A History of German Literature
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THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES FROM THE LIBRARY OF ELI SOBEL A HISTORY OF GERMAN LITERATURE BY W. SCHERER TRANSLATED FROM THE THIRD GERMAN EDITION BY MRS. F. C. CONYBEARE EDITED BY F. MAX MULLER VOLUME II. NEW YORK CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 1895 [All rights reserved \ SRLB URL! CONTENTS OF VOL. II. CHAPTER XL The Age of Frederick the Great Frederick and the national life, i. The Seven Years' War, I. The Saxon Poets, i. Leipzig a Relations of Frederick with Gottsched and Gellert, 2. Gottsched, 3. Gellert, 8. The 'Bremer Beitrage,' 12. Rabener, 13. Zachana, 14. Elias Schlegel, 15. Younger dramatists, Cronegk and Brawe, 16. Christian Felix Weisse, and the Operetta, 16. Revival of German popular song, 18. Zurich and Berlin 19 Bodmer and Breitinger, 22. Frederick the Great, 24. Poets in Halle, 28. Poets in Berlin, 29. Klopstock, 30. Ewald von Kleist, 38. Salomon Gessner, 39. Wieland, 40. Leasing 47 First period (to 1755), 47. Connection with Voltaire, 49. 'Miss Sara Samson,' 52. Second pen'od (to 1772), 53. Seven Years' War, 54. Gleim's War Songs, 54. Foreign popular poetry and ' ballads, 55. The Litteraturbriefe,' 58. 'Minna von Barnhelm,' 69. German Novels, 61. Revival of Classical influence. 62. Winckel- ' mann 67. Lessing's Laokoon, 65. The Hamburgische Dramaturgic,' 67. The Antiquarian letters, 69. 'Emilia Galotti,' 71. Third period ' (to 1 781), 72. Theological controversy, 75. Nathan der Weise,' 77. Herder and Goethe 82 Essays on 'German style and art,' and the literary revolution, 82. Justus Moser, 83. J. G. Hamann, 85. Herder, 86. Goethe's youth (to 1775), 91. Herder's influence on Goethe, 94. 'Gotz,' 96. Other poems, 99. Religious and moral development, 102. Werther, 107. German letter- writing, no. vi Contents FACE the The Literary Revolution and Illuminati . .114 Dramatists of the Storm and Stress Period, Lenz, Klinger, Wagner, Maler Miiller, Torring, 115: Schiller, 116. Gbttingen brotherhood, 119 : Boie, Miller, Holty. The Stol bergs, 120. Voss, 121. Burger, 122. Revival of early German poetry, 123. Herder's Storm and Stress period, 124. Lavater, Jung Stilling, Claudius, 126. Fritz ' Jacobi, 127. Heinse, 128. Wieland at Weimar, 129. Oberon,' 131. ' Lessing, Lichtenberg and Nicolai, 1 32. Frederick the Great's De la literature Allemande,' 132. Berlin, 133. Moses Mendelssohn, 135. ' Kant, 136. Herder's Ideen,' 139. CHAPTER XII. Weimar 142 Goethe at the Wartburg, 142. Anna Amalia and Karl August, 143. Goethe's Masque for Dec. 18, 1818, 144. Goethe 145 Official work, and court life in Weimar, 145. Frau von Stein, 146. Scientific studies, 148. Edition of his early works, 150. 'Egmont,' ' 151. Iphigenie,' 152. 'Tasso,' 156. Poems written at Weimar, 158. Travels, 161. Goethe's Italian journey, 162. Studies in physics, 16.^. Views on Art, 164. Christiane Vulpius, 166. Roman Elegies, 167. Schiller and Goethe .-.'.. 170 ' ' The Horen,' 172. Xenien,' 173. Goethe as director of the Court Theatre, 174. His dramatic writings, 179. 'Natural Daughter,' 179. 'Wilhelm Meister,' 181. Tales, 186. 'Alexis und Dora,' 187. 'Hermann und Dorothea,' 187. 'Achilleis,' 194. Ballads, 195. Social Songs, 196. Allegorical Dramas, 197. Schiller -.-... 199 Youthful poems, 200. 'Don Carlos,' 201. Political opinions, 203. ' Philosophy and History, 204. Poems, 206. Dramas, 208. Wallen- ' stein,' 208. 'Maria Stuart,' 215. Maid of Orleans,' 218. 'Bride of ' Messina,' 220. Wilhelm Tell,' 224. 'Demetrius,' 228. CHAPTER XIII. Romanticism 229 Poet-families, 229. Storm and Stress, 230. Classical taste, 230. Romanticism, 230. Science 231 German prose, 231. Literary women, 232. Philosophy, 233. Mathematics and Natural Philosophy, 235. Cosmology and Alex- of Volume II. vii PAGE ander von Humboldt, 236. Wilhelm von Humboldt and the Science of Man. 238. Theology, 241. Philology and History, 243. (Critical spirit, comparative method, 244. Historical method, 245. History, 24;. Philology, 247.) The older Romantic school, 248. Tieck, 249. A. W. Schlegel. 250. Fr. Schlegel, 251. Later Romantic School, 2 = 2. Arnim and Brentano, 252. Gorres, 252. Jacob and Wilhelm Giimm, 253. Uhland, 255. Goethe, 256. Lyric Poetry 259 School of Hagedorn, 259. School of Haller, 259. Matthisson, 260. Hb'lderlin, 261. Poetry in local dialects, 262. Hebel, 262. Usteri, 263. Older romantic school, 263. Novalis, 263. Tieck, 264. The Patriotic Collin v. Schlegels, 264. poetry, 265. Arnim ; ; H. Schenkendorf Riickert Kleist; Fouque; ; Stagemann ; ; Korner, 265. E. M. Arndt, 266. The Swabian school, 2' 8. Justinus Kerner. 269. Uhland, 269. North Germans, Chamisso, Eichen- dorff, Wilhelm Miiller, 271. Goethe, 272. (' Westostlicher Divan," ' 273. Trilogie der Leidenschaft,' 275.) Riickert, 275. Platen, 277. ' Heinrich Heine, 278. Reisebilder' 280. Songs set to music, Franz Schubert, 281. Narrative writing .......... 282 Epics, 282. Novels, 283. Semi- Historical, 284. Classical and chivalrous Novels, 285. Ghost Stories, 287. Didactic Novels, 287. Novels of domestic life, 288. Satirical and humorous romances, 289. Hippel, 289. Jean Paul, 290. Tales, 293. H. v. Kleist, 295. Arnim, Fouque, Chamisso, 295. Hoffmann, 296. Eichendorff. 297. Goethe, 297. Wilhelm Meister,' 297. 'Wahlverwandschaften,' 298. The Drama 301 Goethe, 301. 'Pandora,' 302. Korner, Ohlenschlager, Zacharias Werner, 303. The' P'ate-tragedies,' 304. Historical plays, 305. Platen, 306. Kleist, ?o6. Drama in Vienna, 310. Grillparzer, 312. Ferdinand Raimund, 314. 'Faust, '316. History of the legend, 316. Popular Drama of Faust, 317. Treatment of the Faust Legend by Lessing and others, 318. First part of Goethe's Faust, 319* Analysis of Faust, 320. Second part, 323. Metre and style, 326. Gretchen, 327. Helena, 330. Male characters, 331. Mephisto, 332. Faust, 332. APPENDIX 337 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE 337 BIBLIOGRAPHICAL 1 APPENDIX SK**?*) INDEX 405 CHAPTER XI. THE AGE OF FREDERICK THE GREAT. FREDERICK THE GREAT reigned from 1740 to 1786. When he Gottsched was the writer when he began to reign leading German ; died Goethe was preparing for his Italian journey, and was just completing his 'Iphigenie.' This interval of forty-six years is a period of unparalleled literary and aesthetic progress, the rather held aloof from and though personally king progre ss in the movement, yet his home and foreign policy contri- Frederick's rei sn > buted powerfully to its advancement. Everywhere \ve , /. - . , 1740-1786. his influence s find traces of ; everywhere men eyes were fixed upon one, who could so stir their minds and stimulate their zeal, who could incite other rulers to follow his example, and awaken even the admiration of his enemies. The rise of modern German literature is connected with the Seven Years' War, just as the rise of Middle High-German chivalrous poetry was connected with the first Italian campaigns of Frederick Barbarossa. Poets were to be found among the officers of the Prussian king just as among the knightly followers of the old emperor. And though Frederick the Great gathered French writers around him, and had no great confidence in Frederick's the literary powers of his own people, yet the very French, tastes, annoyance which this caused them was but a new incitement to exert their powers to the utmost, and prove to the King that he was mistaken in his judgment. A small group of Saxon poets alone remained unaffected either directly or indirectly by Frederick's influence; but these very poets were in point of taste most akin to him, for their culture, like was derived from the it its his, chiefly French ; owed characteristic features to that phase of German taste which had been inaugurated VOL. II. B 2 The Age of Frederick the Great. [Ch. xi. under Frederick's grandfather, and which had subsequently diffused The itself more and more. It was in Prussia that French Leipzig Classicism first found a sympathetic reception, and poets. Prussians like Wernicke and Gottsched were its most devoted apostles; but it was in Leipzig that it established its head-quarters. LEIPZIG. During the Seven Years' War Frederick the Great paid repeated Relations of visits to Leipzig, and did not neglect the opportunity Frederick o f acquainting himself a little with the state of contem- oraneous German sent for the two Pro- Gottsched P poetry. He and fessors. Gottsched and Gellert ; the former he received G-eilert. On October 15, 1757, the latter on December 18, 1760. Gottsched he frequently saw after this; Gellert too received a friendly invitation to come again, but never availed himself of it. ' Gottsched read him his translation of Racine's Iphige"nie/ but the king was not much impressed by it. Gellert was made to recite ' one of his fables, and this gained the Royal favour. That is ' he said to beautiful there is such a lilt beautiful,' Gellert, very ; about it so was Coulantes I can understand all that but there (' '), ; " was Gottsched now, who read me his translation of Iphigenie," and though I had the French in my hand at the same time, I could not understand a word. They also brought another poet to me, ' one Pietsch, but I dismissed him.' Your majesty,' answered ' Gellert, him I also dismiss.' We remember that Gottsched de- clared this very Pietsch, his teacher, to be the greatest poet of the eighteenth century. ' When Gellert was gone, Frederick remarked, That is quite a different man from Gottsched.' And the next day at table he called him the most sensible among all the German scholars. Three years before this, the king had written a French poem to Gottsched, in which he eulogized him as the Saxon swan, and assigned to him the task of founding the literary reputation of Germany. Gottsched hastened to have these verses published and translated into several European languages. But when they appeared among the king's collected works, they bore the inscrip- ch. xi.] Leipzig. 3 ' tion : Au Sieur Gellert.' The author had meanwhile altered the address. The German public agreed with their great king in thinking Gellert quite a different man from Gottsched.