TY PE S O F WE LT S C H M ERZ I N GERMAN POETRY ' L R D B RA N P h D A F E U . WILH ELM , S OM ETI M E F E LLOW I N GE RMAN I C LANGUA GE S AN D U CO L U M B I A U NI V E RS I TY LITERAT RES . mmmm TH E CO LU MB I A UNIVERSITY P RES S TH E MAC MI LLAN COM PANY , A GE NT S L ONDON : MA CM I L LA N Co L TD . 1 905 A ll rig h ts reserved C OLU MBI A UNIV ERSI TY GERMANI C STU DI ES Edite d WI LLI AM C AR P ENT ER an d by H . CALVIN THOMAS V ol I . SCAN DINAVIAN INFLUENCE ON SOUT H E RN W ND S A o b u o t o LO LA C O TCH . C ntri ti n the St u dy o f the Lingu istic Re latio ns o f English an d d a a B O B F OM h D o S a . G O S P . 8v c n in vi n y E RG E T IA L , , P c ne t . a . xv ! 82 . p per , pp ri e , S M B o e a No . OS G . a G 2 IAN IN ER ANY ibli gr phy , en r l ’ Su e Ossi an s n fl u c o n K o s ock an d t he a ds rv y , I en e l p t B r . B O T R o D . 8v a . U F OM BO J P h . ! y R D L , , p p er , pp iv 1 P c . 5 7 . ri e , net T HE I NFLUENC E ' O F OLD N O RSE LITERA H B TURE UP ON EN GLIS LI TERATURE . y D H N BY o a e ! . O M O . 8v . 8 C NRA JAL AR RD , p p r , pp xi 7 P ce n e t . ri , T HE IN FLUENCE O F INDIA AND PERSIA N B AR ON T H E P OETRY OF GERMA Y . y P h . D o a e . ! 8 1 . U . M Y . 8 v T H R F . J RE , , p p r , pp xi P r c n t . i e , e V ol I I . M A C o n o 1 ST N I N G . N . LAURENCE ER E ER ANY t rib u t io n t o t he St u dy of the Lit erary Re lati ons of e u Engl and and Germany in the Eight e e nth C nt ry . D . vo a e . H R Y W R M T Y Ph . 8 By A V E A T E AN HA ER , , p p r P c ne t . ri e , 2 P O F W TS H M Z I N GE M N No . T Y ES EL C ER R A D P W M F U Ph . OET RY . By ILHEL AL RE D BRA N , 8 vo a r P ce ne t . , p p e . ri , 523 3 2 5 35 13 CO LUM B IA UNIVERSITY GERMAN I C STUD IES N OL . O . V . II II TY PE S O F WE LT S CHM ERZ I N GERM AN P OETRY A P h D WI LH ELM LFRED B RAUN , . S OM ET I M E F E LL OW I N GE RMANI C LAN GUA GES A ND U CO U B U V I Y LITERAT RES , L M IA N I ER S T j12q Park TH E CO LUM B I A UNIVERS ITY P RES S THE ACMI LLAN C M PANY GE NT M O , A S O DO : C I CO T L N N MA M LLAN L D . I 905 A ll ri g h ts reser ve d P H 1 0 C O Y RI G T , 9 5 B y TH E MACMI LLAN COMPAN Y n 1 0 Pri ted from type September . 9 5 T H E M A S O N P R E S S Y C U N E W Y O K S RA S E , R NOTE of The author this essay has attempted to make, as he him “ self phrases it a modest contribution to the natural history of c i s Welts hmerz . What goes by that name no doubt some what elusive ; one can not easily delim it and characterize it with scientific accuracy . Nevertheless the word corresponds to a fairly definite range o f psychical reactions which are Of great interest in modern poetry , especially German poetry . The phenomenon is worth studying in detail . In undertaking a study of it Mr . Braun thought, and I readily concurred in the to Opinion , that he would do best not essay an exhaustive his to tory, but select certain conspicuously interesting types and Of o proceed by the method cl se analysis , characterization and comparison . I consider his work a valuable contribution to literary scholarship . CALVI N T HO MAS . COLU M BI A N I VER I TY un e 1 0 U S , J , 9 5 PREFACE TH E work which i s presented in the following pages is intended to be a modest contribution to the natural history of c Welts hmerz . The writer has endeavored first o f all to define carefully the distinction between pessimism and Weltschmerz then to clas si f o f y the latter , both as to its origin and its forms expression , and to indicate briefly its relation to mental pathology and to contemporary social and political conditions . The three poets selected for discussion , were chosen because they represent dis ' c o o of W tin t types , under which pr bably all ther poets elt c schmerz may be classified , or to whi h they will at least be o to found anal gous ; and to the extent which such is the case , the treatise may be regarded as exhaustive . In the case of each o o f author treated , the devel pment the peculiar phase Of Welt c s hmerz characteristic Of him has been traced , and analyzed H Olderlin with reference to its various modes of expression . i s o o c o f the idealist, Lenau exhibits the pr f undly patheti side c con Welts hmerz , while Heine is its satirist . They have been s ide re d o in this rder, because they represent three progressive stages o f Weltschmerz viewed as a psychological process H Olde rli n - to naive , Lenau self conscious , Heine endeavoring c c - con eal his melan holy beneath the disguise of self irony . It i s a pleasure to tender my grateful acknowledgments to my former Professors , Calvin Thomas and William H . Carpenter Of Columbia University , and Camillo von Klenze and Starr o Willard Cutting of the University of Chicag , under whose stimulating direction and never- failing assistance my graduate studies were carried on . CO NTENTS — Chapter I Introduction — Chapter II H olde rli n — Chapter III Lenau — Chapter IV Heine — Chapter V B ibliog raphy CHAPTER I I n tro ducti on The purpose of the following study is to examine closely o f certain German authors modern times , whose lives and writ ings exemplify in an unusually striking degree that peculiar phase Of lyric feeling which has chara cterized German liter or o m o f ature , often in a more less epidemic f r , Since the days “ ” to Werther , and which , at an early period in the nineteenth “ century , was assigned the significant name Weltschmerz . of With this side Of the poet under investigation , there must o necessity be an enquiry , not nly into his writings , his expressed feelings , but also his physical and mental constitution on the on e hand , and into his theory of existence in general On the h other . Psychology and philosophy t en are the two adj acent fields into which it may become necessary to pursue the subj ect for o o o in hand , and this reas n it is nly fair to call attenti n to the difficulties whi ch surround the student Of literature in dis or o cussing philosophical ideas psychol gical phenomena . In trepid indeed would it be for him to attempt a final j udgment in ff these bearings of his subj ect , where wise men have di ered and c do tors have disagreed . m Although someti es loosely used as synonyms , it is necessary ' to note that there is a well - defin ed distin ction between Welt ‘ schmerz and pessimism . Weltschmerz may be defined as the l poetic expression of an abnormal sensitiveness of the feelings to — the m oral and physical evils and misery of existen ce a condi tion which may or may not be based upon a reasoned conviction that the sum o f human misery is greater than the sum of human i happiness . It s usually characterized also by a certain lack of - of o will energy , a sort sentimental yielding t these painful emo “ ” . of emii t tions It is therefore entirely a matter G . Pessi 2 m o o to mis , on the ther hand , purp rts be a theory of existence , the result of deliberate philosophic argument and investigation , by which i ts votaries have reached the dispassionate conclusion that there is no real good or pleasure in the world that is not clearly outweighed by evil or pain , and that therefore self c o r o i s o destru tion , at least final annihilati n the c nsummation o to dev utly be wished .