durch die Haine tosen ; 
 Doch lachelnd stirbt derholde Lenz dahin, 
 Sein Herzblut still verstrdmend, seine Rosen." 
 
 He possesses a unique gift of effectively expressing 
 his own momentary feelings in the terms of the 
 material world • — •
 
 1 68 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 " Hier ziind' ich nachts mein Herz zum hellen Feuer 
 Des Schmerzes an und starre stumm hinein." 
 
 On the other hand, his description of the life of 
 outward nature excels in boldness of personifica- 
 tion : — 
 
 " Am Himmelsantlitz wandell ein Gedanke, 
 Die diistre Wolke dort, so bang, so schwer. 
 Wie auf dem Lager sich der Seelenkranke, 
 Wirft sich der Strauch in Winde hin und her. 
 
 Vom Himmel tont ein schwermutmattes Grollen, 
 Die dunkle Wimper blitzet manchesmal, 
 — So blinzen Augen, wenn sie weinen wollen — 
 Und aus der Wimper zuckt ein schwacher Strahl. 
 
 Nun schleichen aus dem Moore kiihle Schauer 
 Und leise Nebel libers Heideland ; 
 Der Himmel liess, nachsinnend seiner Trauer, 
 Die Sonne lassig fallen aus der Hand." 
 
 These pensive aspects of a new landscape, this in- 
 comparably vivid picturing of the scene, was both 
 novel and unmistakably beautiful. As one would 
 expect from the bent of his mind, he prefers the 
 monotonous, colourless plains, the moors and swampy 
 valleys to the brighter, more exhilarating scenes. 
 The " Schilflieder " are an example of what he can 
 make out of a seemingly uninviting theme. For 
 purely lyrical qualities, music, and beauty they would 
 be difficult to surpass : — 
 
 " Auf dem Teich, dem regungslosen 
 Ruht des Mondes holder Glanz, 
 Flechtend seine bleichen Rosen 
 In des Schilfes griinen Kranz. 
 Hirsche wandeln dort am Htigel 
 Blicken in die Nacht empor ; 
 Manchmal regt sich das Gefliigel 
 Traumerisch im tiefen Rohr.
 
 THE NINETEENTH CENTURY, 1800-1848 169 
 
 Weinend muss mein Blick sich senken 
 Durch die tiefste Seele geht, 
 Mir ein susses Deingedenken 
 Wie ein stilles Nachtgebet." 
 
 Lenau is not always so subjective as he is here. 
 There are altogether impersonal pictures of life, such 
 as " Die Heideschenke," " Der PolenflUchtling," and 
 " Der Postilion." Again, in the poems which were 
 suggested by the scenes and episodes of the American 
 tour, new subjects were introduced, bringing vividly 
 before us, in poems like " Niagara" and " Der Indian- 
 erzug," the things that appealed to the poet himself. 
 One of the best is " Sturmesmythe," a description of 
 the oncoming of a storm at sea in the spirit of the 
 old mythology. 
 
 Even after his return from America Lenau did not 
 adopt any definite profession or line of work. He 
 studied religious and philosophical questions, but with 
 no special plan or aim. The long poems on " Faust," 
 " Savonarola," and " Die Albigenser " were meant to 
 express his mature thoughts on religious and historical 
 problems in objective form. But they fail through 
 lack of clearness, concentration, and dramatic charac- 
 terisation. The subjective passages, however, contain 
 some fine though sombre poetry. The lyrical poems 
 of this period became from year to year more unre- 
 lieved in their grey austerity. Lenau's outlook upon 
 life was becoming hopelessly dark, he himself more 
 and more unhappy and restless. Finally, in 1844, 
 financial worries and unfortunate attachments un- 
 hinged his mind, and he died in mental darkness in 
 1850. Among the later poems the most noteworthy 
 are the ones written for Sophie von Laroche, the 
 friend and confidante of the poet. Their background
 
 I70 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 is the leafless forest in late autumn, the thunder rolling 
 above the tree-tops, the impetuous and destructive 
 floods, the rushing rain, the mists, and the dark night 
 as it enshrouds the landscape, the mouldering decay 
 of SHmmer flowers and all things beautiful. The poet 
 has lost hold of life and love, he has not the courage 
 of initiative, his attitude is one of passivity and hope- 
 less resignation, as he sees what might have been pass 
 for ever beyond his control. 
 
 Christian von Zedlitz (1790- 1862) was destined for 
 the Church, but he himself preferred the army, and 
 later in life he served the State as Metternich's literary 
 helper, writing articles in the press in support of the 
 minister's policy. In 1828 he published the " Toten- 
 kranze," a series of elegies at the graves of famous 
 personalities like Napoleon, Wallenstein, Byron, Tasso, 
 and Laura. In 1832 he issued a collection of poems 
 which included ballads, songs, occasional poems, 
 sonnets, and canzones. In the ballads he shows his 
 dependence upon Uhland, both in language and in 
 the choice of themes. Not only the characters, such 
 as the knight, the ferryman, the messenger, but also 
 the situations which he represents — a scene at the 
 window of a castle, the sunlit battlements looking 
 down upon the Rhine, a king amid his people on the 
 shore of the sea, a prisoner pining for freedom and 
 love — reveal Zedlitz as a faithful follower of the 
 romantic tradition. But this does not preclude him 
 from manifesting both skill and originality in the 
 delineation, especially in the poem " Der Gefangene." 
 His most original and artistic poem is " Die nachtliche 
 Heerschau," which describes in vivid and powerful 
 language how the soldiers of Napoleon rise from their 
 graves at midnight to be reviewed by the Emperor : —
 
 THE NINETEENTH CENTURY, 1800-1848 171 
 
 " Nachts um die zwolfte Stunde 
 Verlasst der Tambour sein Grab, 
 Macht mit der Trommel die Runde 
 Geht emsig auf und ab. . . ." 
 
 In his occasional poetry there is little of interest, 
 although he reveals in all he writes considerable 
 mastery of lyrical form. 
 
 Anastasius Griin (Graf Auersperg, 1806-76) was 
 likewise inclined to the themes and style of romantic- 
 ism. In politics he was a bitter opponent of the 
 Metternich regime ; he attacked it boldly in the 
 Spaziergdnge eines Wiener Poeien, which appeared 
 anonymously in 1831. In this respect, Griin is a 
 forerunner of the school of political poetry which 
 flourished in the fourth decade. His sympathies were 
 well known, but his high position offered him adequate 
 protection. His writings, which were not numerous, 
 reveal him as a warm-hearted, enthusiastic, and liberal- 
 minded man. The lyrics suffer from too much re- 
 flection, which betrays itself in the search for quaint 
 or remote images, and the form of the poems is not 
 free from hardness and stiffness. There are excep- 
 tions, though they are somewhat rare in Griin's poetry. 
 The most noteworthy is the song, " Das Blatt im 
 Buche," where he has succeeded in rivalling the 
 simplicity and sweetness of the Folksong : — 
 
 " Ich hab' eine alte Muhme, 
 Die ein altes Biichlein hat, 
 Es liegt in dem alten Buche 
 Ein altes, diirres Blatt. . . ." 
 
 Griin was a friend of Lenau, and his introduction to 
 the latter's works is, for insight and sympathy, a model 
 of what such introductions should be. 
 
 Ernst von Feuchtersleben (1806-49) should also
 
 172 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 receive mention as an Austrian lyricist of genuine 
 though modest talents. His fame rests on a semi- 
 popular medical book, Zur Didtetik der Seek, but he 
 is remembered also as the author of the fine but 
 melancholy lines, " Es ist bestimmt in Gottes Rat." 
 
 Mdrike and the later Swabians 
 
 Eduard Mdrike (1804-75) i^ the greatest of the 
 many distinguished Swabian poets. Mommsen called 
 him " the last rose of romance, blossoming in Svvabia's 
 most secret vale," but he has none of the vagueness 
 or sentimentality or mannerisms of the romantic 
 school. His songs come very near in spirit to the 
 Folksong, bui he drew his inspiration not from books 
 but from the landscape and the people of his native 
 land. Like the rest of the Swabians he was unaffected 
 by the propaganda of Yourig Germany, in fact he 
 stands in strong contrast to them in almost every 
 point. He was, as Treitschke said, " ein zeitloser 
 Dichter," a man of innate originality, who would have 
 written as he did no matter under what conditions 
 and in what age he had appeared. He was born in 
 Ludwigsburg, as the son of middle-class parents. In 
 1 8 17 he lost his father, and through the influence of 
 his mother, who was a daughter of the manse, he 
 entered the convent school at Urach, with a view to 
 becoming a minister. The poem, " Besuch in Urach," 
 was inspired by a visit in later life to this home of his 
 youth, which he celebrates as " meines Lebens andere 
 Schwelle, meiner tiefsten Krafte Herd." From 1822 to 
 1826 he was a student of theology at Tubingen. The 
 most important episode in this period was his meeting 
 with Maria Meyer, whose mysterious character and 
 wanderings awakened the poet's interest and love.
 
 THE NINETEENTH CENTURY, 1800-1848 173 
 
 She is the gipsy of Maler Nolten and the subject of the 
 poems entitled " Peregrina," the third of which is 
 beautifully worded : — 
 
 " Warum, Geliebte, denk ich Dein 
 Auf einmal nun mit tausend Thranen, 
 Und kann gar nicht zufrieden sein, 
 Und will die Brust in alle Weiten dehnen. . . ." 
 
 Soon the poet was convinced that his affection was 
 misplaced, and this disappointment made him draw 
 into himself and live in a world of his own, finding 
 consolation in the works of Tieck, Holderlin, Jean 
 Paul, Goethe, Fouque, and Ossian. From 1826 to 
 1834 Morike acted as vicar in a number of villages, 
 but he found no satisfaction in his work. " Alles, 
 aber nur kein Geistlicher," he exclaimed. He tried 
 editing, but was even less successful at that. For four 
 years he was engaged to Elise Rau, but there was no 
 deep understanding or attachment, and they drifted 
 apart owing chiefly to Morike's desire to give up the 
 ministry. In the meantime, he was working at his 
 novel Maler Nolten and some of his best lyrics appeared 
 in the Morgenblatt. In 1834 he was appointed to the 
 charge of Cleversulzbach, and the next nine years were, 
 on the whole, the happiest and most productive of 
 his life. He had time on his hands and could indulge 
 in his day-dreams, in loving observation of nature. 
 His 6^^^/^^^"^ appeared in 1838, a modest-sized volume, 
 for writing was a thing he abhorred. He was shy by 
 nature, troubled by ill health, and afraid of publicity 
 and binding duties. For fifteen years he was a teacher 
 of literature in the Katharinenstift in Stuttgart, and 
 the last nine years of his life were spent in retirement. 
 To the end he remained the same kind, childlike.
 
 174 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 somewhat hypochondriac character, the unpractical 
 dreamer, and he passed away, as Keller said, " as 
 quietly as a mountain spirit leaving its usual haunts." 
 The range of Morike's poetry is not wide ; he was 
 neither a profound thinker like Goethe nor a passion- 
 ate singer of love like Heine. But in his own sphere, 
 the life and landscape around him, he sang with 
 unexampled simplicity, sweetness, and truth. He 
 felt intimately and expressed effectively the charm of 
 nature as he saw it with his own eyes. In daily walks 
 through the woods and meadows he felt gloriously at 
 ease, far from the hard facts and duties of life. He 
 does not give us a brilliant picture of Swabian scenery, 
 for he lacks the plastic power of Lenau. It is the 
 half-hidden beauties that he revels in, the sunrise on 
 the hill, the modest flower, the voice of the rustling 
 water, the delicate shade of the rose, the hum of the 
 bee, the gold glimmer of autumn tints, the sweet 
 perfumes of wood and valley, the footprint of the bird 
 in snow, the mist-veiled morning, the lonely flower in 
 the wintry churchyard. There is nothing common- 
 place in his observations, for he looks behind the veil 
 into the depths of nature's wonders. He has beautiful 
 poems on spring, and the interesting personal note is 
 never absent : — 
 
 " Der Sonnenblume gleich steht mein Cemiite offen, 
 Sehnend, 
 Sich dehnend 
 In Lieben und Hoffen. 
 Friihling, was hist du gewillt ? 
 VVann werd' ich gestillt ?" 
 
 At the same time he gives rein to his imagination, 
 even to reflection, till the poetical mood enshrined in 
 the poem is fully developed : —
 
 THE NINETEENTH CENTURY, iSoo-1848 175 
 
 " Ich denke dies und denke das, 
 Ich sehne mich, und weiss nicht recht nach was : 
 Halb ist es Lust, halb ist es Klage ; 
 Mein Herz, o sage. 
 Was webst du fiir Erinnerung 
 In golden griiner Zweige Dammerung? 
 — Alte unnennbare Tage ! " 
 
 He loves the mysterious and the romantic ; he sees 
 the land of Orplid, and describes it as vividly in 
 " Weylas Gesang " as he does the features of real 
 nature. He is a master of language, yet his style is 
 absolutely free from artificiality and straining after 
 effect. In the shorter pieces, " In der Friihe," " Um 
 Mitternacht," " Er ist's," there is marvellous word- 
 painting : he seems to catch the very music and 
 movement of nature. In the treatment of the super- 
 natural or the delicately naive, as in " Schon Rohtraut," 
 he challenges comparison with the greatest, but in 
 the realistic ballad, such as " Der Feuerreiter," he 
 lacks clearness and dramatic power. He has the 
 romanticist's love of the far-off and unreal, as his 
 " Schiffer- und Nixenmarchen," his " Elfenlied," and 
 "Die Geister am Mummelsee" show. From the 
 romanticists he adopted the sonnet, although this 
 form is not the most suitable for his peculiarly way- 
 ward genius. Perhaps he is greatest in those songs 
 which reveal the very soul of the common people. 
 " Das verlassene Magdlein " is beyond doubt a master- 
 piece of form and delicate suggestiveness : — 
 
 " Friih, wann die Hahne krahn, 
 Eh' die Sternlein verschwinden, 
 Muss ich am Herde stehn. 
 Muss Feuer ziinden. 
 Schon ist der Flammen Schein, 
 Es springen die Funken ;
 
 176 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 Ich schaue so drein, 
 
 In Leid versunken. 
 Plotzlich, da kommt es mir, 
 
 Treuloser Knabe, 
 
 Dass ich die Nacht von dir 
 
 Getraumet habe. 
 ThrJine auf Thrane dann 
 
 Stiirzet hernieder ; 
 
 So kommt der Tag heran — 
 
 O ging' er wieder." 
 
 It is hardly right to call this a Folksong. The central 
 figure, the scene, and the general theme are certainly 
 well known in the old Volkslieder, but there is some- 
 thing in the closely-knit narrative, the individual 
 poetical toi'ches, and the epigrammatic conclusion 
 which is suggestive of art rather than naivete. There 
 are not a few poems of the same kind, " Jung Volker," 
 " Agnes," " Der Gartner," and " Die Soldatenbraut," 
 where Morike's poetical insight into the feelings of 
 the people is only equalled by his mastery of form. 
 He is also a humorist. The same man who could 
 give exquisite expression to strong religious feeling 
 and resignation in poems like " Gebet " or " Denk es, 
 o Seele," who sensitively shut himself away from 
 every disturbing influence and prayed to be left 
 
 alone — ■ 
 
 " Lass, o Welt, o lass mich sein ! 
 Locket nicht mit Liebesgaben, 
 Lasst dies Herz alleine haben 
 Seine Wonne, seine Pein, . . ." 
 
 yet looked out with sunny smile upon the foibles of 
 mankind, and hit them off neatly in many a poem, 
 such as " Scherz," " Abreise," " An meinen Vetter," and 
 the " Marchen vom sicheren Mann." Another aspect 
 of Morike's genius is revealed in the idyll, a form of
 
 THE NINETEENTH CENTURY, 1800-1848 177 
 
 poetry particularly well-suited to his minute observa- 
 tion and love for the little things of life. There is an 
 unobtrusive charm and naivete of attitude in " Der 
 alte Turmhahn," where the weathercock, which has 
 been dethroned from its lofty position on the village 
 spire, describes the life of a country minister as it 
 views his activity from the stove in his study. It 
 is unpretentious art, but convinces by its simple 
 truth to nature. And above all, it is thoroughly 
 Swabian. Morike is not nearly so well known in this 
 country as he deserves to be, and the average English 
 reader has to go out of himself before he can 
 appreciate this thoroughly German art in its sim- 
 plicity, sentimentality, and intimateness. Goldsmith 
 is probably the nearest approach to it in English. 
 He is as humorous and playful, but not so truly lyrical. 
 The other idylls, " Haiisliche Scene," " Landliche 
 Kurzweil," " Die schone Buche," are equally admirable 
 in their mellowness of wisdom. Long before his 
 death Morike had been warmly appreciated by con- 
 temporaries, but his last years were clouded by ill 
 health and a none too happy marriage. The sunshine 
 of his nature, however, did not fail : in the course of 
 an uneventful life he spread his sunny radiance around 
 him and gilded with poetical touch, as few have 
 succeeded in doing, the drab and sombre features of 
 German village life. 
 
 Of much the same character as Morike's was the 
 poetry of the Swabian, J. G. Fischer (1816-97), who 
 carried on the traditions of the school till near the end 
 of the century. His life was spent in teaching, and his 
 poetry, which is calm, tender, and reflective, mirrors 
 his experiences and observation of the landscape and 
 village life which he knew so well. Nature and love
 
 178 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 are the two chief themes, and his song is as fresh 
 and melodious at eighty years of age as it was in the 
 poems of youth. He was quite as naive as Morike, 
 but he did not possess his imagination, his directness 
 of vision, his quaint humour, and knowledge of the 
 human heart. But he had great metrical skill, genuine 
 poetical feeling, and the gift of symbolical presentation. 
 Some of his poems, such as the well-known " Ans 
 Ziel," attain to a really high standard : — 
 
 " Gestern ein Rieseln 
 Im weichen Else, 
 Heule ein Bach 
 Auf der Friihlingsreise, 
 Gestern ein Kind 
 Mit Schleif und Band, 
 Heute Jungfrau 
 Mit Festgewand : 
 Wohin ? — wer weiss ? 
 Und wem der Preis ? 
 Frage die Biene 
 Wohin sie fliegt, 
 Frage die Hoffnung 
 Wo Eden liegt." 
 
 Two other Swabians may be discussed here, though 
 their tendencies are quite different from the traditional 
 ones of the Swabian circle, and they are also in no 
 way related to each other. Wilhelm Waiblinger 
 (1804-30) was one of the many poets who were 
 inspired by the Greek War of Independence. But 
 his most important work, consisting of sketches, 
 novelettes, and poems, was written in Italy, which he 
 had made his home. Here he came into touch with 
 Platen, who assisted him financially, but did not 
 altogether approve of his poetry. His " Lieder des 
 romischen Carnevals " gave a fairly successful picture
 
 THE NINETEENTH CENTURY, 1800-1848 179 
 
 of the revelry at this season in the sunny south, and 
 scarcely merit Platen's reproach that they breathe 
 " eine ganz faunische Brunst." Waiblinger wrote with 
 grace and fluency: his "Lieder der Untreue" certainly 
 gave promise of an original and happy vein of poetry, 
 but misfortunes and poverty brought his career to a 
 premature end. Karl Gerok (1815-90) has been one 
 of the most popular hymn- writers of modern Germany. 
 He was, to begin with, a son of the manse, his whole 
 life v\^as devoted to the ministry, and all his poetry is 
 religious. The first collection, entitled Palmbldtter^ 
 was issued in 1857, and the Pfingstrosen followed in 
 1864. Here we find fluent paraphrases of Biblical 
 texts and didactic meditation on sacred subjects of 
 every kind. It is l)Tical, for behind it all we feel the 
 earnestness of the man, but it is uninspired. Occasion- 
 ally it is superficial and in bad taste. The last 
 objection applies in particular to his parody of 
 Goethe's " Kennst du das Land." He loathes 
 philosophy and science, and has a tilt at the Higher 
 Criticism and the Darwinian theorj^-. In one or two 
 poems of the ballad type, " Wie Graf Erbach lutherisch 
 ward," " Das Kind des Steuermanns," " Tannhauser," 
 and " Todesreise," he rose out of his narrow groove 
 and produced more lasting work. Even in the purely 
 religious poem, in spite of his smoothness of verse, he 
 compares unfavourably with the hymn-writers of the 
 sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. 
 
 Droste-Hiilshoff and Hebbel 
 
 Writers of strong individuality are seldom influenced 
 for long by literary tradition or fashion. More usually 
 it is their fate to be copied by a host of admiring
 
 i8o THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 followers. But neither Hebbel nor Droste-Hiilshoff 
 was sufficiently popular during the first half of the 
 century to inaugurate a school. In their case it was 
 left to posterity to discover their merit. Annette von 
 Droste-Hiilshoff (1797- 1848) prophesied in fact that 
 she would find a public fifty years after her death. 
 And she is now recognised as Germany's greatest 
 poetess, and one of the most original writers of the 
 century. She was born in Schloss Hiilshoff, in West- 
 phalia, No stirring events seem to have entered into 
 her early life. The restrictions of class hemmed her 
 in ; her nearest relatives lived in a much narrower 
 world than she was satisfied with. On her father's 
 death in 1826 she removed with her mother to 
 RUschhaus, where the life was still more solitary. 
 She was thus thrown back upon her own resources, 
 and developed a surprisingly rich mental life of her 
 own, sustained by wide reading and reflection upon 
 problems of science, religion, history, and social life. 
 In 1830 she became acquainted with Levin Schiicking, 
 a young scholar and writer. He was seventeen years 
 younger than the poetess, but her attachment to him 
 was very great, as some of her letters prove. He 
 brought her out of herself, opened up for her the 
 avenues to a larger world and to the public. On 
 the other hand his sentiments were Radical, hers 
 Conservative, and much that came from his pen was 
 bound to wound her deeply. To him we are indebted 
 for Annette's extraordinary productivity in the year 
 1 841, as she had jestingly wagered that she could 
 write a volume of poetry within a few weeks, and 
 did so. But when we wish to penetrate deeper into 
 Annette's soul life, to try to solve the problem of her 
 personality, we are met with insuperable difficulties.
 
 THE NINETEENTH CENTURY, 1800-1848 181 
 
 She was extremely shy and reserved, but by no 
 means a cold nature. Some of her poems glow with 
 enthusiasm and passion. Even Schiicking seems to 
 have been baffled by her inscrutableness. She writes 
 with the tenderness of a lover, " Do write to me often, 
 my talent rises and sinks with thy love; what I become 
 is due to thee and for thy sake. ... It seems to me, 
 if I could see thee for only two minutes every day 
 — O God, if only for one moment — that I would sing 
 so beautifully that the salmon would spring from the 
 Lake of Constance, and the sea-gulls would perch 
 upon my shoulder." But she looked upon him rather 
 as an adopted son, and when he became engaged, she 
 sent him the " full blessing of one who will cherish 
 for you all the unfailing love of a mother, as long as 
 there is a breath of life in her body." She herself 
 died at a comparatively early age, unmarried. Ill 
 health troubled her later years, and to this was added 
 much mental doubt and affliction. She clung to the 
 old forms of religion and tradition, she hung with 
 fervour on the old aspects of Westphalian life, and 
 now the man who had widened her view of life 
 openly scoffed at all these things which she held 
 sacred. She had no longer the strength of body to 
 rise above this struggle, and passed away, a brave 
 but broken spirit. Her early poems, " Das Geistliche 
 Jahr," are religious, and show the development of 
 Droste's personal faith. The great bulk of her later 
 work, however, is of a different nature, it was written 
 mainly in South Germany, on the Lake of Constance, 
 where she stayed with her brother-in-law, the German 
 scholar, von Lassberg, but the ideas and motives had 
 been collected before, and reflect the landscape, 
 customs, and life of Westphalia.
 
 i82 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 Like Morike, Droste-Hiilshoff requires to be 
 patiently studied. Her work appears at first sight 
 crabbed and difficult to understand. It is not adapted 
 for singing, nor will it be appreciated by a wide and 
 superficial public. But her language, though it lacks 
 grace and softness, is remarkably virile and idiomatic. 
 The lines stand there as though hewn hastily out of 
 granite. What she has to say is worth hearing, and 
 she says it with great originality and force. She sinks 
 herself in the contemplation of the Westphalian 
 landscape, brings it before us in realistic colours, with 
 no trace of reflection or sentimentality. In a poem 
 like " Im Moose," she seems not merely in touch with, 
 but actually a part of, nature as she throws herself 
 down upon the mossy bank and listens to the sounds 
 around, drinking in the perfume of the flowers of the 
 heath. Every limb is motionless, even thought is 
 silent ; she has become a thing of sense, alive to the 
 gentlest sound, the gnawing of the caterpillar on the 
 leaf, the fall of a withered twig, or the beating of her 
 own heart. Thus she penetrates into nature's most 
 intimate relationships : — 
 
 " Als jiingst die Nacht dem sonnenmiiden Land 
 l)er Dammerung leise Boten hat gesandt, 
 Da lag ich einsam noch in Waldes Moose. 
 Die dunklen Zweige nickten so vertraut, 
 An meiner Wange fliisterte das Kraut, 
 Unsichtbar duftete die Heiderose." 
 
 Sometimes she dwells with a healthy realism on the 
 minutest details ; at other times she merely suggests, 
 and passes over what to the common eye is most 
 apparent. Shortsighted by nature, she seems to have 
 relied upon the sense of hearing, for the sounds of the 
 world around her occup)' a greater place in her poetry
 
 THE NINETEENTH CENTURY, 1800-1848 183 
 
 than is usually the case. We find this apparent in a 
 poem like " Die Mergelgrube," where she hints at 
 what she cannot see, or in " Durchwachte Nacht," 
 in which she describes how she lies awake, alive to 
 every sound without and every passing mood within, 
 to the various images which her restless mind conjures 
 up as the clock strikes hour after hour : — 
 
 " Wie mir das Blut im Hirne zuckt ! 
 Am Soller geht Geknister um, 
 Im Pulte raschelt es und ruckt, 
 Als drehe sich der Schliissel um, 
 Und — horch, der Zeiger hat gewacht I 
 S ist Mittemacht." 
 
 For a time Droste-HUlshofif was uncertain of the 
 proper medium for the expression of Westphalian life. 
 She tried prose sketches, and wrote a short novel of 
 great realism and psychological truth, Die Juden- 
 buche. In " Die Schlacht im Loener Bruch " she has 
 given us one of the few notable epics of the century. 
 She also wrote many ballads, but they are unequal 
 both in the interest of the subject and in form. She 
 was averse to careful pruning and smoothing of the 
 verse, once it had received its first form. " Let them 
 be as they are," she said to Schiicking on one occasion, 
 when he spoke of the advantages of clearness and 
 melody. In not a few of the ballads the narrative is 
 spoiled by diffuseness, and the shorter ones, such as 
 " Der Knabe im Moor," " Der Schlosself," and " Die 
 Vergeltung," are usually more effective. In all her 
 work, in poetry or prose, she is a strong and healthy 
 realist, one of the earliest " Heimatkiinstler." She 
 brought new life into the short story and the lyric, 
 but the circle of her admirers was too small during
 
 1 84 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 her lifetime, and for long afterwards, to enable her to 
 exercise the influence which the merits of her work 
 would have led us to expect. 
 
 Friedrich Hebbel (1813-63) is one of the most 
 original and profound of German writers. The 
 dramas and the Tagebilcher however, constitute 
 his great achievement. His thoughts on literature 
 and art have exercised a remarkable influence upon 
 the nineteenth century. He was born at Wesselburen, 
 in Holstein. The first thirty years of his life present 
 as hard a struggle as any poet ever had to face 
 against dire poverty and the lack of education. 
 Hebbel did not come out of this trial untarnished. 
 His treatment of Elise Lensing, on whom he was 
 for a time financially dependent, was not heroic, but 
 we must admire the indomitable perseverance of the 
 man, his confidence in his genius, and the steady 
 perfection of his culture. The King of Denmark 
 helped him with a pension, he was enabled to travel, 
 and Paris, Rome, Naples awakened in him new 
 ideals, new longings for beauty. " In life and art," 
 he wrote, " beauty becomes more and more a necessity 
 to me.'' The representation of his first plays in 
 Berlin helped to spread his fame, but it was in 
 Vienna that the turn in his fortunes came. He 
 married the famous actress, Christiane Enghaus, and 
 settled down to a life of comfort and productivity. 
 His lyric poetry belongs to his earlier years. In later 
 life he turned more and more to the epigram. Even 
 his early poems are not expressions of immediate 
 experience, but rather reflections springing from 
 conviction and emotion. He is always thoughtful, 
 frequently melancholy. The titles of the poems, 
 "Gebet," " Nachtlied," "An den Tod," "Requiem,"
 
 THE NINETEENTH CENTURY, 1800-1848 185 
 
 " Leben," are characteristic. He is particularly fond 
 of the calm eventide and the consecration of night : — 
 
 " Und von alien Sternen nieder, 
 Stromt ein wunderbarer Segen, 
 Dass die miiden Krafte wieder, 
 Sich in neuer Frische regen 
 Und aus seinen Finsternissen 
 Tritt der Herr, so wait er kann, 
 Und die Faden, die zerrissen, 
 Kniipft er alle wieder an." 
 
 The circle of themes is not wide, and they are usually 
 too weighty, too sombre to be turned easily into 
 graceful and attractive form. His lines are smooth 
 enough, but neither the subject nor the form has any 
 of that elegance or sweetness that make poetry linger 
 in the memory. Even where some beautiful aspect 
 of nature has supplied the inspiration, he is not content 
 to give us merely an objective picture, or even to 
 dwell much upon the influence of the vision upon his 
 own sensitive mind. He seems by temperament and 
 bent of mind to pass always from the individual to 
 the general, from the concrete to the abstract. Percep- 
 tion is with him only the first step towards lyrical 
 reflection. The short poems, " Herbstbild " and 
 " Sommerbild," are examples, and it is even more 
 striking in the somewhat longer pieces, "Abendgefiihl" 
 and " Die Weihe der Nacht." Of Hebbel's ballads, 
 " Das Kind am Brunnen " is one of the most attractive 
 in conception and execution. It shows how a child, 
 gazing at its own image in a well, is saved from 
 the danger of drowning by the flowers which it 
 drops. The alluring image to which it has beckoned, 
 and which beckons in reply, is dispelled by the happy 
 intervention of the children of nature. " Der Knabe
 
 i86 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 in Moor" is more dramatic, but is inclined to be 
 gruesome in its effects. He himself was immoderately 
 proud of the romance, " Der Liebeszauber." " Das 
 ist die Krone von allem, was ich gemacht habe," he 
 said, but the poem is diffuse and the form not free 
 from harshness. Hebbel's place in the German lyric 
 is not a high one, nor can it be said that he exercised 
 much influence upon the development of this form. 
 But his poems are interesting for their own value, 
 and as the expression of the lyrical feelings of one 
 of the most thoughtful of German poets. 
 
 Political Poetry 
 
 The poetical lyrics which attained to such popularity 
 between 1840 and 1848 had a twofold origin and 
 aim. In the first place they owed their origin to the 
 efforts of the ministry of Thiers to turn the public 
 attention in France away from domestic politics to 
 hopes of conquest on the Rhine, and aimed at securing 
 and maintaining the honour and territorial integrity 
 of Germany in opposition to the ancient enemy. The 
 prevailing sentiment found expression in Nikolaus 
 Becker's song, " Sie sollen ihn nicht haben, den freien 
 deutschen Rhein ! " In this respect the poetry of the 
 fourth decade joined hands with the patriotic poetry 
 of 1 8 14. Ernst Moritz Arndt, for example, took part 
 in both movements. The most famous song of the 
 period, though it was really thirt\- years later when it 
 attained its greatest popularity, was Max Schnecken- 
 burger's " Die Wacht am Rhein." In the second 
 place, and to a still greater extent, this poetry was 
 directed towards obtaining representative government 
 and a greater degree of freedom in Germany itself
 
 THE NINETEENTH CENTURY, 1800-1848 187 
 
 Since the overthrow of Napoleon this feeling had 
 been gathering strength ; it found expression in 
 the Burschenschaften formed by young and ardent 
 disciples of liberty, and in the literature of Young 
 Germany. But the policy of Frederick William 
 III., influenced as it was by Metternich, had been 
 absolutely unsympathetic, and when in 1840 Frederick 
 William IV. ascended the Prussian throne, new hopes 
 were kindled, only to be disappointed once more. 
 The great merit of the political lyric was that poets 
 now took a keen interest in the life of the nation as a 
 whole. Poetry became, as the Young Germans had 
 desired it to be, a living force. Its weakness lay in 
 the fact that the treatment tended to be monotonous, 
 and many of the lyricists paid more attention to 
 popular effect than to artistic finish. Rhetoric took 
 the place of sentiment, bombastic threats and vain 
 promises stifled true poetry. Like all art which pur- 
 sues one exclusive tendency, it appealed principally 
 to its own age, and rapidly lost interest and value. 
 
 Georg Herwegh (1817-75) was born in Stuttgart, 
 and studied originally for the Church. He also devoted 
 some time to law, but soon deserted this also. The 
 well-known GedichU ernes Lebendigeu appeared in 
 1 84 1. Shortly after this he was received in audience 
 by Frederick William IV., but his irreconcilability 
 soon led to his banishment from Prussia. A great 
 part of his life was spent in Switzerland and France, 
 but old age found him again on German soil, in 
 retirement at Baden-Baden. Herwegh was a born 
 agitator. The " Schlusslied " is not altogether 
 characteristic, but it shows to what lengths he seriously 
 urged the agitators to go : no bride was to wed, no 
 priest to pray, no drinker to enjoy his wine while the
 
 i88 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 Fatherland continued in mourning. He was angry 
 at the concih'atory methods of others : men Hke 
 Dingelstedt, Freiligrath, Platen, and Geibel had to 
 endure the lash of his satire and scorn. He was 
 certainly a good hater, and the " Xenien " leave 
 nothing to be desired in that respect. Still he 
 possessed many of the gifts of a true poet, warmth 
 of feeling, imagination, an interesting personality, and 
 a graceful style. He feels himself in the role of a 
 trumpeter who must awaken Germany from her 
 slumber, and he devoted his life to the cause of 
 freedom of speech and action. Occasionally he is 
 a blind partisan, unjust in his criticism of men and 
 events, but that does not touch the literary value of 
 his poetry. It is virile and spontaneous in poems 
 like " Der sterbende Trompeter," " Reiterlied," 
 " Rheinweinlied," delicate and tender in " Der Gang 
 um Mitternacht" or the beautiful elegy : — 
 
 " Ich mochte hingehn wie das Abendrot 
 Und wie der Tag mit seinen letzten Gluten 
 — O lieber, sanfter, ungefiihlter Tod ! — 
 Mich in den Schoss des Ewigen verbluten." 
 
 In the second part of the Gedichte, published in 1843, 
 there is more bitterness : he will have nothing to do 
 with half measures. He attacks the kingship, and 
 declares himself an out-and-out revolutionary. " Die 
 deutsche Flotte" is interesting as an early expression 
 of the idea that Germany's future lies upon the sea. 
 Herwegh might have produced good work in other 
 fields, but there were, he said, enough ballads for idle 
 people. Such work he regarded as a betrayal of the 
 cause. Thus from choice he remained a political poet 
 and nothing more, but in this sphere he occupied, 
 according to contemporary opinion, the highest place.
 
 THE NINETEENTH CENTURY, 1800-1848 189 
 
 Ferdinand Freiligrath (1810-76) is better known 
 in England than many German poets of much greater 
 merit. He lived for a long time in London, and his 
 best poems have been translated by his daughter.^ 
 His poetry is as manifold- as the vicissitudes of his 
 life. The revolutionary lyric represents only one 
 phase of his development He was destined for a 
 commercial life, and began his career in Soest and 
 Amsterdam. This brought him into contact with 
 the sea and seafaring people, his imagination was 
 fired, and he began to describe events and scenes in 
 distant lands in extravagantly rhetorical language. 
 Where he strives to be realistic and dramatic he 
 frequently fails, as in the verse : — 
 
 " ' Ein Reitertrupp ! — der Aga der 
 Eunuchen, Jussuf ! '— ' Bringt ihn her ! ' — 
 Jussuf, der Neger aus Dar Fur, 
 Reicht grinsend ihm— die seidene Schnur " 
 
 But the splendour of the imagery and the rhythmical 
 swing of poems like " Der LCwenritt," " Der Mohren- 
 fiirst," "Der Schwertfeger von Damaskus," and "Nebo," 
 carry the reader along, and blind him to the absence 
 of poetical feeling and true dramatic action. In other 
 poems, like "Die Auswanderer," reflective but beautiful, 
 and " Die Tanne," he shows a warm interest in the 
 poor, and genuine love for nature : — 
 
 '• O stilles Leben im Walde ! 
 O griine Einsamkeit ! 
 O blumenreiche Halde i 
 Wie weit seid ihr, wie weit ! " 
 
 Till about 1840 Freiligrath was content to walk in 
 the paths of the romanticists, of Byron and Victor 
 
 * Kate Freiligrath Kroeker, in the Tauchnitz series.
 
 I90 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 Hugo. But Herwegh, who reproached him for taking 
 a pension from the king, and Fallersleben brought him 
 over to the revolutionary camp. Inexperienced in 
 politics as he was, and gifted with a vivid imagination, 
 he became the most violent of them all. Glaubens- 
 bekenntnis (1844), Ca ira (1846), and the Neue 
 politische und soziale Gedichte, are the most noteworthy 
 collections of his political lyrics. After being arrested 
 and acquitted he came to London, where he spent the 
 next sixteen years. When he returned in 1866 it 
 was to find a new Germany, to experience and cele- 
 brate the great conflicts which were to pave the way 
 for German unity. His poem, " Die Trompete von 
 Vionville," is the best piece of work inspired by the 
 events of 1870. Other excellent examples of the 
 warlike lyric are " Hurra Germania," " Freiwillige vor," 
 and "An Wolfgang im Felde." Another aspect of 
 Freiligrath's genius is seen in his translations from 
 English and French. No other German poet has 
 been so successful with renderings of Burns. Long- 
 fellow's "Hiawatha" is well translated, but the 
 peculiar charm of language in " The Ancient Mariner " 
 he has not succeeded in reproducing. He wrote also 
 a good deal of occasional poetry, and some of these 
 pieces, such as " Im Teutoburger Walde" and " Fiir 
 die Tochter," reveal to us, even better than the exotic 
 and political lyrics, the charming personality of the 
 man. His warmth of heart and lovableness are 
 pleasingly expressed in poems free from all tendency, 
 " Ruhe in der Geliebten," or the well-known lines :— 
 
 " O lieb', so lang du lieben kannst ! 
 O lieb', so lang du lieben magst ! 
 Die Stunde kommt, die Stunde kommt. 
 Wo du an Griibern stehst und klagst. . . ."
 
 THE NINETEENTH CENTURY, 1800-1848 191 
 
 There is much divergence of opinion among critics 
 regarding his work. The early descriptive poetry has 
 enjoyed great popularity ; even gruesome pictures 
 like " Das Hospital Schiff," have been described as 
 " fine " and " characteristic." But it is a question 
 whether the occasional poetry does not bring us 
 nearer to the man himself, and will live longer than 
 either the political lyrics or the unreal pictures of 
 lions, desert sands, and Moorish princes. 
 
 Franz Dingelstedt (18 14-81) took part in the 
 revolutionary movement with the Lieder ernes cosmo- 
 politischen Nachtwdchters (1840), but when prosperity 
 smiled upon him, he turned his back upon politics 
 and had a brilliant career as an essayist, sketch-writer, 
 and director successively of the theatres of Munich, 
 Weimar, and Vienna. In his political poems he 
 shows more wit and cleverness than poetical inspira- 
 tion. It is in pieces of a general character, " Die 
 Weser," " Am Grabe Chamissos," or " Auf einem 
 Kirchhofe in der Fremde," that his art is most 
 pleasing. 
 
 Another of the political singers, for a time at least, 
 was Hoffmann von Fallersleben (1798- 1874), whose 
 Vnpolitische Lz'eder (184.0) cost him his professorship 
 in Breslau. He possessed in a high degree the art of 
 writing songs which caught on, lacking though they 
 were in individuality and depth. Among his most 
 popular compositions are the poem — 
 
 " Treue Liebe bis zum Grabe 
 Schwor ich dir mit Herz und Hand . . ." 
 
 the national song, " Deutschland, Deutschland Uber 
 alles," and the beautiful lines, " Zwischen Frankreich 
 und dem Bohmer Wald." The great bulk of his
 
 192 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 poetry deals with subjects which appeal to the common 
 people, love, spring-time, child-life, wandering, hunting, 
 revelry, and patriotism. In his life and poetry he 
 bears a resemblance to the ancient Spielmann. 
 Occasionally, as in " Abendlied," the expression of the 
 poet's appreciation of nature is beautiful and refined : — 
 
 " Abend wird es wieder 
 ijber Wald und Feld 
 Sauselt Frieden nieder 
 Und es ruht die Welt, . . ." 
 
 but commonplace stanzas are frequently met with, as 
 the last one in the poem just quoted. Some of his 
 best work is found in the " Wiegenlieder " (" Die 
 Ahren nur noch nicken," " Schlaf, mein Kind, schlaf 
 ein"), and in the group entitled " Kinderleben " (" Ein 
 Vogel ruft im Walde," " Alle Vogel sind schon da "). 
 The " Soldatenlieder " are somewhat loud, when they 
 do not consist merely of repetition of traditional 
 motives, and the songs of joviality, as in the group, 
 " Kirmess," are unenjoyable, at least on paper. 
 Sometimes Fallersleben reminds us of Walther von 
 der Vogelweide and Neidhart von Reuenthal in his 
 general tendencies, but he has neither the depth and 
 delicacy of the one nor the healthy virility of the 
 other. 
 
 Robert Prutz (1810-72) was born in Stettin, and 
 educated at Berlin, Gottingen, and Halle. He aimed 
 at a university professorship, but his ultra-Liberal 
 views stood in the way. In 1848, on a change of 
 ministry, he received a call to Halle, where he remained 
 till 1857. But owing to the secret and open hostility 
 of his colleagues his position was none too comfortable, 
 and he resigned his post in order to devote himself 
 to writing and lecturing. He made his name as a
 
 THE NINETEENTH CENTURY, 1800-1848 193 
 
 political poet. His first volume, the Gedichte (1841), 
 contains a few songs and ballads, but the poems that 
 then attracted attention are just those that now make 
 little appeal to us. One of the most noteworthy 
 of the political pieces is " Zum Kolner Dombaufest," 
 in which he exhorts the King of Prussia to complete 
 not only the Cathedral but also the edifice of German 
 freedom of speech and constitution. His best poetry 
 is to be found in the later collections, Aus der Heimat 
 (1858), Herbs trosen (1864), and Buck der Licbe (1869). 
 The ballads, such as " Bretagne," " Der Renegat," 
 " Die Oceaniden," and " Allerseelen," are much above 
 the average in fluency of verse. Lines like the 
 following — 
 
 " Leis' o leis ! der Abend dammert, siisse Nacht, o sei will- 
 
 kommen, 
 O du Balsam der (ieschlag'nen, o du Schutzerin der Frommen ! 
 Leis' o leise ! lost den Nachen, nehmet Angel und Gerat, 
 Tauscht die Spaher, tauscht die Wachter :— in die Wogen 
 
 zum Gebet ! " 
 
 are characteristic of his fluency and grace. In his 
 love-poetry Prutz occupies a midway position between 
 Heine and the poetry of to-day. Stanzas like 
 " Friihlingsliebe " show unmistakable evidence of 
 Heine's influence, but he is more erotic, more 
 materialistic even than Heine. On the whole, how- 
 ever, he is free from coarseness, and occasionally, as 
 in " Erinnerung," delicate in conception and artistic 
 in form. Some of his best pieces arc " Die Liebe 
 schreibt," " Das Wort," " Hat dir die Rose nicht 
 gesagt?" and " Hast du je einmal geliebt." In such 
 poems he stands directly in the line of development 
 from the " Book of Songs " to the erotic poetry of the 
 present day. 
 
 13
 
 194 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 In addition to the poets discussed there were a 
 number of minor writers who made a name for them- 
 selves by political poetry : Karl Beck with his 
 Gepanzerte Lieder (1838), Moritz Hartmann with 
 Kelch und Schzvert (1845), and Gottfried Kinkel 
 with his collection of Gedichte in 1S43. Geibel, too, 
 should be mentioned here, though he can be more 
 fully and properly discussed in a later chapter in 
 connection with the Munich school. 
 
 Poets of the Transition 
 
 Near the end of a distinct literary age there are 
 always a few poets whom it is difficult to classify. 
 They point both forwards and backwards, but their 
 inclination either in the one direction or in the other is 
 not nearly pronounced enough to justify us in calling 
 them forerunners of the new age or degenerate 
 descendants of the old. The traditional tendencies 
 do not attract them, and in most cases they have not 
 sufficient inventiveness to strike out in new paths. 
 They occupy neutral ground, and sometimes in 
 their own little kingdom they reveal a charming 
 individuality. 
 
 August Kopisch (1799-1853) is such a typical 
 figure, a good-natured humorist, clever and amusing, 
 but by no means a genius either in poetry or painting, 
 the two arts in which he sought to excel. His best 
 work is contained in the group of narrative poems 
 entitled " Scherz und Ernst." In a country where 
 humour is not strongly represented in literature, 
 poems like "Samson," "Das Krahen," "Der Schneider- 
 junge von Krippstadt," " Maley und Malone," " Die 
 Brautwerbung," and especially the amusing account
 
 THE NINETEENTH CENTURY, t8oo 1848 195 
 
 of " Wie Frau Abel sich ein Ei holte," are heartily 
 welcome. Among his ballads and national poems 
 those of a playful or sarcastic character, like " Die 
 vexierten Frosche," or " Friedrich des Zvveiten 
 Kutscher," are extremely well done. Of the serious 
 pieces, " Die Notglocke," " Das Negerschiff," " Blucher 
 am Rhein," " Die Miihle am Arendsee," portray with 
 skill events and personalities characteristically German. 
 He is fond of the mysterious, and shows extraordinary 
 knowledge of the ways of the " kleine Geister " that 
 enter into fairy tale and child-life. The onomato- 
 poetic description of the Heinzelmannchen's work in 
 making the Biirgermeister's coat is ingenious and 
 admirable. Of the " Weinlieder " the humorous 
 pieces, such as " Est Est " and " Die Perlen im 
 Champagner," are again the best. The love poems are 
 conventional, but wonderfully smooth in versification : 
 
 " O komm in mein Schiffchen 
 Geliebte, daher ! 
 Die Nacht ist so still und 
 
 Es leuchtet das Meer. 
 Und wo ich hin rudre 
 Entbrennet die Flut, 
 Es schaukelt mein Nachen 
 
 In wallender Glut.— 
 Die Glut ist die Liebe, 
 Der Nachen bin ich : 
 Ich sink in den Flammen, 
 
 O rette du niich." 
 
 Robert Reinick (1805-52) was also a painter as 
 well as a poet. He possessed facility in language 
 and metre, wrote sentimental love songs, romances, 
 lusty drinking songs with success, but shows a total 
 lack of originality, idealism, and higher poetical 
 feeling. Poems like " Der Strom " and " Im stillen
 
 196 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 Grunde " show his sympathy with early romanticism. 
 His religious tendencies kept him apart from the 
 Radical movement. In a few poems like " Kuriose 
 Geschichte" and " Der verliebte Maikafer" there are 
 traces of genuine humour, but the ballads, with perhaps 
 the exception of " Die Monduhr," are conventional 
 and thin. 
 
 Friedrich von Sallet (1812-43) also showed great 
 command of metre and language in his poems of 
 nature, of love, of reflection, and in his legends and 
 ballads. " Abendstille " and " Wellentraum " are the 
 best of the love poems, " Fortdauer " of the reflective 
 pieces. The most of the ballads lack concentration 
 and dramatic movement. " Ziethen " is an exception, 
 while " Der Gefangene " is really a series of elegaic 
 reflections called forth by the vision of a rose-leaf 
 which the wind has blown against the window of a 
 prisoner's cell. Of the spirit and life of the genuine 
 ballad it has nothing. 
 
 Hermann von Gilm (1812-64), who was born in 
 Innsbruck, published several collections of poetry, 
 which revealed him as a pleasant and graceful singer, 
 without any great originality. In the " Tyroler 
 Schiitzenlieder " there is the fresh note of the hills, 
 freedom, hunting, and war. In poems like 
 
 " Es bluht die Welt, ich bin allein im Zimmer I 
 Das junge Saatfeld schwimmt im Sonnenlicht, . . ." 
 
 he sings spontaneously of the pure joy of nature. 
 Occasionally the form is weak, and rhymes such as 
 " hier, Geschirr " are not uncommon. The " Jesuiten- 
 lieder " made a great sensation, and as far as bitterness 
 and sarcasm are concerned they could not have been 
 excelled. The " Sophielieder " contain his most
 
 THE NINETEENTH CENTURY, 1800-1848 197 
 
 pleasing work, and one of the pieces, " Allerseelen," 
 shows how even a minor poet can sometimes rival 
 the greatest — 
 
 " Steir auf den Tisch die duftenden Reseden, 
 Die letzten roten Astern trag' herbei 
 Und lass uns wieder von der Liebe reden 
 Wie einst im Mai. 
 Gieb mir die Hand, dass ich sie heimlich drucke, 
 Und wenn man's sieht, mir ist es einerlei ; 
 Gieb mir nur einen deiner siissen Blicke 
 Wie einst im Mai. 
 Es bliiht und funkelt heut auf jedem Grabe 
 Ein Tag im Jahre ist den Toten frei ; 
 
 Komm an mein Herz, dass ich dich wieder habe, 
 Wie einst im Mai." 
 
 In Gihn's style and attitude to nature we notice 
 reminiscences of Eichendorff and Heine. There is 
 genuine poetry in the sonnets, " An eine Rovetanerin," 
 but the ballads of the author lack interest and 
 imaginative force. 
 
 K. P. Philip Spitta (1801-59) achieved great 
 popularity with collections of religious poetry, Psalter 
 mid Harfe (1833; 51st edition, 1885), and a second 
 series under the same title (1843 ; 35th edition, 1883). 
 A critical examination shows clearly that the fame of 
 these pieces was not merited either by originality of 
 content or beauty of form. They are mostly para- 
 phrases of Biblical texts and stories. It is difficult to 
 find anything new to say on such subjects, unless they 
 are treated with freedom and imagination, and this 
 gift Spitta did not possess. It is only rarely that we 
 see glimpses of the poet's interest in nature, which 
 is surely inseparable from poetry of this kind. 
 Sometimes lines occur which remind us of the 
 mystics : —
 
 1 98 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 " Wie selig ist, vor Augen ihn zu haben, 
 Mit ihm zu reden jetzt und allezeit, 
 An seinem Zuspruch Herz und Sinn zu laben . . .'"' 
 
 The style is faulty ; rhymes Hke gelassen, Strassen ; 
 kann, getan ; ist, fliesst ; preist, heisst, are much 
 too common. In a poem like " Xach dem heiligen 
 Abendmahle " the thoughts are prosaic and crudely 
 expressed, while the rhymes show extreme poverty of 
 invention. 
 
 Betty Paoli (Betty Gliick, 1814-94) was born in 
 Vienna, and acquired, in the capacity of travelling 
 companion and teacher, a wide culture and a genius 
 for friendship. Her first collection of poems appeared 
 in 1 84 1, and was an immediate success. One of her 
 warmest admirers in modern times is Marie von 
 Ebner-Eschenbach, who speaks of the " strength " 
 and " fire " of the lyrics, which a friend of her own 
 once said should only be read on bended knees. It 
 is rather the sweet, genuine sentiment of poems like 
 " Dunkle Einsamkeit," the tender womanliness in 
 pieces like " Wandlung," or the delicate imagery of 
 " Geniigen," that will appeal to the modern reader. 
 It is not strong or passionate lyric by any means, but 
 skilful portrayal of the humble experiences of life, 
 love, nature, and friendship that we find in her poetry. 
 There is generally a tinge of pensive melancholy. 
 She emulated the art of Droste-Hiilshoff, but in the 
 latter there is a stronger intellectuality, more elasticity 
 of mind, and a greater command over the technique of 
 the lyric. The poems of friendship, " An Ada," " An 
 Helene," etc.. show Paoli at her best. They are free 
 from flattery and true to the rules of art. Those of a 
 reflective character, " Die Tugend die ich meine," or 
 " Das befreiende Wort," and the epigrams do not rise
 
 THE NINETEENTH CENTURY, 1800-1848 199 
 
 above mediocrity. Paoli, liowever, knew her limita- 
 tions, and did not attempt too much. Her work is a 
 pleasing record of her life, and proved a source of 
 great pleasure to her many friends. 
 
 The most gifted of this independent group of 
 lyricists was Moritz Graf von Strachwitz (1822-47), 
 who died at the early age of twenty-five. He is 
 sometimes associated with the political poets, but he 
 had little in common with them. He had no sympathy 
 with the " Schreier und Schreiber " as he called them. 
 On the other hand, he was interested in history and 
 in distant lands, which brings him near in spirit to 
 the Munich school. His merits as a ballad writer are 
 beyond dispute. No less an authority than Fontane 
 had the greatest admiration for the ballad, " Das Herz 
 von Douglas," which relates how Lord Douglas 
 attempted to carry the heart of King Robert the 
 Bruce to the Holy Land. Strachwitz uses the old 
 English ballad metre with vividness and spirit. There 
 are many suggestive lines which, by their epigrammatic 
 force, at once mark the poet of more than ordinary 
 talent : — 
 
 Or— 
 
 " Es hat, wer Schottland bandigen will, 
 Zum Pilgern wenig Zeit." 
 
 " Kurz ist die schottische Geduld 
 Und lang ein schottisch Schwert." 
 
 But Strachwitz displayed equal mastery of other 
 forms. A group of poems like "Rolf During," "Herrn 
 Winfrieds Meerfahrt," "Hie Welf," "Die Jagd des 
 Moguls," and " Helges Treue," so varied in subject 
 and in form, shows great promise, and justifies us in 
 regarding Strachwitz as an important link between
 
 200 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 Uhland and Fontane, that is, between the old romantic 
 ballad and the more realistic style of the modern 
 ballad. Apart from the ballad, too, there are lyrical 
 pieces among Strachwitz' poems. " Meeresabend," 
 " Gebet auf den Wassern,"' and " Boses Gewissen," 
 which reveal genuine inspiration and power.
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 I 848- I 880 
 
 A. Munich as a Literary Centre 
 
 The political agitation, in which poets like Herwegh 
 and Freiligrath had played a leading part, culminated 
 in the revolution of 1848. But the movement, as 
 soon as it revealed itself in action as opposed to 
 vague threats and longings, was easily quelled ; many 
 of the agitators sought safety in exile. Public interest 
 was soon directed to greater issues by the Holstein 
 question and the national wars which were looming 
 in the distance. People became tired of a civic dis- 
 cord which seemed to lead to nothing, and for a time 
 at least internal strife was stilled before the prospect 
 of a national struggle. Thus the year 1848 is a turn- 
 ing-point in German history, and the new attitude at 
 once became reflected in literature and art. We 
 notice a distinct reaction, on the one hand, against the 
 tendencies of Young Germany, on the other against 
 the hard and dry political poetry of the fourth decade. 
 Even men who had written such lyrics with the 
 greatest zeal could not but realise that a new age had 
 come, and consequently Geibel, Prutz, and many 
 others turned to new fields. The poetry of the next 
 thirty years followed two main currents. The group of 
 writers whom the Bavarian king attracted to Munich
 
 202 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 reverted to classical and romantic traditions. They 
 pursued art for art's sake, and aimed at perfection of 
 form as their highest ideal. Geibel and Heyse were 
 their acknowledged leaders. They enjoyed great 
 popularity, and were in fact regarded as the hope of 
 German letters. Modern criticism has, however, not 
 agreed with contemporary opinion, and has pointed 
 to the serious lack of content in their smooth verses. 
 Their attitude to life and to nature was superficial, 
 and the poetry of the present day does not link on to 
 them, but to a number of men of real genius, Keller, 
 Meyer, Storm, and Groth, who had begun to write 
 about the same time, but did not enjoy such immediate 
 popularit}\ They must be considered in a separate 
 section. In spirit they are the followers of Droste- 
 Hiilshoff, Immermann, Gotthelf, and Auerbach ; 
 their poetry is realistic, and is rooted, like Morike's, 
 in the natural surroundings of the artist. In contrast 
 to them the Munich school lived in a literary metro- 
 polis, and lost their individuality and their interest in 
 the landscape and the home. History and literary 
 tradition, rather than actual life, formed the subject of 
 their reflection. It was a fatal fact that, of the poets 
 whom Maximilian II. gathered round him, not a single 
 one was born in the Bavarian capital. The tendency 
 to yield to conventionality was consequently very 
 great, and it was almost irresistible for a second reason, 
 that all those who formed the school, or came into 
 contact with it, were men of talent but not of 
 genius. 
 
 Emanuel Geibel ^1815-84) was born in Lubeck, 
 and studied Classical Philologyin Bonn and Berlin. He 
 spent some time in Greece, in the house of the German 
 ambassador, and received in 1842 a pension from the
 
 MUNICH AS A LITERARY CENTRE 203 
 
 King of Prussia. In 185 1 he was called to Munich. 
 His earliest poems appeared in 1840. Here he sings 
 chiefly of spring-time, wandering, and love in the 
 traditional manner of the Romanticists. The form of 
 the poems, which is uniformly smooth and melodious, 
 was their most striking feature. Reflection pre- 
 dominates over lyrical feeling. One of the brightest 
 poems is " Der Mai ist gekommen." Many pieces are 
 of a narrative character, like " Sanssouci," " Im Grafen- 
 schlosse," and " Der Zigeunerbube im Norden." The 
 political poems, " Tiirmerlied," " Friedrich Rotbart," 
 etc., in which the poet prophesies the greatness of 
 future Germany, and calls for preparation, are the 
 strongest numbers in the collection. In 1 841 appeared 
 the Zcitstimmen, and in 1848 \hQ Juninslieder. Here 
 we see his attitude to the political agitation. He 
 strongly supported the claims of Germany in the 
 Holstein question : — - 
 
 " Wir woUen keine Diinen sein, 
 Wir wollen Deutsche bleiben." 
 
 Very soon, however, Geibel began to plead for concilia- 
 tion, and he thought that poetry, above all, should be 
 in the service of beauty and goodness. His non- 
 political poetry showed no advance upon his youthful 
 work. There are exceptions, like the stirring ballad, 
 " Des Deutschritters Ave," but otherwise the reader 
 has a feeling of weariness and emptiness when he 
 lays down this large collection of what are, after all, 
 only poetical trifles. Much better lyrical work was 
 revealed in the Neue Gedichte, which appeared in 1856. 
 There are still reminiscences of Heine and Eichen- 
 dorff in the " Lieder aus alter und neuer Zeit," but 
 many pieces show originality and fine lyrical feeling,
 
 204 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 " Unterwegs," " Schwerer Abschied," and " Wanderers 
 Nachtlied." We note, however, a tendency to 
 generalise and reflect upon the features of nature — 
 there is an absence of clear effective imagery. The 
 greatest poems in the book are those of an objective 
 character. " Der Mythus vom Dampf " is too like an 
 essay in verse, but " Gudruns Klage," " Volkers 
 Nachtgesang," and " Der Tod des Tiberius," are 
 magnificent pictures which, though not convincing in 
 their historical truth, excel in brilliance of colouring 
 and beauty of form. In the Gedichte und Gcdenkbldtter, 
 published in 1864, the ballads, " Schon Ellen," "Both- 
 well," and " Die Nacht zu Belforest," again prove that 
 Geibel's best work was in the epic sphere. Of the 
 songs in the book, the tenth and eleventh numbers of 
 the " Jugendlieder," and the graceful poem: — 
 
 " Ach du fliehst vergebens 
 Was dich harmt und krankt, . . ." 
 
 are the most noteworthy. During the wars with 
 Austria and France, Geibel was awakened to an 
 interest in current events, and forced out of his narrow 
 groove. His Heroldsriife (1871) contain some of the 
 best poetry of this class. He sings not only of 
 victorious achievements in poems like " Der Ulan," 
 " An Deutschland," and in the stirring lines : — 
 
 " Nun lasst die Glocken 
 Von Turm zu Turm, 
 Durch's Land frohlocken 
 Im Jubelsturm, . . ." 
 
 but he has also enshrined for ever in poetical form 
 the national feelings of awe, anxiet)-, patient courage, 
 and determination which the crisis called forth. 
 Geibel's last collection of poems, Spdtherbsthldtter, re-
 
 MUNICH AS A LITERARY CENTRE 205 
 
 vealed no new features. In ballads like " Wittenborg," 
 " Die Goldgraber," and " Hochstadt," he is still more 
 effective than in the lyrics. The latter contain lines 
 of regret at the passing of youth, but these are blended 
 with notes of contentment and peaceful resignation. 
 He has lived to see the victory of his country, and the 
 unity of the empire for which he had longed and 
 worked. 
 
 Paul Heyse was born in 1830, in Berlin, studied 
 Classical and Romance Philology there, went to Italy 
 to study art, and found here his aesthetic ideal and 
 the motives of many of his short stories. For a 
 writer of such industry and imagination he has written 
 comparatively few lyrics. The " Jugendlieder " are 
 pleasing and graceful, but the themes themselves and 
 the treatment are not very striking. In poem.s like 
 " Mondlied " there are touches that remind us of 
 Eichendorff, but on the whole Heyse is free from 
 imitation. His neat workmanship and mild worldly 
 wisdom are seen in the characteristic poem : — 
 
 " Dulde, gedulde dich fein ! 
 Ueber ein Stiindlein 
 1st deine Kammer voll Sonne. . . ." 
 
 The " Reiseblatter " are mostly impressions gathered 
 in the south, light, playful, or humorous pieces, with 
 songs of a popular character, such as " Lied von 
 Sorrent " : — 
 
 " Wie die Tage so golden verfliegen, 
 Wie die Nacht sich so selig vertraumt, 
 Wo am Felsen mit Wogen und Wiegen 
 Die gelandete Welle verschaumt, 
 Wo sich Blumen und Friichte gesellen, 
 Dass das Herz dir in Staunen entbrennt : 
 O du schimmernde Bliite der Wellen, 
 Sei gegriisst, du mein schones Sorrent."
 
 2o6 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 Like most of the members of the Munich circle, Heyse 
 could write melodious songs for the people. In the 
 group entitled "Margarete" there are Anacreontic 
 tendencies, but deeper sentiments are not absent. The 
 death of his wife and of his son Wilfried called forth 
 some of his most impressive poetry. In the "Spriiche" 
 the polish and neatness of style so characteristic of 
 the man are turned to good account. He translated 
 poems from Italian, Spanish, and Provencal, he 
 handled the Ghasel and the terza-rima with skill, and 
 wrote interesting sonnets on the poets of his choice, 
 Eichendorfif, Storm, Keller, Morike, and Geibel. His 
 poetical epistles to friends show the same virtuosity. 
 Among the " Vermischte Gedichte " are pieces of 
 considerable merit, like " Das Tal des Espingo " and 
 " Das Testament des Alten," in the latter of which 
 the old man's attitude to youth is portrayed in 
 beautiful words : — 
 
 " Und er senkte das Kinn auf den Busen tief, 
 Und der Diener entschlief ; 
 Die Nacht wob dichter den Schleier. 
 Zum festlichen Mahl hebt keiner die Hand, 
 Und die Kranze duften umsonst an der Wand, 
 Stumm hiingt an der Siiule die Leier. . . ." 
 
 Heyse's lyric is free from reflection and rhetoric ; 
 on the other hand, it is not profound or remarkably 
 original, but is simply the graceful and genuine 
 expression of a pleasing individuality. 
 
 Friedrich Bodenstedt (1819-92) made his reputa- 
 tion with one collection of poetry, the Lieder des 
 Mirza-Schaffy (1851). Had the book appeared 
 simply as a new collection of lyrics, and not under 
 the specious form of Oriental poetry, it is questionable
 
 MUNICH AS A LITERARY CENTRE 207 
 
 if it would have attracted so much attention. The 
 author had lived in the East, and he has succeeded 
 marvellously — for those who do not know the Orient 
 — in throwing an atmosphere of imaginative charm 
 over his German commonplaces. Certain well-veiled 
 allusions to contemporary questions only made the 
 poems more interesting. As lyrical poetry it leaves 
 the reader absolutely cold, though it is by no means 
 monotonous or tiresome. The form is good, though 
 not always equal. Rhymes like " Sinn " and the 
 preposition " in " occur, and there is one strange 
 simile, where the red-stockinged legs of a dancer are 
 compared to pillars of fire. The best of the pieces 
 are the poems, "Gelb rollt mir zu Fijssen der brausende 
 Kur " and " Wenn der Friihling auf die Berge steigt," 
 and in both cases the refrain is used with effect. 
 Bodenstedt translated from Russian and English, 
 wrote books of travel and dramas, but to his con- 
 temporaries he remained nothing more than the 
 author of " Mirza-Schafify." 
 
 Martin Greif (Friedrich Hermann Frey, 1839- 1910) 
 was the only Bavarian in the Munich group, for he 
 was born in Speyer. After serving for ten years in 
 the army he devoted himself to literature. His first 
 collection of poems appeared in 1868. He was never 
 very popular, and the verdict of critics upon his work 
 varies much, owing probably to the fact that his 
 poetry is extremely unequal. He had no critical 
 faculty himself, and amid heaps of poor work one has 
 to search for the few pieces which reveal genuine 
 artistry. For example, among the hundred and ten 
 odd " Lieder," with which his collected poems open, 
 ten might be found worthy of a select anthology — 
 poems like " Im Lenze," " Schattenleben," " Am
 
 2o8 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 Briinnlein," " Gliick," " Der Wanderer und der Bach." 
 Many of the other pieces are spoiled by weak rhymes, 
 limping rhythm, and triviality of content. In the large 
 group of " Naturbilder " there are one or two faultless 
 poems, as for instance : — 
 
 " Nun storet die Ahren im Felde 
 
 Ein leiser Hauch ; 
 Wenn eine sich beugt, so bebet 
 
 Die andere auch. 
 Es ist, als ahnten sie alle 
 
 Der Sichel Schnitt 
 Die Blunien und fremden Halme 
 
 Erzittem mit." 
 
 The lyrical mood of the poet is symbolised by the 
 clear, concise, and beautiful picture from nature. The 
 appeal is direct and effective. But Greif has few poems 
 where his art is so successful as here. Frequently he 
 simply describes, that is, copies nature in the same 
 superficial manner as a photographer would do it. 
 The images lack soul, or they are obscure or unim- 
 portant. He is an observer and recorder, but has 
 not the strong original personality of a great poet. 
 In the " Stimmen und Gestalten " there are again a 
 few good pieces, notably " Besuch," one of the few 
 poems in which the least trace of passion is to be 
 found, and in addition, pleasing lyrics such as " Das 
 treue Paar," " Der Unzufriedene," " Die Verlassene," 
 and " Das Ringlein." The " Balladen und Maren " 
 lack conciseness and dramatic interest, but a few of 
 them, like " Der stumme Klager," " Das Mahl ohne 
 Brot," " Rhatischer Grenzlauf," and " Das klagende 
 Lied," should be excepted from the condemnation 
 which some critics have passed upon the whole group. 
 Greifs models were Goethe, the Folksong, Morike,
 
 MUNICH AS A LITERARY CENTRE 209 
 
 and Uhland. He has some of their simplicity and 
 delicacy, but he has not the imaginative strength and 
 vivid touch of a really great poet. 
 
 Friedrich Graf von Schack (1815-94) was a 
 diplomat who travelled widely, studied art, and having 
 much time on his hands, wrote a great deal of poetry. 
 His greatest service to posterity was the collection 
 of the pictures for the Schack Gallery in Munich. 
 His most ambitious work was the epic, " Die Nachte 
 des Orients," a vision of the history and culture of the 
 East during many ages. He published several col- 
 lections of minor poetry, Gedichtc (1867), Weihgesdnge 
 (1875), and Lotosbldtter (1883). In all he reveals the 
 dangers of virtuosity. With his fine artistic tempera- 
 ment he felt intimately the charm of nature in her 
 many forms, and of the novel scenes and lands which 
 he visited, and with the fluency which was the curse 
 of the Munich school, he wrote it all down as in a 
 poetical diary, lightly and superficially. The thought 
 and imagery are not new, only the setting is different, 
 and the spark of divine fire is almost invariably 
 lacking. The themes of his love and nature poetry, 
 " Das erste Liebeswort," " Mainacht," " Heimkehr," 
 " Morgenlied," " Herbstgefiihl," etc., have been treated 
 a hundred times by others, and Schack has nothing 
 new to say, no neat fancy or striking image to brighten 
 the old tale. The ballads, with the exception of 
 " Das Bahrrecht " and " Die Konigstochter," are diffuse 
 and reflective, while the pictures of distant lands which 
 bulk so largely in his work, " Auf dem Nil," " Aus 
 Sicilien," " Aus der Sierra Nevada," " Friihling in 
 Griechenland," are dilettantic exercises in verse, com- 
 parable to the photographs and souvenirs which the 
 interested tourist brings home from his wanderings. 
 
 14
 
 2IO THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 Schack possessed artistic sense and poetical skill, 
 but little originalit}' or genius. 
 
 Hermann Lingg '1820-1905) studied medicine and 
 became an army doctor, but, on his health giving 
 way, he settled in Munich, where Geibel obtained a 
 pension for him, and introduced him to the public. 
 He has the same interest as Schack in history, 
 mythology, and the life of distant lands. He shows 
 remarkable power of imagination in transporting 
 himself into historical scenes and situations, not only 
 in the epic, " Volkerwanderung," but in numerous 
 historical poems like " Attilas Schwert," " Trasimen," 
 " Pausanias und Kleonice." Or he follows with 
 realistic pen the progress of the black death in 
 " Erzittere, Welt, ich bin die Pest." He does not 
 philosophise, but makes the past live, so keen is his 
 insight into the human motives and so sure his 
 descriptive touch. But Lingg is more than a historical 
 poet. Many of his lyrics are in close touch with 
 nature, and with the problems of modern society as 
 they appealed to him in his own experience. He 
 has the great gift of ennobling even the commonplace. 
 His nature poems have something of the rare charm 
 and noble melancholy of Lenau : — 
 
 "Jeder Lufthauch ist versiegt, 
 Auf dem tiefen, stillen Weiher, 
 Nur die Wasserrose wiegt 
 In der Damm'rung ihre Schleier. 
 Wolken hiillen Stern an Stem, 
 Alias ruhet schlummertrunken, 
 Nur ein Blitzstrahl leuchtet fern, 
 Sterbend ins Gebirg versunken." 
 
 The picture is objective, but permeated with sub- 
 jective feeling which reveals itself in the aptness of
 
 MUNICH AS A LITERARY CENTRE 211 
 
 every word, the melody of the lines, and the com- 
 position of the whole. Geibel did not exaggerate 
 when, in the introduction to Lingg's Gedichte (1853), 
 he said, " This is the necessary utterance of an 
 original poetical nature." The motive of love and 
 longing is beautifully treated in a poem like " Lied," 
 where the girl wakens from her dream to the con- 
 viction that she must die and give place to another : — 
 
 "Ja, ich werde sterben miissen, 
 Eine andere wirst du kiissen, 
 Wenn ich bleich und kalt, 
 Eh' die Maienlufte wehen, 
 Eh' die Drossel singt im Wald ; 
 Willst du mich noch einnial sehen, 
 Komm', o komme bald ! " 
 
 Though Lingg is none too well-known, poems like 
 this will live, for they have the human note and the 
 deep sympathy with common life which were some- 
 what rare in the Munich school. 
 
 The Swiss poet, Heinrich Leuthold (1827-79), was 
 also introduced to the public by Geibel in his Aliin- 
 chener Dicliterbuch for 1862. He had previously ex- 
 perienced a youth of privation, trying successively 
 law and teaching, and had at that time settled in 
 Munich to earn a living by journalistic work. He 
 was the most ardent, but at the same time the most 
 ill-balanced, temperament in the Munich circle. His 
 passions, misfortunes, and tendency to melancholy 
 ended in insanity in 1877. His countryman, Gottfried 
 Keller, published his poems in the following year. 
 They excel in beauty of form. The themes are 
 varied, some being rich in imaginative elements, like 
 "Roman" and "Die zerfallene Vigne," others realistic or 
 humorously reflective, as "An einen jungen Freund " —
 
 312 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 " Nimm dieses Leben nicht zu ernst 
 Recht spasshaft ist's im AUgemeinen. . . ." 
 
 There are brilliant pictures of distant scenes in the 
 manner of Schack and Lingg, songs of wandering 
 and joviality ; in short, as Keller said, the book contains 
 the whole story of a human destiny. Sometimes the 
 situations may be conventional, but there is a touch 
 of fancy or neatness of phrase which saves them from 
 being commonplace. " Blatterfall '' is an example : — 
 
 " Leise, windverwehte Lieder, 
 Mogt ihr fallen in den Sand I 
 Blatter seid ihr eines Baumes, 
 Welcher nie in Blute stand. 
 Welke, windverwehte Blatter, 
 Boten naher Winterruh, 
 Pallet sacht I ... ihr deckt die Graber 
 Mancher toten Hoffnung zu." 
 
 Julius Grosse (1828-1902) was another of the journal- 
 ists who stood in close relation to Geibel and Heyse. 
 He has a long list of works to his name, tales in 
 prose and verse, dramas, epics, lyrics, and ballads. 
 But there is nothing in them which rises above the 
 mediocrity of the family magazine. Of the other 
 writers who stood in more or less close relation to the 
 Munich coterie, the most interesting are Wilhelm 
 Hertz (1835-1902), Otto Roquette (1824-96), Julius 
 Wolff (1834-1910;, Josef Viktor von Scheffel (1826- 
 86), and Rudolf Baumbach (1840-1905;. Hertz ex- 
 celled as a translator, teacher, and imitator of the 
 literature of the past ; Wolff and Baumbach were 
 interested especially in the Middle Ages. The 
 Spiebnannslieder of the latter contain the well-known 
 song, " Keinen Tropfen im Becher mehr." Roquette 
 and Scheffel wrote a few popular songs, the former
 
 THE GROWTH OF REALISM 213 
 
 " Die Tage der Rosen," the latter " Alt Heidelberg, du 
 feine " and " Das ist im Leben hasslich eingerichtet," 
 but in the lyric pure and simple their importance is 
 not great, certainly not so great as in the sphere of 
 the epic in prose and verse. 
 
 B. The Growth of Realism — Storm, Keller, 
 Meyer, Groth, and Fontane 
 
 In the Munich poets we missed to a large extent 
 the intimate contact with nature, and with life. 
 " Art for art's sake " is all very well as a formula. 
 It may be maintained that it was the correct attitude 
 at the beginning of this period. The political lyric 
 of the fourth decade had narrowed the range of 
 poetry, had, one might say, reduced the lyric to a 
 mere instrument of persuasion. Geibel and his friends 
 were perfectly right when they revolted against this 
 tendency, and proclaimed the mission of the poet to 
 be the search after beauty. But in their glorification 
 of the scenery of distant lands, in their aloofness 
 from the life around them, and in their cultivation of 
 beautiful form at the expense of content, they had, in 
 a different way, but quite as much as their predecessors, 
 reduced the lyric to a mere shadow of its old self 
 With the great lyricists of the early half of the 
 century, Heine, Lenau, Morike, Droste, they cannot 
 for a moment be compared, and the legitimate 
 successors of these poets are to be found among men 
 whose popularity at first was overshadowed by the 
 Munich school, but who to-day are recognised by all to 
 be head and shoulders above them. In Storm, Keller, 
 Meyer, and Groth the German lyric is rooted more 
 and more in the personality, the home, and the
 
 214 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 natural surroundings of the artist. It is a strong, 
 luxuriant, native growth, not an exotic flower trans- 
 planted to German soil. Storm's lyric is intimately 
 connected with the land of his birth, its colouring is 
 that of a definite locality, its characteristic is the 
 poet's warm attachment to the Schleswig associa- 
 tions. Keller and Meyer are " Heimatkunstler " to 
 as great an extent, especially in their poetry of nature. 
 Klaus Groth has gone a step further, and given us not 
 only the colouring and atmosphere of the Ditmarsch 
 country, but its dialect as well. Any attempt to group 
 men like these together would be farcical, because their 
 very greatest characteristic is their individuality and 
 originality. But in all of them we see a clearer 
 realism, a growing interest in nature and life as these 
 things presented themselves to their eyes and 
 experience. Only one of their predecessors, Droste- 
 Hiilshoff, regarded nature with the same steady gaze, 
 and painted it with the same mixture of enthusiasm 
 and epic objectivity, free from all romantic motives. 
 Thus the new lyric excels, like that of Droste, in 
 sincerity and reality, in freedom from rhetoric and 
 affectation. And as the men who now appeared 
 possessed in some cases quite exceptional mental 
 gifts, their poetry also merits our attention for its 
 depth, its humour, and insight into human life and 
 histor}'. 
 
 Theodor Storm (1817-88) was born at Husum in 
 Schleswig. School instruction failed to awaken his 
 interest, but he was deeply impressed as a boy by the 
 surroundings of his home, the heath, the marsh, and 
 the lonely strand. At the University of Kiel he 
 became closely attached to the brothers Mommsen, 
 with whom he issued the Liederbuch dreier Freunde,
 
 THE GROWTH OF REALISM 2x5 
 
 The forty poems contributed by Storm show us that 
 Goethe, Eichendorff, and Heine were his earliest 
 models. In 1847 he returned to his native town, 
 married, and settled down to the practice of law. 
 But the period of early married happiness, when 
 " die Kinder klein und klein die Sorgen Waren," did 
 not last long. On the field of Idstedt and round the 
 fortifications of Friedrichstadt, Schleswig and Holstein 
 had lost their independence, and Storm was a bitter 
 opponent of Denmark, 
 
 "Sie halten Siegesfest, sie ziehen die Stadt entlang, 
 Sie meinen Schleswig-Holstein zu begraben. 
 Brich nicht, mein Herz, noch sollst du Freude haben, 
 Wir haben Manner noch, wir haben Knaben, 
 Und auch wir selber leben, Gott sei Dank." 
 
 It was only on condition that Storm would submit 
 to Danish authority that he could continue to practice 
 in Husum, and for a man of his sentiments this was 
 impossible. In 1853 he received a legal appointment 
 in Potsdam, but the " official beauties " of Potsdam 
 only made him long more and more for the calm, 
 lonely charm of Husum. Heiligenstadt, to which he 
 was transferred, was more to his taste, but the home- 
 sickness, so characteristic of the man, was too deeply 
 rooted to be ever completely overcome. At length in 
 1864 Schleswig-Holstein was wrested from Denmark, 
 and Storm gladly embraced the opportunity of 
 returning to his native place. In the following year 
 he lost his wife. The cares of a large family and the 
 affection which he and Dorothea Jensen already 
 cherished for each other induced Storm to marry 
 again, and " Frau Do," as she was called by the poet 
 and his friends, brought sunshine and happiness 
 again into his home. Thus the course of Storm's
 
 2i6 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 life seems smooth and unruffled, but as recent publi- 
 cations show/ there were strong undercurrents and 
 mental conflicts which might easily have meant ship- 
 wreck but for Storm's innate nobility of mind, un- 
 selfishness, and self-control. His reverence for old 
 associations and traditions, his breezy humour and 
 kindliness, admirably balanced his subjectivity, his 
 passion and freedom of thought. There is no more 
 lovable personality among German poets, and this, 
 combined with his artistic gifts, is what has enabled 
 him to enrich, as few have done, the lyric poetry 
 of the nineteenth century. 
 
 Alfred Biese tells us that according to the consensus 
 of opinion in Germany, Storm's greatest work is in 
 the short story. He certainly merited the popularity 
 which he acquired with Ivimensee, Aqitis Siibmersus, 
 and Der Schivinielreiter, but he regarded himself as 
 essentially a lyric poet. " All the passion and rude 
 strength," he said, " all the character and humour I 
 may possess, have left their mark principally on my 
 poems." Nearly all the stories spring from a lyrical 
 impulse, and some of the earlier ones are in a dreamy, 
 reminiscent tone not free from sentimentality. Most 
 English students find a prolonged spell of Storm's 
 " Novellen " singularly depressing, while the poems 
 have the opposite effect. In consequence, in this 
 country at least, we are inclined to the opinion that 
 the best that was in Storm, his sense of beauty, his 
 warm-hearted love, his humour and strong common 
 sense have been more happily expressed in his verse 
 
 •W.Herrmann, 7". 5/<?rwj /.jKr/X', Leipzig, 191 1. P. Schiitze, 
 Theodor Storm, Berlin, 3rd edition by Lange, 191 2. Gertrud 
 Storm, Theodor Storm ^ Berlin, 1913.
 
 THE GROWTH OF REALISM 217 
 
 than in his prose. As Robertson has aptly expressed 
 it, the Novellen revert to romantic traditions and 
 already " begin to show signs of age." Of his lyrics 
 this could hardly be said. Storm has celebrated in 
 the first place the quaint charm of Schleswig-Holstein, 
 the yellow strand, the grey sea, the softly waving 
 grass of the sand dunes, the beat of the waves on 
 the shore, the cry of the lonel}' seagull. This land- 
 scape is for Storm more than the very breath of his 
 nostrils, it is the motherground of all his emotions ; 
 it fills his soul and speaks to him with mysterious 
 voices. He dwells upon its chilly bareness, its 
 dull grey in grey, the heavy mist that lies upon 
 the housetops, the monotonous sigh of the wind 
 and the roar of the sea, yet to him it is all 
 in all : — 
 
 " Es rauscht kein Wald, es schlagt im Mai 
 Kein Vogel ohn' Unterlass ; 
 Die Wandergans mit hartem Schrei 
 Nur fliegt in Herbstesnacht vorbei, 
 
 Am Strande vveht das Gras. 
 Doch hangt mein ganzes Herz an dir, 
 Du graue Stadt am Meer ; 
 Der Jugend Zauber fiir und fiir, 
 Ruht lachelnd doch auf dir, auf dir, 
 
 Du graue Stadt am Meer.'' 
 
 Besides this nature poetry there are more passion- 
 ate tones, of young love, of happy married life, of 
 the cruelty of destiny when the grave closed over his 
 wife. The absolute sincerity and sweetness of senti- 
 ment fascinate us ; we are spellbound by the harmony 
 of form and content in poems like " Hyazinthen," 
 " Trost," " Schliesse mir die Augen beide," or the 
 elegy, " Das aber kann ich nicht vertragen." The
 
 2i8 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 language is as simple as that of the Folksong, there is 
 no reflection or rhetoric, the words reproduce the 
 thoughts which are naive, tender, and pregnant with 
 feeling. Few can transport themselves so completely 
 into the world of others and write lyrics which 
 represent not the poet's emotion but the sensations 
 of the character portrayed. Examples are the well- 
 known poem, " Meine Mutter hat's gewollt," and the 
 song of the Harfenmadchen : — 
 
 " Heute, nur heute 
 Bin ich so schon ; 
 Morgen, ach morgen 
 Muss alles vergehen I 
 Nur diese Stunde 
 Bist du noch mein ; 
 Sterben, ach sterben 
 Soil ich allein ! " 
 
 In the anthology which Storm issued in 1875, 
 Hauslmch aus deutschen Dicliteryi seit Claudius, he 
 gives an interesting opinion of what the lyric should 
 be. "Just as I wish," he says, "in the case of 
 music to hear and feel, in plastic art to see and 
 feel, in poetry I desire, if possible, to experience 
 all three simultaneously. A work of art, like life, 
 should affect me directly and not through the media- 
 tion of thought. The most perfect poem seems to 
 me to be the one in which the effect is to begin with 
 one of sense, from which the mental effect naturally 
 follows, as the fruit develops out of the blossom. 
 The weightiest thought, though it be expressed in 
 the most elegant verses, has no justification in poetry, 
 and will lie like an unused treasure b}' the wayside, 
 if it has not first passed through the soul and imagina- 
 tion of the poet and there received warmth and colour
 
 THE GROWTH OF REALISM 219 
 
 and, if possible, corporeal form. In its effect the lyrical 
 poem should be at once a revelation and a deliverance! " 
 These words express aptly the nature of Storm's 
 lyric. In the best sense of the word it is self-revelation 
 in song. It is a noble, manly, thoughtful personality 
 that reveals itself in poems like " An meine Sohne " 
 and " Oktoberlied." He is so thoroughly optimistic, 
 the world of beauty is to him " so ganzlich unver- 
 wiistlich." He has no religious poems, there is 
 nothing in his work bearing on the transcendental, 
 but his view of life is far from materialistic. He 
 loves the mysterious ; to him it is a felt element in 
 the life of things around him, in the tokens of a half- 
 banished past, in his own mental experiences. It 
 enters into poems like " Waldweg," " Sturmnacht," 
 " Abseits," and " Sommermittag." His playful humour 
 is turned to good account in " Knecht Ruprecht," 
 " Engel-Ehe," " In Bulemanns Haus," and " Von 
 Katzen." An altogether different note, warning, 
 inspiring, strongly patriotic, is heard in the poems 
 which refer to the struggle between Prussia and 
 Denmark for Schleswig-Holstein. Thus, in spite of 
 the small compass of Storm's poetry, little more than 
 one hundred pages, there is no lack of variety. The 
 early poems of the Liederlmch were not reprinted in 
 the final edition. He was a strict critic of his own 
 work, and has given us nothing but what is of the 
 highest merit. 
 
 Klaus Groth (1819-99) is a thorough representa- 
 tive of the " Heimatkunst." He was the creator and 
 the most distinguished writer of Plattdeutsch poetry. 
 His life was uneventful. The son of a Ditmarsch 
 miller, he gathered in his youth the impressions which 
 later constituted his poetry. The landscape, the daily
 
 2 20 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 life, the traditions and history of his North-German 
 home — that is the basis of his work. By dih'gence 
 and energy he rose from the position of clerk to that 
 of schoolmaster, and after Quickborn (1852) had made 
 him famous, he received an appointment in the 
 University of Kiel, where he remained till his death. 
 A second Quickborn was issued in 1871. He also 
 published a collection of High-German poems, 
 Himdert Blatter (1854), but his chief claim to our 
 attention rests upon his Low-German work. Here 
 he endeavoured to portray his own people, their 
 thoughts, feelings, and experiences, and the poet 
 himself is one of the circle. It is realistic art, and 
 the dialect is a necessary part of it. It possesses 
 a naivete, a truth in regard to the representation of 
 humble life, which a translation into High-German 
 cannot preserve. Like Burns, whom he warmly 
 admired, Groth built upon the old songs of the 
 people, and he has succeeded in making some of his 
 poems, " De Duw," " Voer Doer," into genuine Folk- 
 songs. In another type, which is intimately associated 
 with the Folksong, namely, his songs for children, 
 he has been equally successful. The nature poems, 
 "Dat Moor," " Abendfreden," "Das Dorp in Snee," 
 " As ik weggung," are conspicuous for their fullness of 
 human interest. Theyare not mere pictures into which 
 nature alone enters ; with the land, the heath, the 
 moor, and the meadow, the men and other living 
 creatures that form a part of them and the poet's 
 personal experiences are harmoniously blended. 
 " Min Jehann " and " Min Port " are two of the most 
 artistic of the lyrics. In the former, which is addressed 
 to his brother, he writes of the past, and expresses the 
 loneliness and sadness of old age. " Min Port " is
 
 THE GROWTH OF REALISM 221 
 
 the garden-gate through which wife and children, 
 friends and relatives, have gone out and in. As he 
 hears it shut, memories grave and gay return to him 
 with overpowering force, but chiefly the sadness of 
 solitude and the prospect of death are here 
 expressed : — 
 
 "So ward se still und stiller, min Port, 
 All, wat mi leef, geit rut un blift fort. 
 Bekannte to vel, jiimmer weniger Friinn, 
 Un endlich bliv ik alleen hier binn. . . ." 
 
 In his narrative and ballad poetry Groth draws upon 
 the history and folklore of Holstein. The best known 
 pieces are " Hans Iwer," " Graf Rudolf von de 
 Bockelnborg," " He wak," and " 01 Biisum." They 
 are remarkable for their grim reality, almost grue- 
 someness. They excel in brevity and boldness of 
 outline, while the vividness of detail is astonishing ; 
 for example, in " Hans Iwer," where the few sugges- 
 tions of landscape accentuate the delineation of the 
 mental trepidation of the milkmaid who meets the 
 werwolf and breaks the spell. The same graphic 
 power is particularly effective in the description of Ol 
 Biisum, an island swallowed by the sea, where the 
 church-spire rises from the sand like the warning 
 finger of a human hand. 
 
 Gottfried Keller^ (1819-90), the greatest of Swiss 
 writers, was born in Zurich. He lost his father at an 
 early age, but his mother contrived by hard work and 
 economy to give him a good education. When 
 twenty years of age he went to Munich to learn 
 
 ^ F. Baldensperger, G. Keller^ sa vie et ses ceiivres^ Paris, 
 1899. A. Kbster, Gottfried Keller, 2nd ed., 1906.
 
 222 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 painting, but in two years he returned, convinced that 
 he had chosen the wrong profession. Then came the 
 years of idleness, followed by self-doubt, self-analysis, 
 and unhappiness, when it was only in the lyric that 
 he found relief and a means of expressing his chang- 
 ing moods. The first of these poems were published 
 by his friend Follen in 1846. In 1848 he received a 
 scholarship which enabled him to go to Germany for 
 purposes of study. He worked in Heidelberg and 
 Berlin, and it was an altogether different man who, 
 in 1855, returned to his native Zurich. He had 
 written in the meantime Der griine Heiiirich, a charm- 
 ing subjective novel ; from lyric poetry he had turned 
 to epic delineation, and issued in 1855 the first 
 collection of short stories upon which his great 
 reputation is founded. The lyrics, therefore, represent 
 what is little more than an episode in his develop- 
 ment, for the great bulk of them were written between 
 1842 and 1855, and before the end of this period 
 Keller's natural tendency to epic narrative had 
 asserted itself. Many of Keller's supreme qualities 
 are not in evidence in this period, above all, his 
 humour and pathos, for these qualities grew from his 
 knowledge of life, and Keller, as a shrewd observer 
 and wise thinker, was only in the process of develop- 
 ment. Nor must we expect to find, in place of 
 mature wisdom, the passion and exuberance of youth, 
 for love seems but lightly to have touched his early 
 manhood, and he was destined to pass through life 
 without the inspiration to be derived from a woman's 
 tenderness. He had difficulties, too, with the lyrical 
 form. He copied Heine, Freiligrath, and Herwegh, 
 but his lines remained hard and unmelodious. We 
 find that he was in the habit of sketching out a poem
 
 THE GROWTH OF REALISM 223 
 
 in prose and then putting it into verse. He lacked 
 the spontaneous fluency of the song-writer and the 
 virtuosity of those who excel in difficult forms like 
 the sonnet and the ghazal. He is best where the 
 poem gives in simple language a definite and clearly 
 outlined picture. However, no matter what may be 
 the shortcomings of Keller in regard to form, the 
 content is so virile and original that his work 
 demands our closest attention. 
 
 The BhcJi der Natur contains his most effective 
 lyrics. It is full of joy in nature, but of a peculiarly 
 pensive kind. He loves to contemplate the night, 
 the glow of the stars, the rainy day ; it is the sombre 
 effects that appeal to him, the mist creeping over the 
 mountain paths, or veiling the waterfalls, the trees 
 heavy and damp with rain. Lenau, too, had loved 
 those melancholy effects, and found in them the 
 artistic symbol of his pessimistic moods. But Keller 
 observes them from an altogether different stand- 
 point : from his melancholy he draws strength to 
 meet the ills of fortune. Pensive reverie is, in a 
 temperament like Keller's, the antecedent of action, 
 not of passive despair : — 
 
 " Ich aber, mein bewusstes Ich, 
 Beschau das Spiel in stiller Ruh, 
 Und meine Seele riistet sich, 
 Zum Kampfe mit dem Schicksal zu." 
 
 Even with the prospect of death before his mind 
 he can still exclaim — • 
 
 "Trinkt, o Augen, was die Wimper halt 
 Von dem goldnen Ueberfluss der Welt." 
 
 The " Waldlieder " contain some fine poetry,
 
 2 24 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 especially the first piece, which describes the moaning 
 and creaking of the forest in a storm — 
 
 " Und nun sang und pfiff es graulich in den Kronen, in den 
 
 Luften, 
 Und dazwischen knanl und drdhnl es unten in den Wurzel- 
 
 gruften. 
 Manchmal schwang die hbchste Eiche gellend ihren Schaft 
 
 alleine, 
 Donnernder erscholl nur immer drauf der Chor vom ganzen 
 
 Haine I " 
 
 Occasionally we encounter harsh lines, such as 
 " Der Martyrer blass Gebein," or strange comparisons 
 like " Und der Bach schreit wie ein Kind." The 
 sonnet, for example, where he compares the snow- 
 covered earth to a corpse, and the sun to the watcher 
 by the dead, surprises rather than convinces. The 
 most beautiful poem in the cycle is that strange, 
 symbolic vision of imprisoned beauty, the picture of 
 the mermaid beneath the ice contained in " VVinter- 
 nacht " — 
 
 " Mit ersticktem Jammer tastet sie 
 An der harten Decke her und hin, 
 Ich vergess das dunkle Antlitz nie, 
 Immer, immer liegt es mir im Sinn '. " 
 
 The group, " Erstes Lieben," suffers from vagueness 
 and the absence of the personal note. In " Trauer- 
 weide " there are some striking lines, but the conclusion 
 is so obscure that the reader has to regard it as he 
 would a riddle. The poems entitled " Alte Weisen " 
 are in traditional style, and are Keller's nearestapproach 
 to popular song-writing. " Ich fiirchte nicht Ges- 
 penster" is both original and artistic. Keller's 
 personal temperament, his shyness and exclusiveness, 
 his fear of being disturbed by unwelcome visitors,
 
 THE GROWTH OF REALISM 225 
 
 are expressed in the interesting poem, " An das 
 Herz " :— 
 
 "Willst du nicht dich schliessen, 
 Herz, du offenes Hans, 
 Worin Freund und Feinde 
 Gehen ein und aus. . . ." 
 
 He complains of the arrogance, selfishness, and 
 indifference of men, and prefers to open his heart 
 to nature in all her moods. 
 
 In poems of a narrative character Keller is more 
 at home than in the pure lyric of feeling. The whole 
 tendency of his mind was towards epic portraiture, to 
 revel in detail and realise the picture in its minutest 
 aspects. " Lebendig begraben " is such an exercise 
 of the epic imagination, a description of the sensations 
 of being buried alive. " Feueridylle " is a vivid 
 picture of a burning farmhouse, with wonderfully 
 good touches, humorous or pathetic — the destruction 
 of the apple tree, for example, or the picture of the 
 farmer who rescues the Bible from the flames, think- 
 ing it to be his cashbook. There is delightfully coy 
 humour in narratives such as " Stilles Abenteuer " or 
 " Wochenpredigt." But the humorous is akin to 
 tragedy and sympathetic pity in " VValdfrevel " and 
 " Das Kohlerweib ist trunken." The good influence 
 of a mother's training is the theme of "Jung gewohnt, 
 alt getan," and the story is well developed without 
 being too didactic. There are many other notes to 
 Keller's lyre. He can be denunciative and satirical, 
 as in " Jesuitenzug" ; he can be sharp and ironical, 
 as when he hits off American divorce customs in 
 " Die Ehescheidung." Here and there the influence 
 of contemporaries is momentarily seen, that of 
 Freiligrath in " Schlafwandel," which gives us a 
 
 15
 
 226 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 picture of the Foreign Legion in the desert, or of 
 Heine in the series of romances entitled Der 
 Apotheker von Chamounix. Keller's tendency to pass 
 from subjective to objective delineation is seen in 
 the fine poem, " Sommernacht," which is character- 
 istic of his art : — 
 
 "Es walk das Korn weit in die Runde 
 Und wie ein Meer dehnt es sich aus ; 
 Doch liegt auf seinem stillen Grunde 
 Nicht Seegewiirm noch andrer Graus : 
 Da traumen Blumen nur von Kranzen 
 Und trinken der Gestirne Schein. 
 O goldenes Meer, dein friedlich Glanzen 
 Saugt meine Seele gierig ein.'' 
 
 So far the poetical picture is steeped in subjective 
 feeling, but the next three stanzas are absolutely 
 objective. He pauses in his reflection, and proceeds 
 to tell the story of a beautiful old custom, how in the 
 villages of his youth the young men assembled 
 secretly at midnight to harvest the corn of the widow 
 and the orphan. Such a transition is also character- 
 istic of his development as a poet, and it is exactly 
 in the description of such scenes from old Swiss life 
 that he is unsurpassed in the short stories of later 
 years. Another curious feature of his lyric is the 
 superiority of the long lines over the shorter ones. 
 In the poem, " Ein Tagewerk," he succeeds in the first 
 part in attaining his artistic end : line and stanza 
 giv-e him scope for the expression of his temperament 
 in a half-meditative, half-didactic representation of 
 events ; in the second part, on the other hand, he gives 
 the impression of being cramped, like a big-limbed 
 rustic in a society dress. In fact, he needed a more 
 expansi\e instrument than the lyric to express
 
 THE GROWTH OF REALISM 227 
 
 what was best in him, and he found it in the prose 
 Novelle. 
 
 Conrad Ferdinand Meyer (1825-98) was, like 
 Keller, a native of Zurich, but, unlike Keller, he 
 belonged to a wealthy family, and remained all his 
 life an aristocrat, who was more interested in history 
 than in the social life around him. He was forty 
 years of age before he found his vocation, and it was 
 principally between 1870 and 1890 that he wrote his 
 novels and stories. When he did awaken to con- 
 sciousness of his literary gifts, he worked assiduously 
 to make good the wasted years of youth, and polished 
 his work laboriously till it satisfied his fastidious taste. 
 Thus Meyer's poetry is that of a man whose youth 
 is behind him, who has triumphed over passion and 
 formlessness ; he appears to be equally master of 
 his feelings and of their expression, calm, critical, and 
 wise. Like Keller, he was essentially an epic genius : 
 the purely lyrical poems do not fill many pages, and 
 a great number of them are not lyrical in the usual 
 sense of the word. The first section of the poems 
 is entitled " Vorsaal." Here we find pieces which 
 reveal very great variety, but they are rarely of a 
 personal character ; even such a subject as " Die toten 
 Freunde " cannot induce the poet to throw off his 
 reserve and reveal to us his intimate feelings. On 
 the other hand, he is more at home in dealing with 
 such a theme as " Der Schone Tag," which tells us 
 of a bathing accident. The language is faultless, 
 and the whole picture remarkably concise and vivid. 
 The supernatural is sometimes introduced, the elves 
 dancing, the fairy retarding the criminal's boat, but 
 these spirits are mere symbols. There is none of 
 that intense interest in the fairy world, none of that
 
 2 28 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 realistic presentation of the unreal, which fascinates 
 us in Goethe and Burger. " Hochzeitlied," with the 
 haunting refrain. " Geh und lieb' und leide," is the 
 most lyrical of these pieces. Meyer seems to hold 
 himself in check, he prefers to express his feelings 
 indirectly through some external event, or the picture 
 of a scene which may be in harmony with his mood, 
 but he is not always successful in making the 
 symbolism clear. His lyrical sketches reveal per- 
 fect technique, but they are sometimes so objective 
 that we can feel no personal enthusiasm over them ; 
 the artist himself has no glow or passion, he stands 
 aside like a disinterested spectator. In the second 
 section, entitled " Stunde," nature predominates. 
 Here Meyer shows that he has a good eye for colour 
 and a fine descriptive touch. It is a pity that he 
 is so sparing of the personal note. One of the most 
 beautiful poems is " Schwiile " : — 
 
 " Triib verglomm der schwule Sommertag 
 Dumpf und traurig tont mein Ruderschlag — 
 Sterne, Sterne — Abend ist es ja — 
 Sterne, warum seid ihr noch nicht da .' . . . " 
 
 The whole situation seems to foreshadow death. 
 The poet tells how he seems in the gathering gloom 
 to hear a voice which calls to him from the deep. 
 At last a star shines out, breaking through the dark- 
 ness and the spell which held him. He prays that 
 this light may never fail him. " Lenzfahrt " is another 
 interesting poem, for it tells us of the poet's constant 
 regret for the wasted years of \-outh : — 
 
 " Verscherzte Jugend ist ein Schmerz 
 Und einer e\v' gen Sehnsucht Hort, 
 Nach seinem Lenze sucht das Herz 
 In einem fort, in einem fort."
 
 THE GROWTH OF REALISM 229 
 
 The third section, " In den Bergen," is devoted to 
 impressions of Swiss landscape. Many of the poems 
 begin with a definite event, " Als ich jiingst vom Ffad 
 verirrt war," or " Ich bin den Rhein hinauf gezogen." 
 But there, in most cases, the subjective element ceases. 
 Meyer describes rather what he actually sees than the 
 impression which the sight makes upon him. If the 
 reader has imaginative gifts to conjure up the scene, 
 good and well ; if not, it will inspire him with no 
 emotion. Meyer loved his native land, but it was not 
 in his nature to be effusive : — 
 
 " Nie prahlt' ich mit der Heimat noch, 
 Und liebte sie von Herzen doch." 
 
 " Gemalde," " Die Zwingburg," and " Die Rehe," are 
 pictures of life in the hills, but they are not so inter- 
 esting as the few poems like " Die Vision," " Reise- 
 becher," and " Die Schlittschuhc," where the object 
 viewed calls up memories of the past, and, as it were, 
 forces the poet to give utterance to his own feelings. 
 The two weakest sections in the lyrics are " Reise " 
 and "Liebe." Travel -pictures require to be brightened 
 by personal reflection, even though they are not pre- 
 sented in lyrical form. Meyer loves to stand before 
 a statue or a picture and describe it in verse, as in 
 " Die Narde " and " Ja." When there is an indication 
 of the poetical mood, as in " Die gegeisselte Psyche," 
 or when the picture is symbolical of life in general, as 
 in " Der romische Brunnen," we are able to follow 
 him in his shy suggestiveness. But there are other 
 pictures which leave us cold, because there is nothing 
 for the imagination to grasp, and even the under- 
 standing is frequently baffled by the mere description 
 of something which the eye has not seen. In the 
 group of love poems he sings of a love lost in boyhood,
 
 230 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 of affection for mother and sister, but beyond this 
 there is no flash of passion, no ray of sunshine or 
 gay humour. We must pass to the last four sections 
 of the book, to the ballads and epic narratives, to find 
 Meyer's lasting work. He is undoubtedly one of the 
 three or four great ballad-writers of Germany. His 
 materials are derived principally from that period 
 which was so rich in men of power and originality, 
 the Italian Renaissance. In style, too, he departs 
 from the traditional manner of the Old English ballad, 
 which had been so much imitated in Germany. His 
 poems are the result of consummate art, but the art is 
 so faultless that we do not feel its artificiality. " Die 
 Fiisse im Feuer " is a beautiful piece of work, and as 
 unlike the traditional ballad as possible. It deals 
 with the experiences of a French knight in a Huguenot 
 castle, where on a previous occasion he had tortured 
 the chatelaine because she would not reveal her 
 husband's hiding-place. Overtaken by a storm he 
 has sought refuge here, and been kindly welcomed. 
 Gradually it begins to dawn upon his mind that he 
 has seen the coat of arms, the pictures, and the fire- 
 place before : — 
 " V'erdammt ! Dasselbe Wappen I Dieser selbe Saal ! 
 
 Drei Jahre sind's . . . Auf einer Hugenottenjagd. . . . 
 
 Ein fein halsstarrig VVeib. . . . 'Wo steckt der Junker.' 
 Sprich 1 ' 
 
 Sie schweigt. ' Bekenn I ' Sie schweigt. ' Gib ihn heraus I ' 
 Sie schweigt. 
 
 Ich werde wild. Der Stolz ! Ich zene das Geschopf. . . . 
 
 Die nackten Fiisse pack ich ihr und strecke sie 
 
 Tief mitten in die Glut . . . 'Gib ihn heraus!' Sie schweigt. 
 
 Sie windet sich . . . Sahst du das Wappen nicht am Tor ? 
 
 Wer hiess dich hier zu Gaste gehen, dummer Narr ? 
 
 Hat er nur einen Tropfen Bluts, erwiirgt er dich. 
 
 Eintritt der Edelmann. ' Du traumst ! Zu Tische, Gast., . . ."
 
 THE GROWTH OF REALISM 231 
 
 The children recognise him at once, and, struck with 
 fear, refuse to say grace. The stranger retires to his 
 room pursued by anxiety, but the morning dawns 
 bright and clear. It has brought grey hairs to the host, 
 but he has conquered his lower nature and leaves ven- 
 geance to the Lord. It is in dealing with a subject 
 like this, where the touches of outward nature may 
 be blended with the delineation of mental conflicts, 
 and where there is occasion for concise and graphic 
 description, that Meyer excels. Another sonorous 
 ballad is " Der gleitende Purpur," where the language 
 and the manner of presentation are masterly. " Die 
 verstummte Laute," " Konig Etzels Schwert," " Mourir 
 ou parvenir,""Bettlerballade,"and ''Mitzwei Worten" 
 are also noteworthy ballads. Other poems celebrate 
 historical events and persons, Pope Julius, Caesar 
 Borgia, or Michael Angelo. " Das Heiligtum " is an 
 effective description of how Caesar's strength of will 
 overcame the superstition of his Gallic soldiers. In 
 these historical pictures Meyer shows great mastery 
 of form. He was not a deep thinker. He refused to 
 be carried away by lyrical emotion ; he was too shy 
 and careful of his utterance to let feeling have free 
 vent. But when it is a question of giving life and 
 actuality to a scene from the past or sketching in vivid 
 outline the character of some man of genius, Meyer 
 possesses unrivalled gifts of imagination and poetical 
 presentation. 
 
 Theodor Fontane (1819-98) was born at Neu- 
 ruppin, in Brandenburg. He was the son of French 
 immigrants. He earned distinction in three distinct 
 spheres — the ballad ; the description of lands, customs, 
 and campaigns ; and finally in the realistic novel 
 of Berlin life. In the ballad he was inspired by
 
 232 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 Strachwitz, by Percy's Reliques of Ancient English 
 Poetry, and Scott's Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border. 
 He travelled through England and Scotland, and 
 his descriptive essays show how fully he had 
 studied the spirit, life, and traditions of the 
 country. He translated freely into German such 
 well-known ballads as " Chevy Chase," " Barbara 
 Allen," "Lord Atholl," "Sir Patrick Spens," and 
 poems like " The Flowers of the Forest " and " The 
 Burial of Sir John Moore." His own ballads are 
 drawn principally from three sources. Of the Norse 
 group, " Gorm Grymme " and " Swend Gabelbart " 
 are the best. In the English section we meet such 
 well-known poems as " Hastingsfeld," the impressive 
 and warmly patriotic " Archibald Douglas," and 
 pieces which deal with modern events, " Das Trauer- 
 spiel in Afghanistan " and " Die Briick am Tay." 
 The latter deals with the Tay Bridge disaster. It 
 opens and closes with scenes reminiscent of the 
 meeting of the witches in '• Macbeth," and gives a 
 vivid and touching delineation of the catastrophe. 
 Nature in conflict with man, that is how Fontane 
 has pictured the event, which he illuminates and 
 renders doubly interesting by the purely human 
 touches, the expectation of the parents, and the 
 proud confidence of their son who is driving the 
 engine. The group of German ballads is noteworthy 
 for the effective portraiture of men like Schwerin, 
 Der alte Dessauer, and Der alte Ziethen. " Wo 
 Bismarck liegen soil " is a tribute of admiration to 
 the great statesman. Fontane followed the traditional 
 ballad style — simple, effective language, swinging 
 rhythm, and dramatic treatment of the theme. He 
 reveals masterly power in the way in which he can
 
 THE GROWTH OF REALISM 23:? 
 
 give plastic shape to the dim and the mysterious, 
 without at the same time losing the charm of vague 
 unreality. His lyrical and epigrammatic poetry falls 
 far behind his ballad work. Some of his sketches 
 of society failings are clever. His sarcasm is sharp 
 and keen as a rapier, but it is not poetry of a high 
 class. 
 
 Felix Dahn (1834- 19 11), Professor of Law suc- 
 cessively at Wijrzburg, Konigsberg, and Breslau, 
 carried on the tradition of the historical ballad, 
 drawing his subjects especially from Teutonic history. 
 From his numerous pieces at least a dozen could be 
 selected which are admirable in spirit and in form. 
 " Die Mette von Marienburg," " Die Gotenlieder," 
 " Konig Harald Harfagr," " Hagars Rache," ' Der 
 Konigsbron in Dunsadal," " Vom kiihnen Minstrel," 
 and " Ralf Douglas und Lord Percy," would be 
 among the number. But other pieces fall far behind 
 these : " Odhins Weisheit," for example, only shows 
 the inadequacy of alliterative verse as a modern 
 form, and lines like " Zu heiss die Hitze, zu dunstig 
 der Dunst," in " Der letzte der Kimbern," are unnatural 
 and harsh. The lyrical poems lack distinction. The 
 verse is frequently poor, and the thoughts prosaic. 
 " Ein Canon " is one of the more successful pieces. 
 The section entitled " Patriotisches " celebrates men 
 like Moltke and Bismarck and the events of the 
 Franco-Prussian War, but as patriotic poetry it falls 
 far short of that of Geibel and Freiligrath. 
 
 Wilhelm Jensen (1837-191 1) took as his model 
 Storm, both in the novelette and in the lyric. In 
 fact there is something in his whole attitude to 
 nature, and especially in his clinging to the past, 
 that reminds us of the Husum poet. He issued
 
 234 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 in 1897 a collection of his best poems with the title 
 Vom Morgen zum Abend. Here he sings of the 
 changes of the seasons, the aspects of nature, bird 
 life and plant life, in melodious tones. Love, marriage, 
 children, domestic joys and cares form the burden 
 of his most tuneful songs. There are also poems 
 of travel and wandering, optimistic, reflective, and 
 diffuse. Many pieces spring from recollection or 
 from musings on the conventions of life, true morality, 
 and the feelings of old age. The prospect of death, 
 which Jensen viewed as " Ein herbstlich Warten auf 
 das eigene Sterben," is an ever-recurring theme. 
 Most of the lyrics have a warm personal note ; one 
 of the best is the fine poem, " Am Sarge Theodor 
 Storms," but Jensen's circle of interest was the 
 narrow one of the literary artist. The great bustling 
 world of business and politics and modern social 
 controversy does not enter here. He wrote easily and 
 gracefully, but far too much. The shorter poems 
 are the best ; of the longer ones few will survive, 
 partly owing to the lack of conciseness and careful 
 workmanship, partly because they are already, as 
 it were, detached from human life in general, and 
 shadowy in outline. 
 
 Ferdinand von Saar (1833- 1906) was born in 
 Vienna just about the time when Lenau, his model, 
 had reached the summit of his powers. He entered 
 the army, but quitted it after the campaign of 1859, 
 and devoted himself to literature. His l}'rical pro- 
 duction is not great in extent, and uniformly sad in 
 tone. His interests are fewer than Lenau's ; he is 
 more monotonous, and has far less command of 
 Urical technique. In a poem like " Trauer " there 
 is not a ray of brightness. Sleeplessness, the diffi-
 
 THE GROWTH OF REALISM 235 
 
 culty of success, the rarity of good fortune, self- 
 blame, the torment of life, these are the thoughts 
 that make up the poem. However delicate and 
 tender it may at times be, Saar's mind is not a normal 
 one. There is a total lack of humour in many situa- 
 tions where it seems inevitable, and the pessimistic 
 close of such poems strikes the reader as ludicrous. 
 It is strange that Vienna should have given Germany 
 its lightest comedies and its saddest poetry. There 
 is a fatalistic tone in " Ultima Ratio," an almost unkind 
 bitterness in " Auf ein tanzendes Madchen," and con- 
 fused logic in the polemic against women's rights, 
 " An die Frauen." The unnaturalness of his attitude 
 to nature is revealed by a poem like " Die Kuh." 
 His view of the future of German poetry, as expressed 
 in " Nanie," is without a ray of hope. The most 
 pleasing lyrics are those in which he expresses his 
 love for the bare autumn aspects of nature, the mist- 
 covered valley, the cold breath of the winter wind, and 
 the delicate shades and tints of the trees. Here he 
 approaches most nearly to Lenau, but he has none 
 of Lenau's power of sketching human figures that 
 give life to the picture. Of the " Bilder und Ges- 
 talten " the best are " Der Eisenbahnzug " and " Der 
 Schafer." Probably his most successful poem is " Der 
 Arbeitergruss," which bears the stamp of actuality 
 upon it. He wrote love poems, too, with veiled 
 passion, but here, too, resignation predominates. 
 Even in the Novellen the most of the characters 
 are of delicate organisation, thin-blooded victims of 
 ill fortune and weak will.
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 The Lvric Poetry of To-dav 
 
 The Franco-Prussian War marks the beginning of a 
 new era in German history, but its influence upon 
 literature was chiefly indirect. The patriotic poetry to 
 which the war gave rise was not of much importance. 
 The really great movement in German literature 
 during the last forty years, the rise of the naturalistic 
 school, began to make itself felt about 1882, and it 
 owed its inception to a variety of causes, of which the 
 war was only one, and by no means the most important. 
 The influence of foreign writers like Zola, Ibsen, and 
 Tolstoi was very considerable, especially in the drama 
 and the novel, but even though these authors had 
 simply not existed, the naturalistic movement in 
 Germany was bound to come. Everything was 
 already moving in that direction. The tendency of 
 contemporary philosophy (the Positivists), of natural 
 science (Spencer and Darwin), of psychology and 
 of theology was to make men look facts in the 
 face and set down exactly what they saw. In the 
 drama and the novel Anzengruber is one of the most 
 important pioneers, for his art was based upon keen 
 observation of the life around him. But the most 
 weighty element in the new art was contributed by 
 social conditions. The remarkable advance of 
 German industry after the war of 1870 led to the 
 
 236
 
 THE LYRIC POETRY OF TO-DAY 237 
 
 concentration in large centres of thousands of people, 
 many of whom came from the country, and were now 
 cut off from all local associations. Men began to feel, 
 to discuss, and to write about the contrast between 
 labour and capital, between great wealth and the 
 grind of daily toil and poverty. Especially when 
 Bismarck introduced legislation to alleviate the ills of 
 sickness, accident, old age, and infirmity, the public 
 conscience had been awakened, and statesmen recog- 
 nised that the weal of the State depends on the virility 
 of all its members. To a movement of such human 
 interest poetry was of course extremely sensitive, it 
 stirred the imagination, and awakened sympathy and 
 enthusiasm. A new mine of literary subjects and 
 motives was discovered — Germany at work, the 
 captains of industry, the varied interests of the middle 
 classes, and the " short and simple annals of the poor." 
 The tendency of poetry may be most vividly illustrated 
 by a reference to contemporary painting. Hauptmann 
 and Sudermann regard life from the same standpoint 
 as naturalists in colour and form like Leibl, Lieber- 
 mann, and Uhde. These painters reproduced what 
 they had seen ; not a shape which nature had to reveal 
 but possessed its value in their eyes, and their gaze 
 was directed chiefly to the lowly haunts of man and 
 life in its simplest aspects. Naturalism, however, 
 being one-sided, could only dominate art for a time. 
 With Arnold Bocklin and Max Klinger there entered 
 into painting a new joy in beautiful colour for its own 
 sake, a more imaginative and sometimes fantastic 
 representation of nature, the triumph of humour and 
 symbolism, a dionysiac joy in dance, revelry, and 
 sportiveness. Bocklin does not copy nature either 
 in regard to outline or colour, he bodies it forth as he
 
 238 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 sees it in his mind's eye. It took a long time before 
 Bocklin was duly appreciated, but his final triumph 
 was all the more decisive and influential. Similarly, 
 when in the beginning of the last decade of the 
 century Gerhardt Hauptmann, who had won his spurs 
 by strong and sometimes repulsive representations of 
 life in the naturalistic manner, began to produce 
 imaginative, allegorical, and symbolic work like 
 Hartneles Himmdfahrt and Die versunketie Glocke, 
 the partisans of naturalism were at first shocked and 
 confused. But since that time the two tendencies 
 have lived on side by side. Hauptmann himself 
 returned to naturalistic drama. Naturalism, in fact, 
 cannot die, it must remain an element in modern art. 
 But there is room also for other styles, for the play of 
 imagination, for symbolic representation if the artist 
 prefers it, for the unfolding of the inner soul of the 
 artist in whatever manner is most suited to his peculiar 
 genius and the message which he has to proclaim. 
 In this connection Nietzsche's example had far- 
 reaching influence. It is now fully recognised that 
 he was no philosopher in the usual sense of the word, 
 but a poet, a prophet of quite remarkable gifts. He 
 stood in opposition to Socialism. It was not the 
 people as a whole, but the individual of genius that 
 formed the object of his solicitation. Likewise he 
 condemned conventional religion and morality, because 
 they were rigid and unchangeable. They have grown, 
 he said, and they will pass away to make room for a 
 higher ethics. Nietzsche must be discussed more fully 
 further on, for his influence on the modern lyric was 
 unusually great. Here it may suffice to mention that 
 it was about 1886 when Nietzsche's teaching, pro- 
 claimed in a language of infinite beauty and fer\our.
 
 THE LYRIC POETRY OF TO-DAY 239 
 
 began to take Germany, especially young Germany, 
 by storm. It was new thought, brilliantly original, 
 the criticism of conventions was trenchant, and the 
 outlook upon a new world painted with glowing 
 optimism. 
 
 In a period so rich in social changes, and so fertile 
 in new ideas, it is not surprising that many poets 
 should confuse tendency with art, and go to extremes 
 in one direction or another. Only the very greatest 
 avoid such dangers in all literary periods. If we 
 take a comprehensive glance at German lyric poetry 
 since 1880, the first thing that strikes us is the 
 extraordinary number of poets with something more 
 than a local reputation. In Bethge's Deutsche Lyrik 
 seit Liliencron there are nearly a hundred names, and 
 in Benzmann's Moderne Deutsche Lyrik there are at 
 least eighty more who are not mentioned by Bethge. 
 Certainly not more than a third of the smaller number 
 can hope for immortality. The most of them were 
 born between 1850 and 1880, the greatest of all, Detlev 
 von Liliencron, was born in 1844, and is thus the leader 
 in years as well as in influence. Besides him there 
 are four or five of outstanding originality and power, 
 and perhaps twenty who, from a historical point of 
 view, might be placed in the second rank. From the 
 remaining writers we occasionally get poems of 
 remarkable sweetness or strength, but it is here that 
 the tendency mentioned above, the extremes, the 
 elements of the new art, reveal themselves. Natural- 
 ism can give rise to beautiful poetry — Thomas Hood 
 is an example in English — but it can also be very 
 unpleasant. We find in German poetry hard prosaic 
 rhythms, words and phrases chosen from the vocabu- 
 lary of everyday life, pauses and parentheses, sounds
 
 2 40 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 and sentiments, that grate upon the senses of the 
 reader, and we object to them because they are 
 supposed to be natural and are chosen for effect. 
 Then there is the Hcence and laxness in substance 
 and in form of those who falsely imagined they were 
 following the banner of Nietzsche. P'roticism can be 
 beautifully treated, as it has been by Shelley or by 
 Dehmel, but there is an unnatural amount of it in 
 modern verse. Among the symbolists there is at 
 times extraordinary vagueness, words that may 
 suggest anything or nothing, a tendency to pose, to 
 adopt a contemptuous, aloof kind of attitude to the 
 world in general and the reading public in particular. 
 But enough of criticism ! There is also much true 
 art in the poetry of the present day. There are new 
 triumphs ofrhythm, novel and pleasing effects of rhyme, 
 subjective feelings of great beauty that come to us like 
 a revelation, ballads worthy to rank with those of 
 Fontane, travel sketches, tones of every kind, a good 
 deal of weakness and nervous depression, but side by 
 side with it plenty of joy in life and buoyant optim- 
 ism, laughing humour, and impressive pathos. 
 
 Ada Christen (Christine Friderik, 1 844-1 901) is a 
 characteristic figure of the new period. She sings of 
 the temptations and the misery of the poor : deep 
 sympathy is the keynote of her poetry, but the tones 
 are harsh. In her eagerness she overshoots the mark, 
 and is unjust to mankind in general. An example 
 is " Am Teich," a theme similar to " The Bridge of 
 Sighs," but inartistic in execution : — 
 
 " Als eine Hand den schunen Leib 
 Mit Haken an sich riss — 
 Der rohe Hauf das tote Weib 
 Ein gottverdammtes liiess,"
 
 THE LYRIC POETRY OF TO-DAY 241 
 
 The sentiment is bitter, and the rhyme far from good. 
 But Christen's Lieder einer Verloretten, which appeared 
 in 1868, struck a new note full of earnestness and 
 candour. With her we may associate two contem- 
 porary poetesses of equal fervour and kindliness, but 
 less poetic power, Alberta von Puttkamer ((^. 1849), 
 and the Roumanian queen, who writes under the 
 name of Carmen Sylva [b. 1843). 
 
 Detlev von Liliencron^ ('1844-1909) was born in 
 Kiel, and spent the most active years of his life in the 
 army. In no less than seventeen garrisons he had 
 opportunities of studying the life of the soldier, and 
 he also fought in the wars of 1866 and 1870. On 
 account of wounds and debts he resigned his com- 
 mission and went to America. But his prospects did 
 not improve, and he returned to his native land, where 
 he received an official post as administrator of the 
 island of Pellvvorm. Later he was registrar in Kelling- 
 husen. In 1887, tired of the restraint of official duties, 
 he resolved to devote himself to literature, and with 
 varying success and many a hard struggle against 
 poverty he continued to delight an ever-increasing 
 public till his death. His last years were somewhat 
 lightened by the help of friends and a pension from 
 the Emperor. Liliencron was thirty-nine years of age 
 before he published his Adjutanienritte in 1 883. There 
 followed Gedichte, 1889; Neue Gedichte, 1895 ; Pogg- 
 fried, an epic poem, 1896 ; Bunte Beute, 1903 ; and a 
 number of spirited short stories in prose, with a few 
 much less successful dramas. Liliencron's influence 
 at the end of the century is like that of Heine at the 
 beginning. Both revealed the charm and influence of 
 
 * H. Spiero, D. v. Liliencron^ Berlin, 1913. 
 16
 
 242 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 a strong personality. But Liliencron was a finer, 
 healthier, more German nature than Heine. His work 
 is free from tendency, insincerity, and posing. He 
 delights in life, in his profession as a soldier, his 
 interest in his neighbour is keen and sympathetic. 
 He is a thorough North German in his love of Holstein, 
 the long dykes, the calm but sullen, ever-threatening 
 sea, the brown heath of his native land. There are 
 few more interesting personalities in German literature; 
 and while he was not free from blame himself, it must 
 fill every lover of poetry with regret that many of 
 Llliencron's days were rendered miserable by the 
 schemes and demands of creditors. His letters, the 
 editing of which he left to his friend Dehmel, reveal 
 the man as he really was, even more fully than his 
 poetry, and form most fascinating reading. Liliencron 
 excelled in ballad and narrative poetry. Some of 
 these pieces deal with the past, like " Konig Ragnar 
 Lodbrok " and '* Pidder Liing," but they have a 
 distinctly modern colouring. The \ery first lines of 
 " Konig Ragnar " — 
 
 " Das war der Konig Ragnar, 
 Der lebte fromm und frei. 
 Er trug gepichte Hosen 
 Wie seine Leichtmatrosen, 
 Die riechen nicht nach Rosen, 
 Das war ihm einerlei, . . ." 
 
 reveal a humorous, happy-go-lucky style of treatment 
 which is novel and refreshing. Whatever subject 
 Liliencron took up, he could not but impress it with 
 his own personality. " Bellevue " is the description of 
 a ride through the forest : horse and pointers are 
 graphically pictured : the poet reaches a high point 
 from which he seems to see the whole world in the
 
 THE LYRIC POETRY OF TO-DAY 243 
 
 enjoyment of peace. But the clouds of war arise, 
 parliamentary debate, international strife, here and 
 there a neglected genius exemplifying the tragedy of 
 life. He turns away with the thought of withdrawing 
 from the world. He has given us touching episodes 
 from his experiences in war, poems like " Tod in 
 Y\hren," " Unter den Linden," and " Wer weiss wo ? " 
 in vivid and striking language : — 
 
 " AufBIut und Leichen, Schutt und Qualm 
 Auf rosszerstampftem Sommerhalm 
 
 Die Sonne schien. 
 Es sank die Nacht. Die Schlacht ist aus, 
 Und mancher kehrte nicht nach Haus 
 Einst von Kolin . . ." 
 
 " Der Heidebrand " is strong, not only in the delinea- 
 tion of the action but in the weaving of motive, the 
 revelation of the character of the old woman whom 
 vengeance drives to crime. The four beautiful stanzas 
 of " Erwartung " remind us of the early Minnesang. 
 " Krieg und Friede " is one of the poet's finest achieve- 
 ments. He gives us two scenes, the glorious blossom- 
 ing landscape with wild roses everywhere, and the 
 sharp clash of modern infantry, and contrasts the two 
 with great skill and effect. Truly it is a many-sided 
 poet who reveals himself in these various pictures of 
 life, and in every one of them we have the certainty 
 that he has seen and felt keenly what he portrays. 
 It is the poetry of real life. He is light and humorous 
 in " Bruder Liederlich " and " Das Gewitter," inclined 
 to be sombre in " Ein Geheimnis " ; while he is often 
 playful, there is not seldom a sore heart beneath the 
 smiling face, in poems like "Auf der Kasse" and 
 " Mein Spazierstock." He has an extraordinary fund 
 of animal spirits. A lament scarcely passes his lips
 
 244 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 but its bitterness is immediately smoothed away by a 
 humorous remark. Yet he is not superficial. There 
 are tender lyrics like " Wiegenlied/' wonderfull)' fine 
 pictures of the heath and the woodlands that he 
 loved so well, verses in honour of the army and 
 the Emperor, to whom he was passionately devoted. 
 Take him all in all, Liliencron is a true poet of great 
 originality, strength, and charm, beyond doubt the 
 most noteworthy lyricist at the end of the nineteenth 
 century. 
 
 Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) was born in the 
 same year as Liliencron, but while the latter is the 
 poet of actual life as it presented itself to him, 
 Nietzsche is the dreamer, the revolutionary, the 
 rhapsodist, whose language breaks into poetical 
 rhythm in spite of himself Also sprach Zarathustra 
 is a series of poems in prose, the work of a man of 
 great freshness of mind and imagination, a record of 
 emotions rather than logical thoughts. He destroyed 
 many of his poems, but sufficient remain to entitle 
 him to a high place among modern poets. The 
 loneliness of the man, his longing for love and true 
 friendship, break forth in poems like " Vereinsamt," 
 " Nachtlied," and " Aus hohen Bergen." " Wohl dem, 
 der jetzt noch Heimat hat," he exclaims ; friends are 
 gone and early hopes have never ripened, but he does 
 not give way to despair, his strength and buoyancy 
 assert themselves. The poem to the Mistral and 
 the short, effective " Das trunkene Lied " are songs of 
 triumph, in dithyrambic language which many a 
 modern poet has attempted to imitate. The vivid 
 pictures, " Dem unbekannten Gott," " Der Herbst," 
 " Die Sonne sinkt," remind us in their enthusiastic 
 fervour and the blending of emotion with nature
 
 THE LYRIC POETRY OF TO-DAY 245 
 
 imagery of some of the poems of Holderlin. In other 
 pieces, like " Venedig," he represents pure nature with 
 lyrical sweetness and suggestiveness : — 
 
 " An der Briicke stand 
 Jiingst ich in brauner Nacht. 
 Fernher kam Gesang : 
 Goldener Tropfen quoU's 
 iJber die zitternde Flache weg. 
 Gondeln, Lichter, Musik — 
 Trunken schwamm's in die Dammerung hinaus. . . ." 
 
 The form of Nietzsche's lyric is as various as the 
 poet's mood. It depends on the inspiration of the 
 moment. The rhythm is free and unconventional, 
 and in this he has been copied by very many of the 
 modern singers. But he has proved a delusive model. 
 The stops, abrupt transitions, parenthesis and excla- 
 mations which exactly express his excited emotions, 
 are with him under the perfect control of the artist. 
 In his imitators they are mere artifice, not nature. 
 
 The Swiss writer, Karl Spitteler {b. 1845), has 
 shown in epics and minor poetry an original, earnest, 
 and profound spirit. He is inclined to allegory and 
 didactic suggestiveness, but is always artistic and 
 restrained. The legend, the ballad, and the philo- 
 sophical lyric have all been successfully attempted 
 by him. Ferdinand Avenarius {b. 1856) has 
 published collections of poetry marked by fine 
 artistic sense, but lacking in distinction. He has 
 rendered far greater service, indeed quite unique 
 service, to modern art by his distinguished paper, 
 the Kunstwart. Gustav Falke {b. 1853) began 
 under the influence of Liliencron and Meyer, but 
 his later work is of a much quieter, gentler nature. 
 He is a painstaking observer of nature's moods, some-
 
 246 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 what in the manner of Morike, but without the latter's 
 originality. His best work springs from the domestic 
 emotions, one of his finest pieces being dedicated 
 to his mother, " Die feinen Ohren " : — 
 
 " Du warst allein, 
 Ich sah durch's Schliisselloch 
 Den matten Schein 
 Der spaten Lampe noch. 
 Was stand ich nur und trat nicht ein ? 
 Und brannte doch, 
 Und war mir doch, es miisste sein, 
 Dass ich noch einmal deine Stime strich 
 Und zartlich fliisterte : Wie lieb ich dich. . . ." 
 
 Falke is a musician by profession, and all his poetry 
 shows great finish and feeling for melody. He is 
 usually bright and optimistic ; especially good are 
 his pictures of life in narratives of a didactic or 
 kindly humorous kind, such as "Der torichte Jager" 
 and " Die treue Schwester." In a poet like Prinz 
 Emil von Schonaich-Carolath (i 852-1908) we see 
 the transition from the older to the modern school 
 of poetry. In his Dicktungen (1883) and Gedichte 
 (1903) there are pieces which remind us of Heine, 
 Platen, and the exotic poetry of the Munich writers. 
 His merits are principally merits of form. He wrote 
 easily, but he seldom rises above the middle line of 
 achievement, at least as far as the treatment of the 
 content is concerned. But there are a few vivid and 
 melodious pieces in the style which Liliencron later 
 perfected, such poems as " Carmen," " Lied der 
 Ghawaze," " Altes Bild," and " Kiinstlerroman." 
 Peter Hille (1854- 1904) was in form and tendency 
 a disciple of Nietz.sche, a dreamer, a restless spirit 
 of fine sensitive temperament. He inclined to
 
 THE LYRIC POETRY OF TO-DAY 247 
 
 aphorisms and symbolical representation of nature, 
 as in the beautiful " Waldesstimme." Isolde Kurz 
 {b. 1853) is more richly gifted. She has spent a 
 great part of her life in Italy, and found there the 
 inspiration for her Novellen and many of her poems. 
 Her Gedichte appeared in 1889, and Neue Gedichte in 
 1905. They reveal imagination, graphic power, fine 
 restraint, but at the same time passion and deep 
 feeling. In poems like " Nachtliche Meerfahrt " and 
 " Serenade auf dem Meer " she shows the true poet's 
 command of musical, onomatopoetic language. To 
 this power of expression she adds the vivifying touch 
 of fancy, so that pictures like " Aegypten," " Weg- 
 warte " really live before our eyes. There are 
 touching poems of longing and regret, " Du fuhrst 
 gleich einem Stern aus Norden," " O dass die Liebe 
 sterben kann," and " Nachtlich war's am stillen 
 Weiher." Under the title " Asphodill " we find a 
 series of beautiful elegies, varied, artistic, and worthy 
 of a place beside those of Eichendorff and Storm, of 
 whom they occasionally remind us. The most note- 
 worthy of these pieces are " Nun bist du eins mit der 
 Natur," " Die erste Nacht," " Lethe," " Ein Schatten 
 du," and " Ein Grab im Winter." It is a rich original 
 mind that has created this poetry, an intellect ripe 
 in wisdom and guided by a sound artistic sense. 
 
 Many of the poets just discussed are still actively 
 engaged in literary work, but Lhey were all born before 
 1 860, and in consequence their mental development 
 may be regarded as fairly complete. The same can 
 hardly be said of the younger school, like Dehmel, 
 Dauthendey, and Ricarda Huch, who are not yet fifty
 
 248 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 years of age, and upon whom only a tentative verdict 
 can be passed. A characteristic figure of the period 
 is Hermann Conradi (1862-90), a stormy, erratic 
 talent, who made his name with the Lieder eines 
 Smiders in 1887, He was nervously overstrung, 
 mentally and physically a weakling, who died by his 
 own hand. Associated with him in the somewhat 
 pompous publication, Moderne DichtercJiaraktere, were 
 Wilhelm Arent {b. 1864) and Karl Henckell {b. 1864). 
 Both are reformers, both aim at being, above all, 
 " modern," but their artistic powers are not equal 
 to their ambitions. Arno Holz, who w^as born in 
 1863, is a more noteworthy figure, a serious critic 
 and stimulator. When he moves in traditional 
 grooves, in ballads like " Een Boot is noch buten " 
 and " So einer war auch er," he is true to life and at 
 the same time poetical. But his naturalistic efforts, 
 the glaring pictures of social life in great cities, are 
 much less satisfactory from an artistic point of view. 
 His experiments with prose poetry and irregular 
 rhythms and stanzas in " Phantasus " are not free 
 from arbitrariness and trifling. He is an impressionist, 
 and the affected disregard of rules of form is oc- 
 casionally successful in producing the effect which he 
 aims at. Two of the most influential spirits of this 
 age, genuine seekers after a new art, were the brothers 
 Julius Hart (^. 1859) and Heinrich Hart {b. 1855). 
 Their critical work, especially the Kritische Waffen- 
 gdnge, was of much more importance than their 
 lyrics. Another revolutionary spirit is John Henry 
 Mackay, who was born in Greenock in 1864, but 
 educated in Germany. He is known as the poet of 
 anarchism, and the friend and biographer of Max 
 Stirner. Most of his work is, however, tendency lyric,
 
 THE LYRIC POETRY OF TO-DAY 249 
 
 in which reflection, phraseology, and argumentation 
 outweigh the purely poetical element. He generally 
 chooses subjects of a Socialistic type, but he is too 
 much of the journalist. He has lost rather than 
 gained ground in later years, the more clear it has 
 become that his work is lacking in permanent artistic 
 value. The most noteworthy feature of all these poets 
 is their keen interest in the social life around them and 
 their endeavour to find a new style to express their 
 feelings. But only in the case of one, Richard 
 Dehmel, can it be said that the chaos of turbulent 
 youth has given place to a more balanced and har- 
 monious view of life. Above all, he is the only one 
 whose poetical gifts seem capable of subduing and 
 adequately expressing his wealth of experience in the 
 world of passion, or thought, or action. He was born 
 in 1863, the son of a forester in the Spreewald. The 
 naturalistic movement, Nietzsche and Verlaine, have 
 at various times influenced his mind. His first 
 volume of poetry, Erlosungen, appeared in 1891, and 
 it was followed by various other collections, Abe?' die 
 Ltebe, 1893 I Lebensbldtter, 1895 J ^"d Weib und Welt, 
 1896. His collected works were published in 1906, 
 and the best of his lyrics are to be found in the 
 AusgewdJdte Gedkhte, 1901. Since the death of 
 Liliencron he is the most vigorous and skilful of 
 German lyricists. He has many bitter opponents, 
 who object to his work as immoral and pathological. 
 It is both — to a small extent. The most apt descrip- 
 tion of his art has been given by himself in the 
 sentence where he speaks of Nietzsche as "ein 
 zweifelnder Zergliederer gewohnter Seelenregungen," 
 and of himself as a " glaubiger Zusammengliederer 
 ungewohnter." That is to say, Nietzsche is a
 
 250 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 sceptical analyser of common soul emotions, he himself 
 an orthodox synthetist of unusual ones. This, at any 
 rate, is his favourite field. He is a naturalist of mind, 
 an observer and portrayer of the passions, ambitions, 
 longings, and sentiments of his own heart and of the 
 heart of man. The lowest and the highest instincts 
 and emotions, sensuality and spirituality, love of 
 beauty and interest in what is ugly, are strangely 
 compounded in Dehmel. His candour is astounding, 
 but it is relieved by the fact that he is not a grovel- 
 ling but a soaring nature, a man who may fail but 
 who will derive fresh strength from his errors, a man 
 almost who requires the experience of the lower to 
 raise him to a higher ideal. He approaches the world 
 as a student, to whom nothing is revolting or 
 unimportant, but he does not cling to the dust or 
 portray evil for sensational reasons. On the other 
 hand, it can hardly be maintained that he has risen 
 very high spiritually, or that he has enriched ethical 
 thought or advanced original solutions of social and 
 sexual problems. Judged from a purely literary 
 standpoint, many of his poems are worthy of the 
 highest praise. There are admirable pictures of social 
 life like " Vergissmeinnicht," "Die Magd," " Vierter 
 Klasse," " Erntelied," and above all, " Der Arbeits- 
 mann," who has his joys in many things, wife, children, 
 bread, clothing, sun, moon, and rain, and whose only 
 want is time, only time. There are numerous love 
 poems, overflowing with passion, " Nachtgebet der 
 Braut," " Drei Ringe," " Aus banger Brust." " Drei 
 Ringe " is a poem of recollection, the romance of 
 light and love, regret and pain, associated with the 
 rings on the poet's finger. " Aus banger Brust," if we 
 compare it with a poem like Schiller's " Erwartung,"
 
 THE LYRIC POETRY OF TODAY 251 
 
 shows the great difference between the classical and 
 the modern tone : there calmness and restraint, here 
 impatience and overwhelming passion. The lines 
 have a chasteness of melody which contrasts with and 
 accentuates the oppressive atmosphere of desire : — 
 
 " Die Rosen leuchten immer noch, 
 Die dunkeln Blatter zittern sacht ; 
 Ich bin im Grase aufgewacht, 
 O kamst du doch, 
 Es ist so tiefe Mittemacht. 
 Den Mond verdeckt das Gartentor, 
 Sein Licht fliesst liber in die See, 
 Die Weiden warten still empor, 
 Mein Nacken wiihlt im tiefen Klee ; 
 So liebt' ich dich noch nie zuvor ! . . ." 
 
 In all these poems of love there is another element 
 which has rarely been pointed out, but which seems 
 to me to be the glory of Dehmel's poetry, his descrip- 
 tion of nature in her various moods. We see it in 
 " Drei Ringe," as the recollection of the home of his 
 youth, and in " Notturno," where the music of nature, 
 the tones of the violin, and the poet's emotion are 
 wonderfully blended. He has the same vivid touch 
 as Liliencron, but greater delicacy and skill. " Manche 
 Nacht " and " Aufblick " are typical in their concise- 
 ness and warmth of feeling : — 
 
 " Wortlos sitzen wir im Dunkeln. 
 Einstmals rauschte hier ein Strom, 
 Einstmals sahn wir Sterne funkeln. 
 Ist denn alles tot und trube? 
 Horch — : ein ferner Mund — : vom Dom — : 
 Glockenchdre . . . Nacht . . . und Liebe." 
 
 A poem like " Die stille Stadt " has something of 
 Storm's elegiac sweetness, but it is free from imitation.
 
 252 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 Oil the whole, Dehmel is an original poet of great 
 merit, and a combative spirit with an ardent love of 
 beauty and an insatiable hunger after the highest 
 happiness. He is also a conscious artist, who in 
 second and third editions has recast, almost beyond 
 recognition, the less perfect work of his youth. 
 
 No greater contrast to Dehmel could be found than 
 Hugo Salus, who was born at Leipa, in Northern 
 Bohemia, in 1866. He made his name with Ehe- 
 friihling (1899). He is one of the most productive 
 of modern poets, clothing in graceful language ideas, 
 anecdotes, events, and emotions of every kind. His 
 songs of love and marriage are inclined to senti- 
 mental triviality. Yet he is always neat, light, and 
 coquettish. His manner is not free from affectation, 
 but it is counterbalanced by lovableness and charm. 
 Max Dauthendey is of the same light, graceful 
 school. He was born in Wurzburg in 1867, has 
 travelled widely, and became first known as the author 
 of Reliqiiieti (1900). There are reminiscences of Lilien- 
 cron and Nietzsche, but they are very faint reflections 
 of a power denied to Dauthendej'. He lacks depth, 
 and his lines are not always musical. He is at his 
 best in bright suggestive pictures from nature like 
 " Winde qualen die Baume," " Die Luft so schwer," 
 and " Winde fressen im Birkenlaub." A fervent lover 
 of beauty, he is of the spirit of the Minnesingers, 
 delicate but not free from eroticism, generally clear 
 and restrained in expression. The following lines 
 are characteristic — 
 
 •' Stille weht in das Haus, 
 Fuhlst du den Atem des Mondes, 
 Lose dein Haar, 
 Lege dein Haupt in den Blauschein hinaus.
 
 THE LYRIC POETRY OF TO-DAY 253 
 
 Horst du, das Meer unten am Strand 
 Wirft dir Schatze ans Land ; 
 Sonst wachsen im Mond Wiinsche, ein Heer, 
 Seit ich dein Auge gesehen, ist die Mondnacht 
 wunschleer." 
 
 Ricarda Huch, who was born in Brunswick in 
 1864, has won distinction in the lyric, as a noveHst, 
 and in literary criticism with her works on the 
 Romantic School. Her first volume of poetry appeared 
 in 1 89 1, the second in 1907. In the fullness of her 
 mental life and the depth and earnestness of her 
 character she is a worthy successor of Annette von 
 Droste-Hulshofif. She is on the whole more fluent, 
 more candid, more erotic than Droste. The theme of 
 love is scarcely touched by Droste, and it plays a great 
 part in the lyrics of Ricarda Huch. Her Liebes- 
 reime, a collection of poems in ottava-rima, show 
 depth and variety, but the sixty-two pieces are 
 unequal in form. She gives us intimate pictures of 
 the seasons, as " Vorfriihling " and " Herbst," which 
 combine keen observation with originality of senti- 
 ment. She is not so successful with historical themes 
 like " Salamo," " Saul," " Phidias." The plastic power 
 is wanting to give the figures distinction and make 
 them live. In poems of a general character, on 
 longing, death, strife, ambition, friendship, and happi- 
 ness, she has a more skilful touch. Among the best 
 are " Beschworung," " Du," " Sehnsucht," " Verstossen," 
 " Vergangenheit," " Erinnerung," and " Unersattlich." 
 The last is a prayer for fullness of life : — 
 
 " Gib mir ewiger Jugend Glanz, 
 Gib mir ewigen Lebens Kraft, 
 Gib im fliichtigen Stundentanz 
 Ewig wirkende Leidenschaft.
 
 254 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 Aus dem Meere des Wissens lass 
 Satt mich trinken im tiefem Zug ! 
 Gib von Liebe und gib vom Hass 
 Meiner Seele einmal genug. . . /' 
 
 Two other poets should be mentioned here, O. E. 
 Hartleben (1864- 1905) and O. J. Bierbaum {b. 
 1865). Both are clever versifiers, slightly superficial, 
 but humorous and optimistic. Hartleben's best work 
 consists of prose sketches, in which he has scope 
 for his humour ; his lyrical poetry, Meine Verse 
 (1895) and Von reifen Friichten (1903), is thin and 
 disappointing. Bierbaum called his first collection 
 Erlebte Gedichte (1892), The title is none too well 
 chosen, for poems of experience they are not, as a 
 rule. There are jovial songs of love like " Jeannette," 
 humorous reflective pieces like " Liebenswurdiger 
 Rath und Antwort," songs of joyous Viennese life like 
 " Fasching." Bierbaum is an enemy of all gloom and 
 narrowness. His style is noteworthy for the number 
 of new compounds, " Ein Stechschrittvolk, Parade- 
 trampelvolk." Frequently they are far from being 
 artistically effective. In his subsequent collections 
 of poems, such as Irrgarten der Liebe ( 1901), Bierbaum 
 has shown little development. He is frequently 
 amusing, frequently trivial. There is plenty of 
 cleverness, but little of that higher beauty which 
 marks the genuine poet. 
 
 Concerning the youngest German lyricists, those 
 born since 1870, no attempt at a characterisation can 
 yet be made. One might as well try to estimate 
 Goethe by his Leipziger Lieder or Schiller by his 
 Anthologie. Most of them are still in the thirties,
 
 THE LYRIC POETRY OF TO-DAY 255 
 
 an age at which men like Liliencron and C. F. 
 Meyer had hardly begun to write. Sometimes, of 
 course, a poet begins young — Uhland is an example — 
 and strikes almost his very best and characteristic 
 note at once. It is all a matter of conjecture, and 
 the purpose of the present treatise will be served 
 if a few remarks of an explanatory kind are made 
 regarding those who appear to have distinguished 
 themselves by the novelty or sweetness of their early 
 work. Something should be said of Stefan George 
 {b. 1868), the founder of an exclusive school of poetry, 
 whose work was, to begin with, issued in the privately 
 circulated Blatter fur die Kunst. George is an 
 opponent of naturalism, of traditional styles of every 
 kind ; he claims simply to be a worshipper of beauty. 
 In expression he is restrained, seemingly vague and 
 cold, mystical. He does not sing spontaneously 
 like the natural lyricist ; he stands over the sentiment, 
 surveying it as it is presented. Therein lies the 
 novelty and the limitation of his art. It cannot 
 possibly appeal to a wide audience. Indeed he has 
 no desire that it should. The form is smooth and 
 tuneful, but numerous obstacles are placed in the 
 way of the reader. The order of words is frequently 
 strained, rhythms of unusual melody occur, there 
 is no punctuation, no capitals, a new and baffling 
 type is employed, partly for appearance, partly to 
 compel the reader to study the text slowly and care- 
 fully. There is no reason to decry George as a 
 mere poser or a decadent. The poems are suggestive, 
 they awaken feelings, but they do not tell us an)'- 
 thing, they baffle interpretation. On the other hand, 
 this art cannot be freed from the charge of pronounced 
 artificiality.
 
 256 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 There is more satisfaction to be derived from the 
 poetry of Hugo von Hofmannsthal, who was born in 
 Vienna in 1874. He is akin to George in his aesthetic 
 aloofness from the world of actuality and in his 
 worship of form, but he is more natural and musical 
 in expression. He often uses the dramatic form, but 
 his work is still in spirit lyrical. He is the character- 
 istic representative of a new romanticism, which has 
 none of the old figures and mannerisms. His art 
 springs from genuine emotion and a poetical concep- 
 tion of life. " Der Tod des Tizian " is a picture of the 
 great master in his last hours, his surroundings, 
 the feelings of friends and models, in beautiful lines 
 full of delicate but plastic imagery. Hofmannsthal 
 can conjure up a scene that is not real and yet lives. 
 He borrows from nature, but the artistic use of the 
 details is his own. In " Idylle " he delineates with a 
 few touches the various characters and their view of 
 life. The hardness of actuality is smoothed away ; 
 the poem reads like a beautiful suggestive vision. 
 He speaks to us through the feelings only ; there is no 
 intellectual appeal. He is an artist in form, but he is 
 more : there is spirituality and life in his work, as we 
 see in his " Terzinen " and the *' Ballade des ausseren 
 Lebens." He has the dramatic instinct, and that is a 
 great gain to his lyric. The " Gestalten," though they 
 represent moods rather than figures, are clearly 
 rendered and thoroughly lyrical. Some of the short 
 pieces, particularly " Drei kleine Lieder " and " Die 
 Beiden," are models of grace and conciseness. 
 
 Rainer Maria Rilke (born in 1875 in Prague) has 
 shown a promising development in his two most 
 important lyrical collections. Buck der Bilder (1902) 
 and Neue Gedichte (1907). At first thin and over
 
 THE LYRIC POETRY OF TO-DAY 257 
 
 delicate, lacking in weight and vigour, he has become 
 more plastic, more expressive, without losing any of 
 his charm of verse and mystical pantheism His 
 lyrics have an original and finely musical quality of 
 rhythm. In poems like " Mondnacht " he appeals to 
 the musical sense even in the imagery. He prefers to 
 complete his poetical pictures by sounds and sugges- 
 tions rather than by concrete outlines. His muse 
 has no interest in the great affairs of actual life ; it 
 responds only to the most delicate touch. His associa- 
 tion with Rodin explains the growth of more plastic 
 forms, but he is still chiefly the dreamer, the mystic, 
 the listener to the faint music of the spheres. 
 
 Hermann Hesse, who was born in Calw in 1877, 
 has shown both in the novel and in the lyric that he 
 has a keen eye for the beauty of nature and great 
 power of expression. But he is depressingly pessi- 
 mistic and passive in his attitude to life. His poems 
 tell of home-sickness, fits of melancholy, and the hard 
 struggle of life. Now and then, as in " Ich log," the 
 purely sensual joy in existence breaks forth, but even 
 in the love poetry resignation is the prevailing note : — 
 
 " Ich will ja nicht, dass du mich liebst, 
 Will nur, dass ich dich nahe weiss 
 Und dass du manchmal stumm und leis 
 Die Hand mir gibst." 
 
 He is a lover of music, especially the violin ; he exults 
 in wild beauty and in the bright scenery of Italy ; he 
 depicts with great insight and sympathy the struggles 
 and trials of early boyhood. 
 
 Richard Schaukal (born in Brunn in 1874) is a 
 prolific writer of verse, the best of which is to be 
 found in the Ausgewdhlte Gedickte (1909). The 
 themes are serious — religion, happiness, nature, life. 
 
 17
 
 258 THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 There is little brightness ; it is usually of grief and 
 pain, or the desire for rest from strife and longing 
 that he sings. Strange images sometimes occur, 
 as " Wenn der Jasmin sein weisses Lied singt," and 
 the poetry on the whole lacks distinction and person- 
 ality. Some of the " Bilder," such as " Alte Schlosser " 
 and " Die Sklavin spricht," though over-burdened 
 with ornament, are more effective, but others again, 
 like " Der Page," " Goya," " La Duchesse de . . .," 
 are objectionabh- erotic. It is with a feeling of relief 
 that one turns from this sweet poisoned perfume to 
 the strong, health}- ballads of the Gottingen circle. 
 Lulu von Strass und Torney was born at Biicke- 
 burg in 1873 and has made her reputation with the 
 Lieder und Balladen (1902) and the Neue Lieder tind 
 Balladen (1907). Here we link on to the ballads 
 of Strachwitz and Fontane, and the treatment is 
 usually adequate and impressive. " Die Nonne " 
 is a fine picture of a human soul pining with 
 longing and regret, and there are other excellent 
 pieces, like "Eva von Trott" and " Hertje von 
 Horsbiill." Agnes Miegel (born in Konigsberg in 
 1879) fi''st showed her power of treating very various 
 themes in melodious verse and with deep poetical 
 feeling in her Balladen 2ind Lieder (190 1-4). She, 
 too, has drawn upon the old English ballad and 
 Fontane, and reveals a thorough grasp of this literary- 
 form in poems like " Agnete " and " Agnes Ber- 
 nauerin." Both of these writers are surpassed b>- 
 Borries, Freiherr von Miinchhausen, who was born 
 in Hildesheim in 1874, and is the most distinguished 
 ballad writer at the present time. His Balladen 
 (1900) were warmly received, and subsequent publica- 
 tions, like Juda (1900; and Ritterliches Liederbuch
 
 THE LYRIC POETRY OF TO-DAY 259 
 
 (1904), have not disappointed his early adherents. 
 There is an aristocratic flavour about his ballads ; 
 the old motives of stern kings, fair pages, martial 
 heroes, and the clang of combat fill his pages. But 
 there are new themes too, full of interest and vitality. 
 " Der Fischer von Swendaland " may be gruesome, 
 but it is effective. " Der Totspieler " is one of the 
 best. It is a likely theme — a pastor who refuses to 
 play at the request of his patron, because his last son 
 sleeps in the room behind him. Two others, when 
 recovering from serious illness, he had " played to 
 death." In his gratitude to God he had put his whole 
 soul into the hymn, " Nun danket alle Gott," and 
 caused the children to rise and dance behind him 
 in their sleep. The delineation of the terror-stricken 
 father, the mighty tones of the music, and the light, 
 elfish movements of the naked feet are wonderfully 
 
 vivid : — 
 
 " Da schlag ich wie toll in die Tasten, 
 Hilf, allmachtiger Gott : 
 Umsonst ! Immerzu 
 Meines Knableins siisse 
 Weiche blosse Fiisse 
 Tanzen ohne Ruhe 
 Dutch die Stube — dort und hier 
 Immer hinter mir ... ! ! ! " 
 
 The ballads on Biblical subjects, like " Die Hexe von 
 En Dor," are not so successful as those on historical 
 and romantic themes, like " Der Marschall " and 
 " Halfdan, Ragnars Sohn," In these he seems to 
 return to the old traditions of the ballad writers, but in 
 others he is quite as modern in tone as Fontane or 
 Liliencron. Young as he is, he has already contri- 
 buted not a few pieces to the lasting treasure of 
 ballad poetry.
 
 26o THE GERMAN LYRIC 
 
 When the history of the lyric poetry of this age 
 comes to be written twenty, thirty, or forty years 
 hence, it may well be that the youngest lyricists, like 
 George, Rilke, and Hofmannsthal, stand rather at the 
 beginning of a new epoch than at the end of an old one. 
 Many things point that way — their originality, the new 
 romanticism, their interest in music, their suggestive 
 quality, the invention of new melodies and forms. 
 We have mentioned only a few, but there are many 
 others working hand in hand with them or following 
 slightly divergent paths, Hans Bethge, W'ilhelm von 
 Scholz, Karl Busse, Margarete Susmann, Franz Evers, 
 Alfred Mombert, Christian Morgenstern, Stephen 
 Zweig, and Ernst Lissauer. There is every reason 
 for an optimistic outlook. The history of the 
 lyric looks back over six centuries of storm and 
 stress, but it points inevitabl}' forward. While 
 men and women are young in love and joyous 
 faith, while they delight in all that charms the 
 ear and eye, and strive with hopeful hearts to rise 
 above themselves and find an utterance for their 
 ecstasy in musical song, so long will the lyric bloom 
 and find s}-mpathetic adherents ; even if this age 
 should not be permitted to see the great lyricist, we 
 may be sure that the future will. No one can predict 
 his coming, for the origin of song is always a 
 mystery. 
 
 " Wie in den Liiften der Sturmwind saust, 
 Man weiss nicht, von wannen er kommt und braust, 
 Wie der Quell aus verborgenen Tiefen, 
 So des Sanders Lied aus dem Innern schallt 
 Und wecket der dunklen Gefuhle Gewalt, 
 Die im Herzen wunderbar schliefen."
 
 INDEX 
 
 Arent, W., 248 
 
 Aristotle, 4, 89 
 
 Arndt, E. M., 139, 140, 186 
 
 Arnim, L. A. von, 12S, 134, 135, 
 
 147 
 Auerbach, B., 202 
 Avenarius, F., 245 
 
 Baldensperger, F., 221 
 Baumbach, R., 212 
 Beck, K., 194 
 Becker, N., 186 
 Beethoven, L. van, 125 
 Beheim, M., 37 
 Benzmann, H., 239 
 Beranger, P. J. de, 153 
 Besser, J. von, 57, 63 
 Bethge, H., 239, 260 
 Bierbaum, O. J., 254 
 Biese, A., 2, 13, 15, 62, 73, 114, 
 
 216 
 Bocklin, A., 237, 238 
 Bode, W., 91 
 Bodenstedt, F., 206 
 Bodmer, J. J., 59, 71 
 Bohme, F. M., 39, 134 
 Bohme, J., 5 1 
 Boie, H. C, TJ, 80, 83 
 Bolsche, W., 1 54 
 Borries von Miinchhausen, 258 
 Breitinger, J. J., 59 
 
 Brentano, C, 9, 128, i-^i, 135, 
 
 146, 147, 154 
 Brockes, B. H., 64, 66, 67, 69, 76, 
 
 87 
 Browning, R., 6 
 Bruinier, J. W., 38 
 Burger, G. A., 38, 60, 77, 80, 86, 
 
 87, 123, 228 
 Burns, R., 14, 25, 146, 190 
 Busse, K., 260 
 Byron, Lord, 155, 156, 159, 160, 
 
 170, 189 
 
 Canitz, R. von, 57 
 Carlyle, T., 89, 118 
 Chamisso, A. von, 138, 149, 153, 
 
 154 
 Chapelle, C. E. L., 69 
 Christen, A., 240 
 Claudius, M., 79 
 Coleridge, S. T., 7, 11, 89, 190 
 Conradi, H., 248 
 
 Dach, S., 49, 50 
 Dahn, F., 233 
 Dauthendey, M., 247, 252 
 Decius, N., 45 
 Dehmel, R., 240, 247 
 Denis, M., 85 
 Dietmar von Aist, 30 
 Dilthey, W., 7, 11
 
 262 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Dingelstedt, F., 129, 188, 191 
 Droste-Hiilshoff, A. von, 20, 22, 
 126, I2Q, 180, 198, 202, 213, 
 
 Ebner-Eschenbach, M. von, 
 
 198 
 Eckerman, J. P., 14 
 Eichendorff, J. von, 9, 129, 133, 
 
 134, 149, 153, 197, 203, 206, 
 
 214, 247 
 Eliot, G., 155 
 Evers, F., 260 
 
 Falke, G., 245 
 Fallersleben, H. von, 190 
 Feuchtersleben, E. von, 171 
 Fichte, J. G., 112, 128, 130 
 Fischart, J., 45 
 Fischer, J. G., 177 
 Fleming, P., 48, 49 
 Fontane, T., 199, 200, 231, 258, 
 
 259 
 Fouque, F. de la Motte, 173 
 Freiligrath, H. F., 129, 147, 188, 
 
 189, 201, 222, 225, 233 
 Fr^edrich von Hausen, 31 
 
 Gaudy, F. von, 1 53 
 
 Gay, J., 65 
 
 Geibel, E., 12, 147, 188, 194, 201, : 
 
 202,206,210,211,212,233 I 
 Gellert, C. F, 58, 59, 75 ' 
 
 George, S., 255, 260 \ 
 
 Gerhardt, P., 49, 79 { 
 
 Gerok, F. K. von, 179 I 
 
 Gervinus, G. G., 2 
 Gessner, S., 75 ' 
 
 Gilm, H. von, 196 
 Gleim, J. W. L., 9, 58, 69, 71, 76, 
 
 87, 142 
 
 Goedeke, K., 71 
 
 Goethe, J. W. von, i, 5, 7, 8, 9, 
 10, II, 12, 14, 16, 17, 18, 22, 
 23, 38, 39, 58, 60, 71, 73, 77, 
 86, 88 f., no, in, 112, 113, 
 114, 117, 118, 122, 126, 127, 
 134, 135) ^37, 138, 144, 146, 
 151, 155, 160, 173, 174, 179, 
 208, 214, 228 
 
 Goldsmith, O., 177 
 
 Gongora, V. A. y, 56 
 
 Gorres, J. J. von, 129, 135 
 
 Gotthelf, J., 202 
 
 Gottsched, J. C., 59, 61, 72 
 
 Gdtz, J. N., 69 
 
 Greif, M., 129, 207 
 
 Grillparzer, F., 165 
 
 Grimmelshausen, J. J. C. \'on, 49 
 
 Grosse, J., 212 
 
 Groth, K., 202, 213, 219 
 
 Grecourt, J. B. J., 69 
 
 Griin, A., 22 
 
 Gryphius, A., 49 
 
 Gummere, F. B., 10 
 
 Giinther, J. C, 62, 64, 87 
 
 Gutzkow, K., 161 
 
 H 
 
 Hadlaub, J., 35 
 
 Hafiz, 105 
 
 Hagedorn, F. von, 59, 64, 67, 
 
 69,87 
 Hahn, J. F., 77 
 Haller, A. von, 59, 66, 68, 69, 
 
 76, 87 
 Hammer-Purgstall, J. von, 105, 
 
 151 
 Hardenberg, F. von, 130, 135 
 Harsdorfer, G. P., 49, 50 
 Hart, H., 248 
 Hart, J, 248 
 Hartleben, O. E., 254 
 Hartmann von Aue, 31 
 Hartmann, M., 194 
 HauflF, W., 148
 
 INDEX 
 
 263 
 
 Hauptmann, G., 237, 238 
 
 Hausrat, A., 43 
 
 Hebbel, C. F., 7, 126, 129, 180, 
 184 
 
 Hebel, J. P., 123 
 
 Heine, H., 12, 13, 14, 16, 18, 22, 
 23, 126, 129, 133, 136, 142, 
 146, 149, 15O7 153, 154, 162, 
 165, 174, 193, 197, 203, 213, 
 214, 222, 226, 241, 246 
 
 Heinrich von Meissen, 36 
 
 Heinrich von Morungen, 31 
 
 Heinrich von Veldeke, 31 
 
 Heinsius, D., 47 
 
 Henckell, K., 248 
 
 Herder, J. G., 18, 38, 41, 59, 60, 
 74, 83, 84, 92, 129 
 
 Herrmann, W., 216 
 
 Hertz, W., 212 
 
 Herwegh, G., 129, 187, 190, 201, 
 222 
 
 Hesse, H., 257 
 
 Hettner, H., 2 
 
 Heyse, P., 12, 165, 202, 205, 212 
 
 HiUe, P., 246 
 
 HofiFmann, E. T. A., 155, 156 
 
 Hoffmann von Fallersleben, 191 
 
 Hoftnann von Hofmannswal- 
 dau, 56 
 
 Hofmannsthal, H. von, 256, 260 
 
 Holderlin, F., 118, 173. MS 
 
 Holty, L. H. C, 77, 78 
 
 Holz, A., 12, 248 
 
 Homer, 78, in, 159 
 
 Hood, T., 239 
 
 Horace, 46, 47, 65 
 
 Huch, R., 247, 253 
 
 Hugo, v., 189 
 
 Hugo von Montfort, 35 
 
 Humboldt, W. von, 112 
 
 Ibsen, H., 236 
 
 Immermann, K., 156, 162, 202 
 
 jACOBi, J. G., 70, 87 
 Jensen, W., 233 
 
 K 
 
 Kant, I., 109, no 
 Kaufmann, A., loi 
 Keller, G., 1,9, 20, 22, 123, 142, 
 
 165, 202, 206, 212, 213, 221, 
 
 227 
 Kerner, J., 142, 146 
 Kinkel, G., 194 
 Kleist, E. C. von, 76 
 Klinger, M., 237 
 Klopstock, F. G., 12, 58, 59, 61, 
 
 66, 72, 76, 77, 78, 80, 87, 97, 
 
 121, 124 
 Kbnig, U. von, 57 
 Kopisch, A., 194 
 Kbrner, C. G., 108, 109 
 Kbmer, K. T., 76, 109, 140 
 Kbster, A., 221 
 Kiihnemann, E., 84 
 Kummer, F., 2 
 Kiirenberg, 30 
 Kurz, I., 247 
 
 La Fare, C. A., 69 
 
 Lange, S. G., 73 
 
 Lassberg, J. von, 181 
 
 Legras, J., 154 
 
 Lehnerdt, A., 65 
 
 Leibl, \V., 237 
 
 Lenau, N., 22, 72, 147, 148, 165, 
 
 171, 174, 213,223, 234, 235 
 Lessing, G. E., 5, 59, 60, 68, 71, 
 
 77, 89, 127 
 Leuthold, H., 2n 
 Lichtenberger, E., 91 
 Liebermann, M., 237 
 Liliencron, D. von, i, 22, 126, 
 
 239. 241, 245, 246, 251, 252, 
 
 255. 259
 
 264 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Liliencron, R. von, 134 
 Lingg, H., 210 
 Lissauer, E., 260 
 Litzmann, B., 91 
 Logau, F. von, 55 
 Lohenstein, C. von, 56 
 Longfellov.-, H. W., 190 
 Luther, M., 43, 77 
 
 M 
 
 Mackay, J. H., 248 
 
 Marino, G., 56 
 
 Marot, C, 46, 69 
 
 Mathesius, J., 45 
 
 Matthison, F. von, 72, 124 
 
 Mayer, K., 148 
 
 Mettemich, K. L. W. voii, 170, 
 
 171, 187 
 Meyer, C. F., i, 6, 9, 20, 22, 123, 
 
 165, 202, 213,227, 245, 255 
 Meyer, R. M., 2, 12, loi 
 Miegel, A., 258 
 Miller, J. M., ^^ 
 Milton, J., 66, 74 
 Mombert, A., 260 
 Mommsen, T., 172, 214 
 Morgenstem, C, 260 
 Morike, E., i, 11, 14, 18, 20, 22, 
 
 123, 129, 142, 172, 182, 202, 
 
 206, 208, 213, 246 
 Mosen, J., 153 
 Miiller, W., 149, 153 
 Muncker, F., 72 
 Muscaiblut, 37 
 
 N 
 
 Neander, J., 54 
 Neidhart von Reuenthal, 34, 192 
 Neukirch, B., 57, 63 
 Nietzsche, F., 238, 240, 244, 249, 
 
 2 ^1 
 Nikolai, P., 45 
 Notker Balbulus, 44 
 
 Opitz, M., 47, 51, 52 
 Ossian, 84, 85, 124, 159, 173 
 Oswald von Wolkenstein, 35 
 
 Palgrave, F. T., 5, 8 
 
 Paoli, B., 198 
 
 Paris, C, 25 
 
 Parnell, T., 80 
 
 Pavilion, N., 69 
 
 Platen - Hallermiinde, A. von 
 
 126, 149, 162, 178, 188, 246 
 Pope, A., 66 
 Prior, M., 65, 80 
 Propertius, 46 
 Pruiz, R. E., 192, 201 
 Puttkamer, A. von, 241 
 Pyra, I. J., H 
 
 Ramler, K. \V., 75 
 
 Raupach, E. von, 162 
 
 Reed, E. B., 4, 8 
 
 Reinhold, K. L., 130 
 
 Reinick, R., 195 
 
 Reinmar von Hagenau, 31, 32 
 
 Reinmar von Zweter, 35 
 
 Richter. J. P., 154, 173 
 
 Rilke, R. M., 256, 260 
 
 Rinckart, M., 54 
 
 Robertson, J. G., 2, 72, 118, 217 
 
 Ronsard, P. de, 46 
 
 Roquette, O., 212 
 
 Rousseau, J. J., 60, 67 
 
 Ruckert, F., 151, 153, 162 
 
 Saar, F. von, 234 
 Sachs, H., n, 45 
 Salis-Sewis, J. G. von, 124
 
 INDEX 
 
 265 
 
 Sallet, F. von, 196 
 
 Salus, H., 252 
 
 Scaliger, 47 
 
 Schack, A. F. von, 209 
 
 Schaukal, R., 257 
 
 Schede, P., 47, 48 
 
 Scheffel, J. V. von, 212 
 
 Scheffler, J., 51 
 
 Schelling, F. E., 8 
 
 Schenkendorf, M. von, 139, 141 
 
 Scherer, W., 2 
 
 Schiller, J. F. von, i, 5, 22, 58, 
 
 60, 73, 83, loi, 104, 107 f, n8, 
 
 123, 127, 130, 138 
 Schirmer, M., 54 
 Schlegel, A. W., 127, 15; 
 Schlegel, F., 127, 130, 131 147 
 Schneckenburger, M., 18 • 
 Scholz, W. von, 260 
 Schonaich-Carolath, Prin. Emil 
 
 von, 246 
 Schonbach, A. E., 31 
 Schubart, C. F. D., 123 
 Schubert, F., 151 
 Schiicking, L., 180, 183 
 Schiitze, P., 216 
 Schwab, G., 142 
 Scott, Sir Walter, 148, 15 s, 232 
 Seidl, J. G., 166 
 Seume, J. G., 123 
 Shakespeare, W., 7, 8, 90 1 1 1 
 Shelley, P. B., 14, 240 
 Sidney, Sir Philip, 8 
 Spee, F. von, 49, 52 
 Spengler, L., 45 
 Speratus, P., 45 
 Spervogel, 30 
 Spiero, H., 2, 241 
 Spitta, K,, 197 
 Spitteler, K., 245 
 Stolberg, C. zu, 78 
 Stolberg, F. L. zu, 78 
 Storm, G., 216 
 Storm, T., i, 5, 10, 16, 20, 123, 
 
 129, 137, 142, 202, 206, 213, 
 
 214, 233, 247, 251 
 Strachwitz, M. von, 199, 23 1, 258 
 
 18 
 
 Strauss und Torney, L. von, 258 
 Sudermann, H., 237 
 Susman, M., 2, 260 
 Sylva, Carmen, 241 
 
 Tacitus, 24 
 Taine, H., 64 
 Thomson, J., 66, 76 
 Tibullus, 46 
 
 Tieck, L., 127, 131, 132, 173 
 Tiedge, C. A., 124 
 Tischbein, J. H. W., loi 
 Tolstoi, L., 236 
 Treitschke, H. von, 172 
 Trippel, A., loi 
 
 u 
 
 Uhde, F. von, 237 
 
 Uhland, L., 6, 10, 18, 123, 129, 
 
 134, 142, 150, 155, 170, 200, 
 
 209, 255 
 Usteri, J. M., 123 
 Uz, J. P., 69, 70 
 
 Vehe, M., 45 
 Verlaine, P., 249 
 Voiture, V., 69 
 Voss, J. H., 77, 78 
 
 w 
 
 Waiblinger, W., 178 
 Walther von der Vogelweide, 
 
 16, 31, 192 
 Weckherlin, G. R., 46, 48, 50 
 Weise, C, 56 
 Werner, R. M., 2
 
 266 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Werner, Z., 104 
 
 Wieland, C. M., 77 
 
 Witkop, P., 2, 7,8, II, 1 3, 15, 16, 
 
 34, 11^ 89, 113 
 Winckelmann, J. J., loi 
 Wolff, J., 212 
 Wolfram von Eschenbach, 16, 
 
 31 
 
 Wordsworth, W., 132 
 Wurzbach, W. von, 80 
 
 Zedlitz, C. von, 170 
 Zinkgref, J. W., 47 
 Zola, E., 236 
 Zweig, S., 260 
 
 Prinud at The Darien Press, Edinburgh
 
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