Poets As Heroes of Epic and Dramatic Works in German Literature

Poets as Heroes of Epic and Dramatic Works in German Literature Author(s): Allen Wilson Porterfield Source: Modern Philology,
Vol. 12, No. 2 (Jun., 1914), pp. 65-99 Published by: The University of Chicago Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/433033 . Accessed: 24/12/2013 10:00
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ModernPhilology
VOLUME
XII
Yune 1914
NUMBER 2
POETS AS HEROES OF EPIC AND DRAMATIC WORKS IN GERMAN LITERATURE In 1790, Goethe's Schriften appeared at Leipzig, publishedby Georg JoachimG6schen. The sixth volume contained Tasso, ein Schauspiel and Lila. A. W. Schlegel reviewed these in the Gotvongelehrten Sachenin the number ofJune12, 1790. tingsche Anzeigen ConcerningTasso Schlegelsaid, among otherthings: Die Idee,denCharakter eineswirklichen Dichters zumGegenstande der dichterischen zu machen, hatso etwas undauffallend Darstellung Natiirliches dass man sich wundern benutzt zu Anlockendes, muss,sie nichthaufiger finden. So wieein Dichter am fahigsten Andern wie ist,einem auszulegen, er ofteinendichterischen der Andern Zug mitlebendigem auffasst, Geffihl nurverworrene so wird erauchtiefer wiesich Ahndungen erregt, ergriinden, in einerDichterseele die Triebezartin einander feiner weben, belauschen, wie da die Regung sich allmihlig zur That bildet; hiebey vorausgesetzt, dassderDichter, dessen Charakter werden eingew6hndargestellt soll,nicht licher Mensch imLeben Beschaffenheit seines Genies sey; dassdieindividuelle sich auch in Eigenthiimlichkeiten der Denkartund Lebensweise iussere. Dies war gewiss eines [bei]TorquatoTasso, den Goethezur Hauptperson Grade jetzt zumerstenmal gedruckten Schauspiels gemacht hat,in hohem derFall. Schlegel then shows how Goethe not only gave a faithful pictureof Tasso's character, but also alluded to certainof his poems as well as to various episodes in his life,episodes related by Tasso's best and most recent biographer,Serassi, whom Goethe followed,and not related by one of his otherbiographers, Manso, whom Goethe did
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1 The various editors and critics of Tasso simply look upon it as a historical drama and pass over the idea of the poetization of the poet. Kuno Fischer alone, in his monograph, Goethes Tasso, discusses the theme indirectly as follows: "Wenn Henrik Ibsen einen Torquato Tasso geschrieben hatte, so wilrde er bemtiht gewesen sein, das Elend und die Leiden des italienischen Dichters nach der Natur abzuschildern: wir wUirden seinen Tasso als bettelhaften Flichtling in abgerissenen Kleidern, als Melancholikus in den Anwandlungen des Wahnsinns und zuletzt unter Wehklagen in der Zelle des Annen: hospitals erblicken. Ich wundere mich, dass sich Ibsen bis jetzt diesen lockenden Gegenstand versagt hat." 2 There are, at present, four monographs that bear on this subject, as follows: Richard Ackermann, Lord Byron. Sein Leben, seine Werke,sein Einfluss auf die deutsche Litteratur(Heidelberg, 1901, 188 pages); Paul Weiglin, Gutzkows und Laubes Literaturdramen (Berlin, 1910, 173 pages); Amalie Zabel, Lutherdramen des beginnenden 17. in Jahrhundepts(Miinchen, 1911, 68 pages); Paul Riesenfeld, Heinrich von Ofterdingen der deutschenLiteratur (Berlin, 1912, 359 pages). All of these pay but little attention as heroes historical characters and to the poets' side of the case; they look upon their attempt to point out the relation of the epic or drama to the actual life of the poet treated. The most modern novels by Molo, Stilgebauer, and Ginzkey, on Schiller, Heine, Walther von der Vogelweide, respectively, will naturally receive conventional reviews.
not follow. He says also that Tasso will not be appropriateforthe stage, since the abundance of finedetails and Attican urbanityof on the reader,while the absence language will make an impression of striking sceneswill not move the spectator. Though thereare more than two hundredinstancesin which a German poet has, in good faith,made anotherpoet of German or othernationality a speaking characterin an epic or dramaticwork, if not the leading r6le, and and has given him or her an important thougha numberof these antedate 1789, Goethe's Tasso is the first workin a long list of worksof this sort,while Schlegel's important to Tasso, and criticism, naturallythe firstof its kind withreference of kind in first its the enough, possibly general,has, significantly remainedalso on(e of the last.1 Since, then, the dramatizingand is manifestly a themereplete ofpoets in Germanliterature novelizing with possibilities, and since the themehas fared such a Cinderelladiscussion likefate2 a brief, at thehandsof investigators, introductory the works in of it, witha fairlycompletecatalogue of question,can hardlybe unwelcome. For the retaliatory good of human kind,it occasionallyhappens forexample,the judge to go to jail, that the wormturns,compelling, else to hearsomeone the preacher preach,and the poet to be poetized between the retroactive by a brotherin Apollo. The difference is essentially of less afflatus happeningto the poet and his brethren one of time: theymustbe utilizedwhilestillamongmen; he, on the novelizedor dramatizeduntil buried cannot be effectively contrary,
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out of sightof men. Karl von Holtei did, to be sure,writeto Jean Paul in 1823, two years beforethe death of the author of Titan, base a comedyon his lifeand works. As was askinghimifhe might to be expected,the plan died in infancy. In fact,all durable epics and dramas,and nearlyall lyrics, thatuse otherpoetsas characters, have been written afterthe death of the poets in question,and generallynot untilhoarytime has woven its irrefutable legendsaround those mortalcruditiesand realitiesthat so tenaciously clingto the but are so of the dead. And those fewlyrics living kindlyforgotten that have been written on livingpoets,aside from occasionaleffusions oftheBerlin-Jena Romanticschool,are oftenof subby themembers ordinate sometimes and scornful in tone,somemerit, satiric, sarcastic, timesin the mannerof the memorable Xenien and Invectiven. It is, of course,quite commonforthe poet to addresshis poem to another poet and therebygive it a title; but this does not mean that the poem treats the addressee. Goethe's list of poems An Personenis long; and among these persons we find various poets (Schiller, Herder, Iffland,Gotter, Carlyle), but they are addressedto these people only as a letteron some extraneousmattermighthave been addressedto them. The death of a poet, however, usuallyprovokesimmediate lyric laudation fromhis contemporaries in the muse. The livingpoet is moved by the goingaway of his friend and givesvent to his feelings in lyricform. Was thereindeed ever an instancein German literature when the death of a poet failed to evoke at least one poem on his lifeand death? Writing poemson the death of poets became a sort of pastime with Emanuel Geibel. The poet is, in the very nature of the case, extremely sensitiveto, and capable of,emotion, and death fans emotion,for emotion means full of life. Wilhelm Milller, Chamisso, Heine, even Zedlitz and Meissner, wrote real poetryon the death of Lord Byron. There is still anotherphase of the matter: German poets have written frequently poemson poetslongsincedead. In 1832,Immermann introducedWolframvon Eschenbach, Dante, and Novalis into his Merlin. In 1826, Goethe wrotehis peculiarpoem entitled "Bei Betrachtung von SchillersSchidel." The poem is typical,in one way, of manyofthoseattempts to conjureup the spirits of those
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of long ago in that it has next to nothingto do with its title-hero. At the close of the poem Goethemakesthe onlypoint that he wished to make, namely,that all matteris eventuallydissolved into spirit survives. But the master at and that only the spirit-begotten the dead was WilhelmSchlegel. He wrote many poems exhuming on poets of centuriesago-Luther, Paul Flemming, Shakespeare, and the late mediaeval Italian and Spanish poets. But what theirworksand then Schlegeldid was to read thesepoetsand criticize in verse ratherthan prose,so that it would be at couch his criticism and creative. In Dante, forexample,he saw the author once critical of a great work that fathomedand proclaimedthe meaningof the universefromhigh to low. This impressedSchlegel and he condensed his ideas so that he could expressthem in a single sonnet, if not poetic,in content. In short, in formand instructive, perfect abounds in poemsthat owe theirinitialinspiration Germanliterature to the lives and worksof otherpoets in whom theirauthors were interested at the time of composition. To read the completeworks of Riickert, quantitativelyGermany's greatest lyric writer,and course Paul Heyse alone would be equivalentto takingan incoherent so many poems have theywritten on the on comparativeliterature, membersof their fraternity. The subject can, however,not be treated here in detail owing to the wealthI of materialand its irwordedas this themeis. relevancy, Poets as heroesofGermanepics are, aside fromthe abundance of theme. In the firstplace, from material,an uncommonly grateful in thebeginning Ruodlieb to Molo's Schiller now,the epic has been the mostread and the least studiedof the threemain forms of literature, so that thereis more reason forresearch. Also, accordingto Aristotle,an epic mustbe on a greatand noble theme; it mustbe one in itself. Since it is audacious to attemptto refute who would Aristotle, dare suggestthat an immortal be made the poet cannotconsistently heroof an epic just as well as a notorious or a noted citiindividual, zen of any calling,or a beautiful an or illustrious woman, general,or an anointedking,or a legendary born of person poetic imagination, or a god the outgrowth of folk-fancy? When one considersAris1 It is rather peculiar that R. M. Werner, in his book of 638 pages on Lyrik und Lyriker, never touches this phase of the matter. He tabulates no fewer than 256 different kinds of lyrics without a word about poetry or poets.
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the propriety totle's definition, of the poet in the epic becomesultraevident. And aside fromAristotle, the epic is a matterof objective narrationso that the authorhas a rare opportunity to set forth the lifeof his,in the verynatureofthe case, interesting hero. To begin at the beginning, Gottfried von Strassburgwrote his Tristan und Isolde about 1215. We have in this epic a striking of poets as characters,thoughnot as example of the introduction speaking ones. In chapter eight,' "Tristans Schwertleite,"Gottfried leaves his love-lornpair and poetizes five poets. Of these, Hartmann der Ouwaere,Steinahe Bliker,diu von der Vogelweide were then living; von Veldeken Heinrichand diu von Hagenouwe weredead. blush this appeals to us as an interruption At first and therefore seems inexcusable. What should we think,for example, of Klopstock,ifhe had stoppedin the middleof his Messias and givenus his personal opinion as to the real and relative worthof the worksof Bodmer and Breitinger, Gottschedand Gellert,and Hagedorn? It does not,of course,suffice to say that as timegoes on thearchitecture of books improves. It was a common custom among mediaeval and thisinstancein Gottpoets to discussotherpoets in theirworks, friedis one of the happiest. There is nothing or otherwise digressive about it. Gottfried tells how Tristan dressed culpatory up forhis He a dubbing. gives superbpicture, thougha briefone, of Tristan's to say anything morefortwo courage and costume,and thenrefuses reasons: so muchhas been said on thissubject2 and thereare others3 who can do it, or could have done it, so much betterthan he. The
1 L1. 4619-4818. 2 L1. 4614-18: jA ritterlichiuzierheit diu ist s6 manege wis beschriben und ist mit rede als6 zertriben daz ich niht kan gereden dar abe, d& von kein herze fr6ude habe. Noch ist der vArwaere m6r: von Steinahe Blikr diu siniu wort sint lussam. si worhten frouwen an der ram von golde und ouch von siden, man mohte s' undersniden, mit kriecheschen borten.
a L1. 4689-95:
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entirechapter,when read in its properconnection, does not give the a in of not the choice of words. impression digression,certainly is Tristan,forexample, richlydighted. And then we hear, concerning Hartmann von Aue, that he uses pure crystal words, woven like flowers when wiselyset and statefully together arranged. And in words. It is Blickervon Steinachis also spoken of as a vdrwaere and embellishment, the language of embroidery whetherdescribing Tristan's wardrobe or Hagenau's vocabulary. There are many other passages in Middle High German where poets are poetized, though not always favorably; indeed, in this same work Wolfram forhis unclearand diffusive style. Whether gets a fewside thrusts the Romanticiststook theircue in this respectfromtheirforbears of six hundred yearsago is not certain. That it would be but a short from introduction in the thirdpersonto introduction in the first step is plain. person perfectly Tieck publishedhis DichterAnd then,to leap over six centuries, in 1829. The leading charactersof the first eine Novelle,1 leben, part are Robert Green and ChristophMarlowe; the leading characterof the second part is William Shakespeare. Tieck was admirablypreof Shakepared forsuch a work. He had supervisedthe translation from speare'splays and had had themperformed. His publicreadings Shakespeare,duringhis stay in Dresden from1819 to 1840,attracted thousandsof visitors. He was one of the first criticsto insistupon historical ones and the dividingthe plays into two classes,the diffuse to claimthat there ones,just as he was also the first precisemythical all of theman unbroken runs throughout thread of irony. He had, in life to make his indeed,planned early magnum opus a definitive of to findthe timeforsuch a study Shakespeare. Unable, however, instead,in whichhe elevated the poet to study,he wroteDichterleben the vertiginous heightof seershipand named him Shakespeare. It his beliefthat a poet is a seer and that Shakewas, namely, lifelong was of the speare greatest seers.
1 Some of the less important characters of both parts are: Thomas Nash, Gabriel Harvey, George Peele, Thomas Lodge, Surrey, the members of Shakespeare's family, and Philip Henslow. The works of various poets are discussed: Chaucer, Spenser, Lyly, Sidney. Of fictitious characters, there are but few, possibly none. Arthington, Coppinger, Haket, the Count of Southampton, Professor Cuffe, Camden, Smith, Wilton, Baptista, Ellis, and the Squire of Eschentown could, in all probability, be run down.
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is long,' FriedrichKummer2gives Though Tieck's Dichterleben the plot in thirty-five words as follows: "Die jungen kraftgenialen Dramatiker des ElisabetischenZeitalters,ChristophMarlowe und Green gehen trotz ihrer Genialitaitzu Grunde, im Gegensatz zu Shakespeare, der als Mensch wie als Dichter ein harmonisches seiner Seelen- und Geisteskriifte behauptet." Brief, Gleichgewicht not too brief. The plot of Sophocles' but,so faras plot is concerned, Oedipus Rex can be told just as briefly. In some worksthe plot is and requires time to tell; witness some of the recent everything "best sellers." In othersit is merely a sortof markgivingthenames of sender and receiverand indicatingthe nature of the contents. workswere written Many such plotlessbut much-importing by the Romanticists. The storyopens in an inn. Marlowe and Greenare talkingand drinking. A culturednobleman,not a poet, joins them,for "wer sichnichtselbstals Dichterzeigenkann,der wirdwenigstens dadurch wenn er die Werke edler Geister versteht und liebt." It geadelt, means muchto an ordinary mortalto talk witha livingpoet. Marlowe is not so certainof this, but the noblemanassures him of his for" wo haben wirnur etwas Aehnliches, wie Eure Uebersetmerits, des Ovid oder des macht unsere Musius? Ihr zung Sprache erst dass sie der die T6ne miindig, Kraft,Bedeutsamkeitund Tiefe lieblich aussprechen lernt. Eure Lieder sind zart und wohllautend, Eure Trag6diendonnernd, und in allem, was Ihr dichtet,regiert ein Sturm der der uns auch ein wider unsern Leidenschaft, Ungestiim, Willen in fremdeRegionen hiniiberreisst, was mir eben das wahre Kennzeicheneines echtenDichters zu sein scheint." The book abounds in memoranda poetica. We are told how it is a for born to be impossible poet only a local patriot; why exotic themesfrequently have an attractionthat native ones do not; why satire is the shortest-lived of all kindsof literature. Then Henslow and the poets throwradiantlight, puts in a plea forthe playwright in reply,on the Englishstage in the year 1600. And the wholetown is thrownin an uproarby a play, Romeoand Juliet, by one of Henslow's comedians,"ein gewisser Shakespeare." Let him who is bold
1 There are 223 pages in the work as edited by Heinrich Welti in the Cotta edition.
2 Deutsche Literaturgeschichte des neunzehntenJahrhunderts, p. 117.
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search forbettercriticism of this play than that given by Marlowe to Green in Tieck's Dichterleben.And let both the bold and the of Shakespeare's plays on trepidsearch for more readable criticism in the secondpart ofthisstory. the wholethanthosegivenby himself to the plot,let no one hope fora morerarified refutal And, to return of the venerablethesis that poetic genius and moral insolvencygo hand in hand than Tieck has givenin his portrayal of Shakespeare's character. He had a thornyroad to travel. When he came to SchuckelLondon,the punsterscalled him Shikkebue, Schicksalbhr, and bier, Schicklichbhr, Schichklaspir, Scheckigsper, Schiittelspeer, so on, but to all such tauntshe was dumb. Coils and traps wereset for him, but he eithergracefully walked around them, or, if into forthe good of his thanklessconthem,he poetized his experience and the undyingdelightof all posterity. He loathed temporaries his own mean charactersand loved his amiable ones. Nothingwas made, everything grew. In her CorinneMadame de Stail said: " I learned lifefrombooks." Tieck did too and this one shows it. That is, however,nothingagainst Dichterleben.Some men experience real episodes,othersfanciful ones-books, for example; Tieck latter the class. to belonged In 1912 Siegfried Krebs publishedhis AugustDaniel vonBinzer, oder das Ende der Romantik, ein Roman, with a motto fromHans Brandenburgabout having one's laughinghead drunk with one's own blood. There are no invented characters. The leading ones are Binzer,his fianceeEmilie von Gerschau,Jean Paul, Gustav von Parthei,and Schleiermacher. Practicallyall of the Romanticpoets are at least referred and philosophers to. The time is from1819 to the outbreakof the cholera in Berlin and the consequentdeath of and is as follows: Hegel in 1831. The plot is important The Herzoginvon Kurland and her three daughtersgive,in the summerof 1819, one of theirannual house-parties at theircountryin Ldbichau this in time ofJeanPaul. honor place, Sachsen-Altenburg, to get him,but he comesaftermuch persuasion, It has been difficult with his poodle, in untidyattire,incessantly talking,and under the influence of alcohol all the day. It is a big affair: a hundredbeds have been arrangedfor the guests. Tiedge, of Urania fame, and Schink, the author of Faust, are there. Theodor Korner used to
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1 August Daniel, Freiherr von Binzer, born May 30, 1793, at Kiel, died March 20, 1868, at Neisse. The son of a cultured Danish major-general, he was blessed with gifts and graces. Musically talented, the author of at least two famous poems, "Wir hatten
come. The hero of the occasion, however,is August Daniel von of RomantiBinzer,a man withouta willbut withmuchknowledge a book cismand some promise. It is said, namely,that he is writing that will be epoch-making. The heroineof the occasion is Emilie von Gerschau, adopted daughter of the Herzogin von Sagan, an eighteen-year-old girl of half Russian parentage and unwholesome attraction. The peopleamusethemselves skat,discussing by playing is not invited, Paul. and fun of Jean Cupid Romanticism, making but he comes and starts an affair betweenBinzer and Emilie. All oppose it on the groundthat it would clip Binzer's poetic wingsand that Emilie is anythingbut steady. They all tryto persuade him that she was intended but to no avail. They fora man withmoney, becomemoreor less husbandand wife. Schleiermacher is consulted, but it is difficult to get him to oppose such unconventionality.The unmarried couple have theirtroubles. She fearsthat she is keeping his book; he assuresher that he does not intendto himfrom writing writea book. But worstof all theyneed money,and need it badly and at once. Binzer does some hackwork, writessome articlesfor an encyclopedia,but that is slow. Emilie has a better plan: she entersinto a scheme for the counterfeiting of money-but is duly in Then the cholera breaks placed out, people become more jail. considerate of humanneeds,and Binzergets a positionin a chemical laboratory. When Emilie has done her time, Binzer takes her to his so-calledhome,and now theyneed moneyworsethan ever. To secure this, he steals a valuable platinumpot fromthe laboratory and pawnsit. Whenthe theft is discovered, the policeand the populace stormhis house. Parthei is among them to renderlast aid to his old friend, but when theyforcethe door, they findtwo suicides on the ottoman. lying Told in this cold, curtway, that seems like a sterileplot; but it is onlythe skeletonof the work. Dress it up withthe flesh of a lifeblood of trenchant,though frestory and the complexion-giving and we get a ratherreadable romance. observations, quentlyerratic, The troublewithit all is, Krebs has givena mostdistorted pictureof his heroand heroine. Each' was just the oppositeof what we have
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here. Nothing so "romantic" was ever writtenby the orthodox Romanticists. If Krebs wished to lay emphasis on the subtitle, "Das Ende der Romantik,"then Hoffmann, or Werner, or Grabbe, or Waiblingerwould have suited his purpose much better. And if he wishedto write"Das Ende einesromantischen Lebens," he should have said so and done so. The novelizing and dramatizing of poets by Germanpoets is unquestionably becomingfashionable. But woe to the children of the muse iftheyare all to be treatedas Krebs' has treated Binzer! A work more untrueto life is, in all probability, not to be foundin the appended catalogue. When we come to the drama, this whole subject becomes more suggestive, skepticalthoughwe may be about the availabilityof the poet for the stage. The drama is a matterof action superinduced a conflict. Unendowedpersons by dual claimsultimately provoking lead a conflictless and the other life, way around. A poet is a man and giftsmean collisionof interests. Think of the conflicts of gifts, in Goethe's life and the renunciatory spiritthat acted as a sort of deus ex machinain theirsolution! E. T. A. Hoffmann was a man of and his works it. show split talents, Throughout nearlyall of them thereruns a motive of irrepressible conflict betweenlife and art, a as real and irritating conflict as ever existedbetweenthe party of Brutus and the partyofCassius, so thatBrentanowas led to speak of Hoffmann's great dramaticability. What does this mean? Hoffmann never even starteda drama. It means that Hoffmann himself had to fight such a perpetualstruggle betweenthe real and the imaginativethingsof lifethat his charactersmove in two diametrically opposite worlds. All great poets are torn by this contrast betweenthe real and the unreal. We are told by an eminent authorto ruleone's own spiritthan it does ity that it requiresmorestrength to take a city. Poets do not take cities; theydo, or do not, conquer
gebauet ein stattliches Haus," and "Stosst an, Jena soil leben," for the latter of which he also wrote the music, Binzer lived an eminently respectable life. He edited for a while Die Zeitung fir die elegante Welt, was coeditor of the Augsburger Allgemeine Zeitung, translated Franklin's Autobiography, and part of Young's Night Thoughts. His favorite poet-friendwas Zedlitz. His wife, Emilie von Gerschau, was also a woman of talent and character. With her assistance he wrote three volumes of tales and novelettes. I In response to inquiry, Herr Krebs very kindly informed the writer that he did not try to portray the historical Binzer at all, and that, in view of Binzer's personality, his novel was not a happy way to solve the problem he had in mind.
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theirown spirits. Melpomeneshould therefore feel kindlydisposed toward the devotees of Apollo Musagetes, whetherthey operate activelyor retroactively. But so far as the passive spectatoris conof the poetic conflict is big withdifficulties. cerned,the dramatizing The superiority of the psychicas over against the physicalstruggle is manifest;but the mind'seye is often blindeven to things that are, so eminently in themselves, worthbeholding. Dramaticallyspeaking, Goethe has neverwon the real stage withhis Tasso, possiblythe ofthe dramasappended. mostnoteworthy One thing, Tasso is certain: Goethe was not however, concerning simplypoetizinga poet in the abstract,and poetry; he was fundain the affairs interested of his title-hero. Had he not been, mentally he would undoubtedlyhave named his characters, as he did in Die Der Die natiirliche Tochter, simply Herzog, Prinzessin,Die Grifin, Der Dichter,Der Secretar. A good deal has been written about the betweenthe man ofaffairs and the man offancyin thiswork, conflict but the conflict betweenTasso and the Princess,as broughtout in the second act, is the most importantphase of this drama. Also, we know that Goethe did not simplyread, or peruse,Serassi's biogand utilizedit as fullyas his theme raphy; he studied it carefully would permit. In short,Goethe was interested in the Italian poet is with an that most he and, originality refreshing, showedthisinterest by his drama. Thereis reasonableness in A. W. Schlegel'sunique observation. The drama mostsimilar to Goethe'sTasso' is Grillparzer's Sappho, in threeweeksin 1817,performed written in 1818,publishedin 1819, in the thirdeditionin 1822,soon translated into Danish, French, and English,and at least threetimesparodied. Again we have the conflict between the poet creating and the poet living and loving. Though Grillparzerplainly intended to dramatize not only the Sappho of two and a halfthousandyearsago, about whomwe know but also a just a littlemore than Novalis knew about Ofterdingen, woman in the abstract who happened to be a poet, it is a vote in favorof thissubject to learnthat the first thinghe did afterDr. Joel
1Concerning Tasso, Grillparzer said: "Felsenfest wurde meine Liebe ftir Goethen durch Tasso'n. Konnte diese Dichternatur dem Dichter fremdsein ? Ich selbst glaubte es zu sein, der als Tasso sprach, handelte, liebte."
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the themeto himwas to read Sappho's poems,one ofwhich suggested in his drama. he freely and incorporated translated here shows us the of greatness Grillparzer disparaging obligations in particular. We are reminded in generaland of poeticexaltedness of Annettevon Droste, who said, in substance,that everysyllableof herveins. We are assuredby an induherversemeanta drop from bitable authoritythat the bay, though an unvenal embellishment in theeye oftheburgher, is a thorn in theflesh ofits qualified wearer: thelifeofthegreat, dull it excludeshim,and ten timesmoreher,from majority. We are made to see that mortalsneverare at ease when and that immortalscannot taste, not even sip among immortals, of the life of mortals. Royalty bowed beforethis with immunity, poetess and her every look was declinatory;this poetess bowed and commonalty beforecommonalty, turnedaway and to its own. in a concordant lifeand consonancemust not Taste is indispensable failin mating. WhateverGrillparzer may have wishedto say in this it could,nevertheless, drama about the malheur be called d'etre porte, the song of songs of harmony. All of whichmakes delightful readthe but others see for can the and feel the ing poeticallyinclined; in Sappho's soul? And a drama withouta visible conflict conflict is like a novel without any sort of story. On May 6, 1884, therewas performed forthe first time,in the in Hoftheater "TrauerHannover, Christoph Marlow, K6nigliches in vier von Ernst von Wildenbruch." Akten, spiel Marlowe, Ben and Jonson,Green, Peele, Lodge, Nash, Shakespeareare the poetcharacters. Sir Thomas Walsingham, Francis Archer, and Henslow are some of the othercharacterseasy to locate. The first two acts the last two in London. This is an intake place in Cambridge, teresting, though improbable,tragedy of poetic megalomania. It failed on the stage, some say because the critics came offso ill. That may have helped; but thereare otherreasonspatent to anyone. Though the spectatoris regaled with the troublesof people real even in name, he is asked to believein the consistency of action a more is bit be than to in found dramas confessedly probable just basis. This is what takes place: on a fairy resting is brought Marlowe,the poorson ofa poorfather, up in the home of Sir Thomas Walsingham, with whose daughter, Leonore,he falls
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in love, and she with him. Tired of home-madeglory,Marlowe hispoetryhas made himfamous, runsaway, joins thenavy,and, after is, according to rumor,killed in an engagementat sea. But he returnshome,only to findLeonore,in accordancewith her father's wish,engagedto a steady sort of person,Francis Archer. Marlowe wins back her love and persuadesher to run away withhim, which act of filial does not survive. In London they indiscretion the father attenda performance ofa newplay,Romeoand Juliet, by an unknown author. The critics ascribe the wonderfulcreation to Marlowe. This misdirected him against everybodythat he praise so embitters curses everybody, includingLeonore, who, he thinks,admires only the poet in him. News of the death of her father, and the asinine of her cause Leonore to swoon. Marlowe is ravings poet-lover about to look up, and ifpossibleannihilate thisShakespearewho has so fatallyinterfered with his leadershipamong poets. But Francis Archer arrives on the scene, a duel ensues, Marlowe is mortally wounded and dies, resigned to his fate, in Leonore's arms with Shakespeare standing by his side repeatingOphelia's words: "Oh what a noble mind is hereo'erthrown!" While the plot of this drama is queer, though some of these thingsactually happened,Marlowe's characteris impossible. It is to be doubted whethera poet ever seriouslydramatized a more absurdly conceited character than Wildenbruch'sMarlowe. Just one specimenof his ravingsmustsuffice. He once had a vision; he was in Elysium: Wiese, .... Und aufdieser Da wandelten, wieGotter anzuschau'n, Homeros unddie grossen Dichter alle, Die je derMenschheit trunkenes Ohrentziickt. Und als zu ihnen Marlow Christoph trat, Da bebtedas Elysische Gefilde, Da wandten sichdie heil'gen Hdiupter alle, Da streckten alle Arme sichnachmir!1 It is a pity that Wildenbruchdid not more conscientiously performhis gratefultask. Marlowe was, at the time of his Tamburlaine, Jew of Malta, and Edward II, easily England's firstpoet,
1Act II,
scene vii.
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Shakespeare not excepted. But the Marlowe of Tieck, who gave Wildenbruch his initial inspiration,is the more interestingand reasonable of the two-except for those who take sheer delightin the improbable. his HeinrichvonKleist,ein In 1891,Wilhelmvon Polenz finished Kleist and Fouqu6, the other The are Trauerspiel. poet-characters historicalcharactersare Adam Miiller, of Abendbldtter fame, HenrietteVogel, and her husband. The scene is laid in Berlin,the time is fromOctober18, 1811,to November11 ofthesame year-which is forNovember21. The drama is in prose,there possiblya misprint are fourAkte,thoughthe fourthis divided into two Aufziigewith nine scenes in the first and threein the latter. With the exception in the eleventhhour,to Marianne of Kleist's tentativeengagement, of man and the a who was once a good bricklayer Paltzow, daughter who is now a retired, boorishPhilistine of Berlin,the rich,stuck-up, thingsthat happenare nearlythosetold by Kleist's biographers. Kleist is livingin a wretchedpension in Berlin,the managerof which,Frau Bartels,would like to get rid of her boarderbecause he does nothingbut sleep, talk to himself, and postpone the payment of his debts. Adam Muillerand Fouqu6 visit him, lend him some money,and tryto put him on his feetgenerally. Kleist balks; life is a lie, death is the truth. Then Adam Muillerintroduces him to the Paltzow family, the fatherof whichlooks upon himas a shabby the Paltzows, fool; but the fact that he is knownat Court interests so Marianne becomes more or less engaged to him,when Henriette reminds Kleist of his back promise, and the WannVogel interrupts, see tragedyensues. Anotherchange rung on the misfortune of being a poet. The ones above discussedbecame famouswhileliving; the tributespaid to Kleist were posthumous; his dramas wereplayed and applauded afterhis death. The question has been raised: Who killedKleistGoetheor Kant ? This drama elaboratesthethesisthat the German critics,sick over Germany'sdegradationbroughton by Napoleon's blood-shedding hosts, paid for the pistol that shot the life out of Kleist at Wannsee. This is the perpetualtheme. In Act I, scene comesto seize Kleist's property fordebts,and we read viii, the officer the following:
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Das hierStossPapiere Exekutor emporhebend): (einen Kleist: Sind Manuskripte!Wertlos,vdllig wertlos-wie ihm die Kritik Mann. deutsche erkliren guter wird, Stoss legend): Und das hier? einen anderen Hand auf Exekutor (die von HomKohlhaas-Penthesilea-Prinz Kleist: Drucksachen.Michael TheaterMakulatur! FrageEr nurdie deutschen burg. Makulatur-alles mandafiir bietet. wieviel direktoren, ? Exekutor:Alsoalleswertlos mir'sdenn meinguter Mann. Schrieb Kleist: Wertlos, alles wertlos, und neulich erstCotta,als er mirmein"Kathchen"zuriickschickte: nicht ihr doch brave der muss es wohl seht Leute, wissen.-Also, seht-Cotta, zu holenist. Ihr habt mirzuvielzugetraut; nun ein,dass bei mirnichts die guteMeinung. dankimfibrigen ffir thalerin all. To the initiated, And then Fouque paid the bill, fifty this drama' will prove thoroughly enjoyable; to the others,it will at least instructive. prove not so muchthis or any otherof these worksthat It is, however, is instructive;it is the development of the entire"movement" that as a whole. throwslight on the developmentof German literature A glanceat the subjoinedlistshowsthat therehave been eightrather distinctperiods duringwhich the writingof epics and dramas on turn: (1) During the Middle Ages it was poets took a ratherdistinct commonforthe poet to step aside and discussanotherpoet. This is possiblyowingto the fact that the mediaeval Germanpoet was not particularlyanxious about being original; er sang gern nach der Weisevondemund dem. (2) From 1525 to 1625, MartinLutherwas, forevidentreasons,more poetizedthan anyoneelse. (3) From 1625 to 1765, there was a break in this matter;those were also gloomy yearsfor Germanliteratureas whole. (4) From 1765 to 1800, the influence of the Romanticists, negative and positive,became apparent. That Goethe wrotehis Tasso in 1789 is no mere accident; to
Of this drama, Adolf Bartels says: "Ich halte es fiirunm~iglich, Heinrich von Kleist auf die Btihne zu bringen, so sicher er eine echt tragische Gestalt ist, nur etwa im Roman, eher vielleicht noch durch ein fingiertes Tagebuch were es, wie ich glaube, miglich, den Charakter des ungliicklichen Dichters und die Seelenzustinde, die seinem Selbstmorde vorangingen, dichterisch darzustellen. Ganz ungeschickt ist Polenz' Drama jedoch nicht, jedenfalls der Beste unter den mancherlei Versuchen, die den Stoff behandeln." In a different vein Adolf Stern says of this drama: "Dieser Kleist mit allen wilden Hohnphrasen der Schopenhauerschen Philosophie und den wilden Zornausbrtichen der letzten Weltilberwindung ist ein moderner Poet im engsten und unerfreulichstenWortsinn und hat mit unserem grossen Dichter wenig gemeinsam."
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the poets of that time,the poet was the mostreal of men. (5) From 1800 to 1825, such works were producedin great abundance, and, the late mediaeval Romance the lead of the Romanticists, following utilized. (6) From 1825 to 1850, Gerwriters weremost frequently lack of a was in a mostpeculiarcondition; indecision, man literature fixedtype or tendency, characterized the age. The poets of Young of purpose. RauGermanyalone wrotewithmoreor less singleness shortstoryon Moliere,Laube's pach's tragedyon Tasso, Sternberg's on Goethe, all in novel on Byron, and Bettina's epistolaryeffort to 1880, these From 1850 the lack of 1835, argue solidarity. (7) the majority in works to be produced greatnumbers, began literary of themwritten by minorpoets on major ones. (8) And lastly,from the with Bleibtreu'sByron-dramas, 1880 to the present,beginning a become has and of literary plainly novelizing dramatizing poets fad in Germany. been a It has indeed always, witha few conspicuousexceptions, fad in Germany; a surveyof these worksbringsout, namely,some peculiar facts. All told, the poetization of poets, though it has Hoffattracted some of the greatestwriters-Goethe, Grillparzer, smallest mann, Ludwig, Wildenbruch-has attracted many of the ones-Deinhardstein,Henle,Henzen,Knigge,Schaden. The dramas UeberCharakoutnumber the epics. Accordingto Hofmannsthal's tere in Roman und im Drama, ein imagindresGesprdchzwischen in whichtheformer defends Balzac und Hammer-Gurgwall (Purgstall), the epic as over against the drama, on the groundthat the great is not contrapuntal Katastrophe, thingin lifeas well as in literature but elaboratedSchicksal,this is unfortunate. Despite the possible seriousnessof the plan, comediesfrequently occur wherewe should least expect them; Schiller'sand Platen's lives were not comic,yet comedies have been based on them. There is frequentmanifestation of group psychologyin letters,a theorythat certainlyholds based an epic or drama on good forGermany: as soon as one writer the lifeof another,anotherepic or drama on the same writersoon followed. Some are rigidlytrue, some wholly untrue to life. A that one's goodly numberof the works here listed are so inferior if would be one were read them to unhappiness abysmal obliged forreading'ssake. And theyare verynumerous.
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morenumerousin Germanythan in They are, in all probability, three reasons: (1) From about 1770 to about England or France for 1870, the Germanswere enormousreadersand writers, translators, and assimilators; theybecame acquainted withmany poets. They studiedtheirkind,whether native or foreign, ancient,mediaeval,or was first a modern. Tieck, for example, student then a poet of Shakespeare. It is, however,not probable that the French during thesesame years made such a carefulstudyof the poets and poetry of England and Germany, just as it is not probablethat the Englishman duringthese years made such a carefulstudy of the poets and poetry of Germany and France. We know that the translations of English and Frenchinto Germanare numerous and frequently of those while from German into or order, high French, English,are, witha fewbeacon-likeexceptions, of subordinatemerit. (2) There were the Romanticists. They did not write for the real stage; the world. But theirimmediate theyshiedat theboardsthatsignify the offspring, Young Germans, reacted; theystroveto reunite poetry and lifeon the stage,to reconcile the poet and poetryand dramatics, the actor. And, journalistically inclinedas they were, they tried to make their poets speak to the world fromthe stage as froma the poet in the first pulpit or lecturn. To do this,they introduced and the efforts of Gutzkow and Laube and theirimitators person, cannot be said to have been total failures. France had also, to be workedalong different lines. sure,La jeune France,but its adherents withouta similarmovement. (3) Also, GerEngland was entirely man poets, introspective as they are-and retroaction is born of concerned themselves introspection-havedoggedlyand persistently with the problemsof the human heart. They have cared fortheir colleagues. One Germanpoet has tried to see the soul of another, and the resultof his effort has been a creativeworkbased on the subexamined. That one ject poet should use anotherpoet as a theme so far as is, pietygoes,rightand proper. It is the retroactive featureof this themethat makes it at once attractiveand difficult.There are ramifications withoutend' and
1 There are two phases of this theme that call especially for detailed study: (a) A well-introduced and carefully annotated collection of about three hundred poems on German poets and poetry would constitute at once an instructive chrestomathy and a pleasing anthology. German literature abounds in such poems as Goethe's "Gedichte
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subdivisionswithoutnumber. When one poet writesa biography of another,as Wilbrandtdid withKleist and Hdlderlinand Reuter, and Gustav Schwab with Schiller,and Karl Gutzkow with B6rne, he makes, in a sense, a poet his hero. When a poet retouchesan old chap-book,as Goethe did withFaust and Tieck withGenoveva, he does,in a sense,the same thing, forthesebooks,thoughownerless, are not authorless. When one poet writesa letterto anotherand discussesstill a third,he frequently does the same thing. When a an epic,as Arnimdid withSchildrama within poet puts a historical ler's Maria Stuart in his Hollins Liebeleben, or a drama withina in his own as E. A. did with LJutner drama, Shakespeare's Othello he the same The can be Othellos does that Erfolg, thing. changes as sermons on the Sermon rungon the themeare almostas numerous on the Mount. Schillerwrotehis HuldigungderKunsteand Goethe his Maskenziige. All branchesof art showthisboomerang tendency. Painters give us theirself-portraits with palette in hand and easel beforethem. And when Philipp Veit painted his "Einfiihrungder Overand Friedrich Kiinstein Deutschlanddurchdas Christentum," beck his "Triumph der Religion in den Kiinsten," they painted painting. In actuality Mendelssohnwas workingalong the same line when he wrotehis wordlesssongs and Hugo von Hofmannsthal was following suit when he wrotehis Kiinstler-Drama on "Der Tod des Tizian." There are, in short, a numberof Muses, graciousand it is to inspirethe gifted whoselofty mission creatures, graceful along variouslinesofartistic endeavor. And each ofthesehas,in turn, been and chiseledand paintedand sung,composedand danced and framed it in each case dependingupon whether her devotee was mimicked, an architect or a sculptoror a follower of some otherbranchof art.
sind gemalte Fensterscheiben," Schiller's "Teilung der Erde," Marie von Eschenbach's "Ein kleines Lied, wie geht's nur an," Justinus Kerner's "Poesie ist tiefes Schmerzen," poems in which a poet has graciously consented to tell us, who are not poets, precisely what a poem is like, whence it comes, how it disports itself, and where it is supposed to go. In 1854, Freiligrath published a booklet entitled Dichtung und Dichter, containing "was Dichtermund fiber andere Poeten gesungen." This is, of course, out of date. And in 1888, Adolf Stern published his Die Musik in der deutschenDichtung, a collection of German poems on music and musicians. The collection is interesting,but it concerns only musicians and their art. (b) A monograph on oppositional literature to German Romanticism would throw radiant light on the most comprehensive movement in German literature. The study would discuss such creations as Kotzebue's Esel, Arndt's Storch,Tieck's Waldeinsamkeit,Blomberg's Confunculus,and so on. This has never been done. To throw light on the dark side of a question is to make the bright side effulgent.
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In compilingthe list of worksin question,then,the processof an interesting selectionoffers place, the very difficulty.In the first "hero"-terms so terms "poet," "epic," "drama," "literature," to the initiated-are generallymore or less relaclear, apparently, tive and at times decidedly vague. Were Luther, Beaumarchais, and Ulrich von Hutten "poets"? And what should we do with such instances as Byron in Goethe's Faust or JustinusKerner in ? What should be said of such triple Immermann'sMiinchhausen alliancesas Cyranode Bergerac,Rostand,and Fulda ? What should be done where the poet makes anotherpoet a hero, but only as a human, historical character? Is Else Rema's Voltaires Geliebte, ein Lebensbild(1913), a novel or a biography? Other and similar questionsarise. The most expeditiousway to get at the matteris to exclude all artist-works, unless they also introduce poets,' all autobiographies, biographies, borrowings,criticisms direct and implied, editions with introductions, imitations,letters, operatic librettos, except Wagner's Musik-Dramen, obituaryeulogies,stagewhether adaptations,and translations fantastic, free,or literalthat concernpoets and emanate fromGermanpoets, and adhere to the plan imposedby the titleof thispaper. But since this would eliminate some worksthat indirectly a list belonghere,let us arrangefirst ofmiscellaneous epicsand dramas,and thenthosethatunquestionably fitinto the scheme. MISCELLANEOUS von Strassburg:Tristan 1215-Gottfried und Isolt. Lines 4619 to 4818 treatHartmann derOuwaere, Steinahe Heinrich vonVeldeken, Blikkr, diuvonderVogelweide, anddiuvonHagenouwe, with indirect reference to Wolfram vonEschenbach. 1216-87 (ca.)-Anonymous: Der Wartburgkrieg. Unknown author (or introduces Heinrich von Ofterdingen, von derVogelauthors) Walther von Eisenach, Biterolf weide, Heinrichder tugendhafte Schreiber,
1 There would, to be sure, be but little point in classifying all German epics and dramas according to whether the leading character is a lawyer, a physician, a doctor, and so on through the entire list of human occupations. That would result in a series of studies too much like Franz Leppmann's Kater Murr und seine Sippe (Mtinchen, 1908). But to pick out for separate treatment those creative works that introduce other poets who also wrote creative works is an entirely different matter. There are countless monographs on historical characters such as Richard II, Wallenstein, Maria Stuart, and so on; why not have one, or a number, on such historical characters as Calderon, Goethe, Voltaire, Kleist ? Why not study theiravailability for epic and dramatic treatment?
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auf der Reinmar von Zweter,and Klingsohr. The title,"Siingerkrieg the fashion Wartburg,"has been given the workby later editors,after of "Der Heiland." 1325 (ca.)-Hugo von Trimberg: Der Renner,a didactic poem of 24,611 verses,afterthe fashionof the English CursorMundi (1320, ca.). The who said: "Renner ist ditz buoch workderivedits titlefrom Trimberg, durchdie lant." Introduces"Her Walther wanneez soll rennen genant, swerdes vergezeder tate mirleide," and Heinrich von der Vogelweide, von Morungen,Der Windsbecke,Reinmar von Zweter, Conrad von von Eschenbach,Vergil,Juvenal,Seneca, Marner,Wolfram Wiirzburg, St. Augustin, Socrates, Aristotle, Terence,Ovid, Freidank,St. Gregory, Demosthenes,Pliny, Hippocrates, Esop, Cicero, Donatus, as well as such as "Barlaam und Josaphat." various storiesof wide circulation, Sometimesthe writersare simply quoted, sometimestheir works are the most frequently. discussed. Freidankis mentioned aus seinenLiederngezogen. A longpoem 1776-Lenz: Petrarch, ein Gedicht in threecantos in whichPetrarch'slifeand worksare reviewed. des frommen Helden Aeneas, 1783-Johannes Aloys Blumauer: Abenteuer oder VirgilsAeneis travestiert. 1783-J. A. Blumauer: Prologzu HerrnNicolais neuester Reisebeschreibung. 1788-Ignaz Aurelius Fessler: Sidney, ein Trauerspielin drei Aufziigen. his drama Fessler was a Hungarian historian, and, in all probability, treatsSidney the general,not Sidney the author. 1798-Wilhelm Schlegel: "Die Sprachen. Ein Gesprich fiberKlopstocks Gespriche." The openingarticle,and one of the best, grammatische is carriedon among: Poesie, Gramin the Athendum. A conversation matik,Deutscher,Franzose, Grieche,Deutschheit,Englander,R6mer, Italianer, Grille. Hans Sachsens vorstellend einesaltenHolzschnittes, 1808-Goethe: Erkldrung in written earlier. Sendung. Appeared 1808, thoughcertainly poetische The idea of Sendungwas suggestedto Goethe by Wieland in 1776. 1810-Kleist: Michael Kohlhaas. IntroducesMartin Luther. 1814-Fr. J. H., Reichsgrafvon Soden: Das Bild von Albrecht Diirer, Schauspielin dreiAkten. Scottund Byron,eine Erzdhlung. 1820 (ca.)-E. T. A. Hoffmann: Walter eine Erzahlung. Both 1820 (ca.)-E. T. A. Hoffmann: Zacharias Werner, neitherreallyintroduces worksare sectionsfromthe Serapionsbriider; the poets as active characters. his1822-J. H. A. von Schaden: Jacob Callot,genannt derFratzenmahler, torisch, romantisch, phantastisch Original-Gruppenspiel. bei 1824-Moritz Thieme: Der kleineCornelius Nepos, Spiel fiirdie Jugend festlichen Gelegenheiten. 84
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in drei 1825-J. N. A. von Schaden: MozartsTod, ein Original-Trauerspiel, Akten. 1825-Adam Weise: Guido, LehrlingAlbrecht Diirers,eine Ich-Erzdihlung aus dem 16. Jahrhundert. eine Novelle. Revolves around a performance 1825 (ca.)-Hauff: Othello, allusionsto Shakespeare'sOthello. of Rossini's Otellowithfrequent Mann im 1826 (ca.)-Hauff: Der Monde, oderder Zug des Herzensist des of Clauren's MimiliSchicksalsStimme, vonH. Clauren. A satirization Manier. H. Claurenund denMann im Monde. A itber 1827-Hauff: Controverspredigt of Clauren in answerto the chargesbroughtby him satirization poetic against Hauff for misusinghis name in the Mann im Monde. Many otherpoets are discussed by way of contrastwithClauren: Jean Paul, Tieck, Schiller,Scott, and Vergil,Tasso, Homer, Novalis, Hoffmann, Goethe. orderHundstagein 1827-G. K. R. Herlossohn (Herloss): Der Luftballon Schilda. On Clauren. The situationis much the same as with Hauff. In 1827, Herloss published his novel Emmy under the name of H. Clauren; thenhe wroteagainst Clauren the dramaticsatireherelisted. 1828-Karl von Holtei: Lenore, Schauspiel mit Gesang in drei Akten. a librettoon Meyerbeersuggestedto Holtei the possibilityof writing the Lenore. Holtei and interwove also the changed plan Biirger's von Taubenhain. The important motivesof Die Pfarrerstochter charactersare: Pastor Buirger, ein jungerPredigeraus der NachbarGiinther, schaft,Lenore,and Wilhelm. The time is 1761. der Metrikumhertaumelnde 1829-Immermann: Der im Irrgarten Cavalier, eine literarische Trag6die. On Platen. das vielen 1830-Waiblinger: Drei Tage in der Unterwelt.Ein Schriftchen, ein Anstossseynwird,und besseranonymherauskdme. An idea of the numberand names of the poets whom Waiblingermeets in the lower world can be gottenfromthis paragraph: "Da schrie's,von welcher Profession? Romantiker, TiekiOrientalist, G6thianer,Schlegelianer, Rationalaner, Rossinianer, Weberianer, Mozartianer, Supranaturalist, ist, Schleiermacherianer, Schellingianer, Kantianer,Fichtianer? und so bis mirdie Ohrensaustenund ich Ungliickseliger fort und fort, am Ende nichtsmehrals Yaner und Yaner h6rte." 1832-Gutzkow: Hamlet in Wittenberg, dramatischePhantasie in drei Scenen. The leadingcharacters are: Hamlet,Horatio,Faust, Mephistopheles,Ophelia. 1832-Karl von Holtei: Githe'sTodtenfeier.A dramadividedintoAbtheilall taken fromGoethe's own ungen. There are about forty characters, list of createdcharacters. 85
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ein Roman. The following 1834-Eichendorff: Dichterund ihre Gesellen, poets are discussedor in some way introduced: Shakespeare,Goethe, himself. Mozart, Cervantes,Sebastian Brant, Tasso, and Eichendorff in fiinf dramatisches His Krieg den Philistern, could Abenteuern Mdrchen be put in the same class. Die Poeten,Die 1836-Laube: Das junge Europa, Roman in dreiBiichern, Krieger,Die Biirger. A numberof people carryon a correspondence. In thefirst are discussed. Uhland, part,"Die Poeten," poetsand poetry Shakespeare,Tasso, Goethe,Le Sage, Sterne,Clauren,Camoens,Heine, Scott, B6rne, Rousseau, Herder, Schlegel, Champollion, A. H. L. Heeren, Raupach, Kotzebue, Hugo, Byron, and Wilhelm Mtillerand theirworksformthe basis of the correspondence. 1838-Gutzkow: Gitter,Helden, Don Quixote. Under the firstheading, Gutzkowdiscussesin peculiar,semi-creative fashion, Shelley,Buechner, Grabbe; under the second, W. Schadow, Fr. von Raumer, Rehfues, Immermann, Varnhagen, Leo, Diesterweg, Heine, Mundt, Laube, Schlesier; under the third, Minckwitz, Joel Jacoby, F. A. Lbffler, HenrikSteffens. in einem 1839-Ignaz Franz Castelli: Raphael, Lustspielin Alexandrinern Akt. in Arabesken. Immereine Geschichte 1839-Immermann: Miinchhausen, mannintroduces "der bekannteSchriftsteller Immermann"as a regular character. 1849-Anastasius Griin: Pfaff vom Kahlenberg, Gedicht. In a ldndliches vague way, Grtinhas treatedNeidhartvon Reuenthal. 1855-M6rike: Mozart auf der Reise nach Prag, eine Novelle. Introduces also Mozart's librettists. indirectly 1855-Hebbel: MichaelAngelo, ein Drama in zweiAkten. Artist-characters are also Raphael, Bramante,Sangallo. 1859-F. M. von Bodenstedt: Das Festspielzur Schillerfeier. 1860 (ca.)-Heribert Rau: Mozart,ein biographischer Roman. 1871-C. F. Meyer: Huttens letzte in Versen. Tage. Erzdihlung 1882-Armin Stein: Georg Friedrich Hdndel, ein Kiinstlerleben."Was Poesie an meinemBuichlein ist,ist nurdie Form,der Inhalt ist wirkliche Geschichte." 1884-Wilhelm Henzen: UlrichvonHutten, ein Drama. 1887-Ed. Alex. Ldutner: Othellos Erfolg. Schwank in einem Aufzug. Based on Shakespeare'sdrama; a certainactor plays the r6le. Shakespeare is not a speakingcharacter. 1888-Helene Bohlau: Ratsmddelgeschichten. Based on membersof the Weimar circlein the days of Goethe and Schiller. 86
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1895-Georg Hirschfeld: Damon Kleist,eineNovelle. Though Kleist is not a speakingcharacter, this is a true poetizationof him. 1907-Svend Leopold: Goethes Katze, ein Roman. Goethe and Napoleon are the human characters. The work was suggestedto Leopold by E. T. A. Hoffmann'sKater Murr. It was translated into German in 1908. Kulturbild 1912-Karl S6hle: SebastianBach in Arnstadt, ein musikalisches A new edition. aus demAnfangdes 18. Jahrhunderts. PURELY LITERARY EPICS AND DRAMAS
Lutherischen Narrenwie in Doctor 1522-Thomas Murner: Von demgrossen in Murner beschworen etc. Written rhymedcouplets. "Murner hat, sah in der gewaltigen Bewegung, die Luther entfesselthatte, den Umsturz des Bestehenden und in Luther den geftihrlichen Catilina oder den 'grossenlutherischen Narren.'" 1523-Hans Sachs: Die Wittenbergisch Nachtigall. Long poem on Luther. 1560-Hans Sachs: Esopues, der Fabeldichter, ein kuerczweillig Spiel mit8 Personen. 1593-Zacharias Rivander: Lutherus eine neweComoediavonder Redivivus, langenund ergerlichen Disputationbeyder LehrevomAbendmahl. 1600-Andreas Hartmann: ErsterTeil des CurriculiVitaeLutheri. "Hartmann beginnteine dramatischeBiographieLuthers. .... Er war der in ein Drama zu bringen versuchte." Erste, der diesen Stoff 1602-Christian Schoen: Der kleineCatechismus des heiligenMans Gottes HerrnDoctoris MartiniLutheri, Reimweise heiliger Gedi~chtniss. verfasst. 1613-Martin Rinckhart: Der Eisslebische Christliche eine neweund Ritter, Geistliche Comoedia,etc. "Rinckhart wollte in sieben Stiicken sch6ne die Geschichte Luthers und der Reformation darstellen. Erschienen sind nur drei davon, ausserdemist ein ganz kleines Bruchstiick eines viertenerhalten." 1617-Heinrich Kielmann: Tetzelocramia, eine lustigeKom6die,etc. "Er erstzum Schluss an Luthers stelltTetzels Ablasshandeldar und kniipft Wirkenan." 1617-Balthasar Voidius: Echo Jubilaei Lutherani. Eine Comedia. "Es kam Voidius darauf an, Luther in der Glorie des Jubilirers zu zeigen, und dadurch wird die Ernsthaftigkeit seines Kampfes gegen den Papst und somitdie eigentlich dramatischeHandlung von vornherein beeintrichtigt." 1617-Heinrich Hirtzwig: Lutherus, ein Drama. In Latin. "Sein 'lutherus' umfasst den ganzen Riesenstoff. Das Drama beginnt mit Luthers und endet mit seinemTode." Berufungnach Wittenberg 87
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1618-Martin Rinckhart: Indulgentiarius ConfususoderEislebischeMansetc. Really the thirdin Rinckhart'sintended Jubel-Comoedia, feldische series; the second did not appear. 1624-Andreas Hartmann: LutherusRedivivus, eine Comoedia. "Nur ein des erstenTeils." Wiederabdruck 1625-Martin Rinckhart: MonetariusSeditiosussive Incendia Rusticorum Bellica, etc. "Es erschien1625, hundertJahrenach dem Bauernkrieg, den es zum Gegenstandehat." On Luther. oder der parodierteCato, ein 1765-Johann Jokob Bodmer: Gottsched, in Versen. "Bodmer hat fast alle Grdsseren Trauerspiel spatererZeit: Lessing, Gleim, J. G. Jacobi,Gerstenberg, Herder,Voss, Biirger,Stolberg satirischangegriffen." 1773-Goethe: Gbtter,Helden und Wieland. Eine Farce. The poetcharactersare Wieland and Euripides and the characterscreated by them,especiallythose of Wieland (Alceste,Admet). 1774-Goethe: Clavigo, ein Trauerspiel in filnf Akten. On Clavijo y Fajardo and PierreAugustinCaron de Beaumarchais. 1775-Lenz: Pandaemonium are eine Skizze. Poet-characters germanicum, Goethe, Hagedorn, Lenz, Lafontaine, Molibre, Rousseau, Rabener, Rabelais und Skarron,Klotz, Chaulien und Chapelle, Wieland,Jacobi, and Klopstock. Weisse,Michaelis,Schmid, Lessing,Herder, Shakespeare, am AbendseinerApotheose, 1775-Lenz: Voltaire ein Drama. 1787-Schiller: Korners Vormittag, Scherz. K6rner and ein dramatischer Schillerare two of the characters. 1789-Goethe: TorquatoTasso, ein Schauspiel. 1790-Kotzebue: Dr. Bahrdtmitdereisernen Union Stirn,oderdie deutsche Zimmermann. Kotzebue this under work impudently gegen published the name of Adolph Freiherr von Knigge. The characters are Bahrdt, LichtenBiester,Gedike,Biisching, Campe, Trapp, Boie, Klockenbring, berg,Nicolai, KAstner, Hippel, Leuchsenring. 1793-Franz Alexander von Kleist: Sappho, ein dramatischesGedicht. Kleist is related to Ewald and Heinrich. Grillparzer made some use of this drama forhis own workof like name. 1793-Johann JosephHuber: Sappho, ein Melodrama. 1799-Kotzebue: Der hyperboreische Esel, oder die heutigeBildung. A lampoon on the Berlin-Jena Romanticists, especially FriedrichSchlegel and Novalis. Kotzebue satirized frequently the writersof his day. Die deutschen is a diatribeagainst Romanticism in a sense. Kleinstddter Wilhelm und Triumphbogen 1800-August Schlegel: Ehrenpforte fiurden vonKotzebuebei seinergehofften Riickkehr ins VaterTheaterprdsidenten land. Mit Musik. Really the replyto Kotzebue's Esel. 88
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1801-Novalis: Heinrich von Ofterdingen, ein Roman. (Ofterdingenis looked upon, in this paper, as a historicalcharacter. There is more evidence that such a poet actually lived than there is against the assumption.) 1801-Joachim Perinet: Mozart und Schikaneder, ein illustrirtes Gesprach der Zauberflote.In Knittelversen. iiberdie Auffiihrung und zugleichein Vor1803-Kotzebue: Expectorationen.Ein Kunstwerk characters are: der zum Alarcos. The Grosse; Falck, der GBthe, spiel Kleine; A. W. Schlegel,der Wiltende; Fr. Schlegel,der Rasende. 1805-Karl Anton Gruber,Edler von Grubenfels: TorquatoTasso, Drama in Prosa. Gedichtin 1806-Engeline Christine Westphalen: Petrarca,dramatisches Akten. fiinf 1806-Sophie Mereau: Sappho und Phaon, oderder Sturzvon Leukate,ein Roman nach demEnglischen. in 1807-Georg Ludwig Peter Sievers: LessingsSchddel,Original-Lustspiel dreiAufziigen. oderdie Weiheder Kraft. 1807-Zacharias Werner: MartinLuther, und sein Ascher: Rousseau zu 1809-Saul Sohn, oder der Selbstm6rder Familienroman. ein Ermenonville, 1809-E. T. A. Hoffmann: Ritter Gluck. Short story. Characters are ideas of music. Gluck died Gluck and Hoffmann. Gives Hoffmann's in 1787. 1812-Christian Friedrich Rassmann: Paul Gerhard, eine dramatische Poesie. 1814-Zacharias Werner: Die Weihe der Unkraft, zur ein Ergdnzungsblatt deutschen Haustafel. On Martin Luther. 1814-Joseph August Eckschlager: Sappho, ein Melodrama. 1816-Johann Ludwig Ferdinand Deinhardstein: Boccaccio, dramatisches in zwei Aktern."Deinhardsteinwar einer der Hauptbegriinder Gedicht des sog. 'Kiinstlerdramas,' der Literaturund welchesPers6nlichkeiten in dramatischer Situationvorzuffihren sucht." DeinKunstgeschichte hardsteinalso wrote dramas on Salvator Rosa, Stradella, and David Garrick. 1816-F. W. Gubitz: Sappho, ein Monodrama, in Musik gesetzt von B. A. Weber. 1816-Adam Gottlob Oehlenschliger: Correggio,Trauerspiel in fiinf Akten. Retained here because of its great influence on later KiinstlerDramen. 1817-Heinrich Schorch: LuthersEntscheidung, nebst Vorwort und einem in vierAkten. Gedicht Prolog. Dramatisches 89
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bei Gadebusch, dramatisches Gedicht in einemAkt. das Gefecht Reise ins 1818-J. N. A. von Schaden: Dr. Martin Luthers geheimnissvolle Original-Novelle. Kloster, Augustiner Melodrama. On Sappho. 1818-Anonymous: Seppherl, in filnf 1818-Grillparzer: Sappho, Trauerspiel Aufziegen. 1819-J. N. A. von Schaden: Die moderneSappho. Ein musikalischohneSinn und Verstand. dramatisches Durcheinander,
von Schaden: Theodor Kdrners 1817-Johann Adolph Nepomuk Tod,oder
Der Kampfder Sanger,one sectionof the 1819-E. T. A. Hoffmann: The are: Wolfframb von EschinSerapions-Briider. poet-characters von Zwekhstein, Reinhard Heinrich von derVogelweid, bach,Walther and Heinrich Johannes von Ofterdingen, Bitterolff, Schreiber, Buirger is 1208. ze Eisenach. The time on thisdrama. thousand ofaboutfive words a criticism wrote
in fiinfAufzilgen. Heine 1819-Wilhelm Smets: Tassos Tod, Trauerspiel Drama in vierAkten. 1819-Georg D6ring: Cervantes, 1819-E. T. A. Hoffmann: Das Frdulein von Scudery,eine Erzdhlung.
de Scud6ry a longlistofworks, Madeleine some (1607-1701) published she too introduced other in which an assumed under name, poets. In ou le grand herhistorical Cyrus novel,Artambne, (1650),she speaksof Cousindiscovered as Sappho. Victor the complete herself keyto all hercharacters.
in Algier, Schauspielin fiinf 1820-Christoph Kuffner: Cervantes Aufzilgen. in fiinfAufziigen. 1821-Immermann: Petrarca,Trauerspiel in dreyAufz~gen. Gedicht 1823-Ludwig Halirsch: Petrarca,dramatisches 1825-Tieck: Das Fest zu Kenelworth. Prolog zum Dichterleben.On the eine Comadiein einemAkte. 1825-George D6ring: Gellert, ein Schauauf der Wartburg, 1825-Christoph Kuffner: Die Minnesanger
boyShakespeare.
1827-Alexis: Schloss ThomasOtwayas ein Roman. Introduces Avalon, character.Alexis'indebtedness an important to Scottis wellknown. Scottlikewise introduced (or discussed) poetsin hisnovels: Chaucer, in Peveril and Cotton in ofthe Cowley, Waller, Peak,and Shakespeare
Kenilworth.
aus dem 1826-B. S. Ingemann: Tassos Befreiung, Gedicht, ein dramatisches vonHans Gardhausen, miteinerpoetischen iibersetzt Einleitung Ddnischen vonFouque. 1826 (ca.)-Wilhelm Blumenhagen: LuthersRing, oderdie Fingerzeige des Himmels,eine Erzdhlung. The storybeginsin the year 1551.
characters are: OttovonVeldek, vonder Walter spiel. The significant and Heinrich von Ofterdingen. Vogelweide,
90
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als Clauren,ain 1827-Henriette Clauren: Die Familie Clauren,odernichts Possenspielin zwei Akten. 1828-Johann Ludwig Deinhardstein: Hans Sachs, Schauspiel in vier Aufziigen. auf der Wartburg. Ein Dichterspiel. The 1828-Fouqub: Der Sdngerkrieg von Ofterdingen, Waltervon der VogelHeinrich are: poet-characters weide, Heinrich der tugendhafteSchreiber, Biterolf von Eisenach, von Eschenbach. Reinmarvon Zweter,and Wolfram 1829-Platen: Der romantische Oedipus, Komadie in fiinf Akten. On Immermann. von Tharau, Drama in drei Akten. On 1829-Willibald Alexis: Aennchen Simon Dach. 1829-Grabbe: Kaiser Friedrich Barbarossa,eine Tragqdiein fiinfAkten. as the Introduces,as a speaking character,Heinrichvon Ofterdingen, author of the Nibelungenlied. Novelle in zwei Teilen. Poet-charactersare 1829-Tieck: Dichterleben, Marlowe, Green,Shakespeare,and others. in fiinfAkten. 1832-Wilhelmine von Ch6zy: Petrarca,Kiinstler-Drama 1832-J. L. F. Deinhardstein: Die rothe Lustspielin vierAkten. Schleife, On Voltaire. 1832-Alexis: Cabanis,ein Roman. Takes place in the Berlinof Frederick character. the Great, and Ramler is an important 1832-Caroline Helene FriederikeLessing (niece by marriageof G. E. L.): Marie und Boccaccio,historischer Roman. eine Novelle. On Camoens. 1833-Tieck: Tod des Dichters, 1833-Laube: Grillparzer, eine Reisenovelle. 1833-Zedlitz: Kerkerund Krone,Schauspielin filnf Akten. On Torquato Tasso. 1834-Alexander von Sternberg: Lessing,eine Novelle. Erzdh1834-A. Bilrck: Der Sdngerkrieg eine romantische auf der Wartburg, and the other poets tralung. IntroducesHeinrichvon Ofterdingen associated withhim. ditionally in fiinf Akten. 1835-Raupach: Tassos Tod, Tragddie von Sternberg: MoliBre, eine Novelle. 1835--Alexander 1835-Laube: Lord Byron,eine Reisenovelle. 1835-Bettina von Arnim: Goethes mit einem Kinde, seinem Briefwechsel Denkmal. Bettina met Goethe in 1807, in 1811 their"acquaintance" was discontinued. He did writeher some letters, not love letters, and to her fromhis Nachlass. She polishedthem and they were returned revisedthem,added to them and changedthem generally, so that this workis neitherall truthnor all poetry. 91
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Gedicht in einemAufzug. 1837-Halm: Camoens,dramatisches 1839-H. J. Kdnig: Williams Dichtenund Trachten, ein Roman. Shakeeditionin 1864. speare is the hero. The workhad reachedits fourth 1839-E. A. Willkomm: Lord Byron, ein Dichterleben.Included in a series of Zivilisationsnovellen. eine Erzahlung. On Alfieri. 1839-I. F. Castelli: Das Duell einesDichters, in 1839-Gutzkow: RichardSavage,oderderSohn einerMutter, Trauerspiel are Richard Savage, "beriihmter fiinfAufziigen. The poet-characters sein Freund." "Mit diesem Dichter,"and RichardSteele, "Journalist, Trauerspielbegann eine neue, moderneDramatik in Deutschland." 1840-Bettina von Arnim: Die Giinderode, ein Roman. Karolinevon Giinof "Tian" a collection derode (1780-1806) wroteunderthe pseudonym of Gedichte und Phantasien(1804) and Poetische Fragmente (1805). 1840-Karl von Holtei: Shakespearein der Heimat oder die Freunde,ein Holtei admitsthat this drama Schauspielin vierAkten. In his preface, is based on Tieck's Dichterleben. 1843-Hermann Kurz: Schillers Heimatjahre. "Kurz' erster grosser Roman." 1843-Christoph Kuffner: Heinrich von Ofterdingen, Schauspiel in fiinf Aufziigen. 1843-Richard Wagner: Tannhduser und derSdngerkrieg auf der Wartburg. are: Tannhauser, Wolframvon Eschenbach, Walter Poet-characters von der Vogelweide, Biterolf,Heinrich der Schreiber,Reinmar von Zweter. 1844-Gutzkow: Das Urbilddes Tartiffe, Lustspielin finf Aufziigen. The comedy plays in Paris, the time is 1667, and Moliere is the leading character. 1844-Bettina von Arnim: ClemensBrentanosFriihlingskranz, in Briefen, wie er selbstes schriftlich ihm geflochten, verlangte.A sort of BriefRoman,with ClemensBrentanoas the hero. 1845-Otto Miiller: Biirger, ein deutsches ein Roman. Dichterleben, 1845 (ca.)--J. L. F. Deinhardstein: PigaultLebrun, Akten. Lustspielin fiinf Charles Antoine Guillaume Pigault-Lebrun(1753-1835) wrotea number of novels and more than twenty of which appeared plays,the first in 1787. 1846-Laube: Gottsched in fiinf Akten. The und Gellert, Charakterlustspiel action occurs in Leipzig in 1762. 1846-H. T. Oelckers: Goethes Studentenjahre.Novellistische Schilderung, Roman in zwei Teilen, siebenAbschnitten. 1847-Laube: Die Karlsschiiler, Schauspielin fiinfAkten. On Schiller. 1847-Rudolf Gottschall: Lord Byronin Italien, ein Drama. 92
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1849-Gutzkow: Der K6nigsleutnant, Lustspiel in vier Akten. Written on the occasion of the hundredth of Goethe's birth. anniversary 1850-Elise Schmidt: Der Geniusund die Gesellschaft, ein Drama. On Lord ist reich Byron. She was a disciple of Hebbel. "Die Charakteristik an trefflichen verrit aber den Ziigen; der Genius und die Gesselschaft EinflussGutzkows." 1850-S. H. Mosenthal: Ein deutsches einDrama. On BUirger. Dichterleben, dramatization a of novel on Really Biirger. Miller's 1850-Adolf Widmann: Tannhduser, ein Roman. 1851-J. L. F. Deinhardstein: Fiirstund Dichter,dramatisches Gedicht in vierAkten. The leading charactersare Goethe and Karl August. 1852-Johann Nestroy: Tannhduser, eine Zukunftsposse. Parody on Wagner'sopera, suggestedby H. Wollheim,musicby Karl Binder. 1852-Alexis: Ruhe ist die ersteBiirgerpflicht. Ein Roman. The time is 1806 and Jean Paul is an important character. 1853-Alexander Lacy: Santa Casa. Episode aus Goethes Jugendzeit. Eine Novelle. "Santa Casa, d. i. das heilige Haus, pflegtenMerk und Wieland das Goethehaus,im Freundeskreise, zu nennen." "Es wire unendlichschwer,ja unm6glichschier,JohannWolfgangGoethe zum Helden eines Romans zu machen. Das vermachtewohl nur ein sublimerGeist wie Goethe selbst (1913)." 1853-Friedrich HermannKlencke: Die Karschin,ein Roman. 1855-Otto Horn: Ferdinand Raimund, Roman aus Wiens jilngsterVergangenheit. 1855-Scheffel: Ekkehard, eine Geschichte aus dem 10. Jahrhundert."Auf Adolf Holtzmann begann Veranlassungdes HeidelbergerGermanisten der Dichter im Winter1853/54die Uebersetzung des von Ekkehard I. lateinischen verfassten,von Ekkehard IV. tiberarbeiteten Epos 'Waltharius manu fortis,'und bei dieser Arbeit reiftevollends der Ekkehardplan." 1856-Johannes Scherr: Schiller,ein kulturhistorischer Roman. Not to be confusedwith Scherr'sscientific workon Schiller(1859). 1856-Ferdinand Kiirnberger: Der Amerikamiide, ein Roman. On Lenau. von Miiller 1856-Wolfgang K6nigswinter: Heinrich Heines Hillenfahrt, eine Satire. 1856-David Kalisch: Tannhduser, oder der Sdngerkrieg auf der Wartburg. A parody on Wagner. 1857-Joseph Pape: Friedrichvon Spee, ein Trauerspiel. Reached its third edition in 1857. Pape also wrote Der treueEckart,eine epische Dichtung. 93
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1857-A. E. Brachvogel: Narziss, Trauerspiel in fiinf Akten. The leading characters are Madame de Pompadour, Diderot, and actors and actresses. 1858-Theodor Goltdammer: PetrarcaundLaura, Schauspielin fiinf Akten. 1859-Albert Grtin: Friederike. Schauspielin fiinf Aufziigen. Friederike Brion is the heroine,Goethe the hero; the other poet-characters are and Lenz. Jung-Stilling 1859-Julius Leopold Klein: Moreto, ein Schauspiel. On Lope, Calderon, and Moreto. "Das Sttickselbst ist eine Wiederspiegelung des spanischen Dramas iiberhaupt." Klein's chief work of scholarshipis his des Dramas in 12 volumes (1865-76). Geschichte 1860 (ca.)-Luise Miihlbach (Klara und Schiller, Miiller Mundt): Goethe ein historischer Roman. "Im Laufe von 36 Jahrenhat sie den Biichermarktmitnichtweniger als 290 BMnden iiberschwemmt." 1860 (ca.)-Karl Siebel: Tannhduser, eine Dichtung. 1860-F. W. Hacklinder: Der Tannhduser, ein Roman. 1860-Elise Henle: Aus Goethes in vier lustigenTagen. Original-Lustspiel the Aufziigen. The firstact plays at Ilmenau, the third at Tiefurth, second and fourthat Weimar. The time is 1776, and the characters, aside fromGoethe, are fromthe Weimar circle. Henle was born at Miinchenin 1832. The date, 1860, is only a calculated one. 1860-Wohlmuth: Mozart, Kiinstler-Drama in vier Akten. On Mozart, Haydn, and Schikaneder. Writtenabout 1860. in einem 1860-Auguste Cornelius: Platen in Venedig,Original-Lustspiel Aufzug. Writtenabout 1860. 1860-Wilhelm Henzen: Martin Luther. Reformationsdrama in fiinfAufziigenund einem Vorspiel. The prologueand each act has its own list of characters. Lukas Cranach, Ulrichvon Hutten, and Dr. Johannes Eck are introduced. The action extends from October, 1517, to March 6, 1522. The drama had a goodlynumberof successfulperin its day. formances 1861-Otto Miiller: Aus Petrarcasalten Tagen, ein Roman. Mfilleralso wrotenovels on Goethe's Frankfurt ancestorsand on historicalactors, Ackermann and Ekhof. 1862-W. R. Heller: Hohe Freunde,ein Roman. On Goethe and Karl August. 1862-Heribert Rau: Hilderlin, culturhistorisch-biographischer Roman. "Rau hat die deutscheLiteraturum ganze 103 Bdnde bereichert." He wrotenovels also on Mozart, Beethoven,Weber,Alexandervon Humboldt (then living), Shakespeare, Jean Paul, Theodore K6rner, and others. 94
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1863-K.
On Goethe.
T. Zianitzka: Der Roman eines Dichterlebens in drei Bdnden.
1864-Karl K6sting: Shakespeare, ein Drama. eine Dichtung. 1864-Karl Siebel: Zur Shakespearefeier, 1864-Heribert Rau: William Shakespeare,ein culturhistorisch-biographischerRoman in vierBiichern. Published on the three-hundredth anni-
1864-Albert Lindner: WilliamShakespeare, ein Schauspiel. Gedicht in vierAuf1864-Adolf Calmberg: TheodorKirner, dramatisches theactress, Streicher are also and Andreas zilgen. Toni Adamberger, writtena drama on Hogarthand a novel on Schubartund seine Zeitgenossen. 1866-Laube: Der Statthalter von Bengalen,Schauspiel in vierAkten. On Junius Letters. 1866-Martin Greif: Hans Sachs, ein Drama. vonNiirnberg. On Hans Sachs. 1867-Wagner: Die Meistersinger 1867-Friedrich Gessler: Reinhold Lenz, ein Drama. 1867-Max Ring: John Milton und seine Zeit, ein Roman. "Max Ring
of Shakespeare's are also versary death; the poet's contemporaries there are 966 pagesin thework. characters; speaking
introduced. 1865-A. E. Brachvogel:Beaumarchais, has also ein Roman. Brachvogel
Sir Philipp and LordSackville, Francis thetwopossible ofthe authors
1869-Eduard Grisebach: Der neue Tannhduser, eine Dichtung. 1870-A. Mels: Heines "Junge Leiden." Charakterbild in drei Aufziigen. 1870-C. B. L. A. M. Schiicking: Luther in Rom. Ein Roman. 1870-Richard Wagner: Eine Kapitulation. Lustspielin antikerManier.
hat weitUiber hundert auchGedichte Bidnde (1817-1901) Erzahlendes, und Dramengeschrieben." The date is onlycalculated.
The characters areHeine, hisrelatives, and acquaintances.The dateis onlycalculated.
1870-Otto Ludwig: Das FrduleinvonScuderi,Trauerspiel in fiinfAkten.
Victor Hugois thehero.
The heroine is thesameas in Hoffmann's work ofliketitle.
1871-Wilhelm Bennecke: ReinholdLenz, eine Novelle. Aside fromLenz,
and otherwell-known characters of Lenz's Nicolai,Ramler, Goethe, timeare speaking characters.
1873-Wolfgang Mtillervon Konigswinter: Das Haus der Brentano,eine 1875-Eduard Grisebach: Tannhduser in Rom. 95
A newedition in 1913with an introduction appeared Roman-Chronikc. by FranzvonBrentano.
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1875-Hans Koester: Luther, ein Drama. Koester (1818-1900) wrotethis workabout 1875. 1875-Heinrich Moritz Horn: Goethein Strassburg und Sesenheim,eine Dichtung. 1875-Hugo Lubliner: Die Modelledes Sheridan,Schauspiel in vierAkten. On R. B. B. Sheridanas authorof Schoolfor Scandal. und Frdulein Katharina. 1877-Margaretha Sp6rlin: Vater Jung-Stilling Eine Erinnerung aus Badenweiler. 1880-Karl Bleibtreu: Der Traum. Ein Roman. "Die Jugend Byrons in Anlehnung an Disraelis Venetiaschildernd." eine Novelle. This is the 1880-Daniel Spitzer: VerliebteWagnerianer, fifth was of coursewritten earlier. edition; the first 1880-Julius Wolff: Tannhduser,ein Minnesang. "Wolffs zwei Binde beinahealle Ereignisseund Personen,mit denenOfterdingen vereinigen in Beziehunggebracht worden ist." Wolff looksupon Ofterdingen as the author of the Nibelungenlied. 1880-G. Kastropp: HeinrichvonOfterdingen, eine Mar. 1882-Fulda: Christian work. ein Giinther, Trauerspiel. Fulda's first 1882-Max Grube: Christian in Ganther, Schauspiel fiinfActen. 1883-Hans Herrig: Luther,ein kirchliches Festspiel. 1883-Wilhelm Henzen: MartinLuther, ein Drama. in und seine Zeit, ein Volksschauspiel 1883-August Triimpelmann: Luther Bildern. 1883-Otto Devrient: Luther,historisches Charakterbild in sieben Abteilungen. 1884-Wildenbruch: Christoph Marlow, Trauerspielin vier Akten. 1885-Friedrich Maschek: Ein bezdhmterWagnerianer, humoristische Novelle. 1886-Adolf Stern: Camoens,ein Roman. 1886-Karl Bleibtreu: Lord Byronsletzte Liebe,ein Drama. 1886-Karl Bleibtreu: Meine Tochter, ein Drama. On Byron. 1887-Armin Stein (H. Nietschmann): Das Buch vomDoktorLuther,ein Roman. "Auch hierwiederhabe ich zu meiner Darstelbiographischen Material in novellung die Methode gewihlt,welche das historische listische Form giesst. Dass der geschichtlichen Treue dadurchAbbruch geschehensei, wird kein Sachkundiger behaupten" (Vorrede). 1889-Adolf Bartels: JohannChristian Trauerspielin filnfAkten. Ginther, 1890-Otto Haupt: Hans Sachs; vaterldndisches Schauspiel in fihnf Aufziigen. 1890-Armin Stein: Hans Sachs, ein Roman. 96
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1890-Max Trausil: RichardWagner. Eine Kiinstler-Novelle. 1891-Wilhelm von Wartenegg: Der Ring des Ofterdingen. Lustspiel in und einemVorspiel. vierAufziigen 1891-Wilhelm Henzen: Schillerund Lotte. Schauspielin vier Aufzilgen. 1891-Wilhelm von Polenz: Heinrichvon Kleist, ein Trauerspiel. 1892-Friedrich Wilhelmvon Hindersin: Martin Luther, ein Drama. 1892-Paul Lindau: Der Kom6diant, ein Schauspielin dreiAbteilungen und fiinf Aufziugen.On Molibre. "Ein Kiinstlerstiick,das sich den schon vorhandenen Molierestiicken wiirdiganschliesst." 1896-Peter Hille: Des Platonikers Sohn, eine Erziehungstrag6die. On Petrarch. 1896-Ludwig A. Ganghofer: Die Silnden der Vater,ein Roman. "Sein Roman Die Siindender Vaterschildert HeinrichLeuthold." The novel reachedthe seventheditionin 1902. 1897-Fritz Lienhard: Gottfried vonStrassburg, ein Drama. 1898-Karl Milller-Rastatt: In die Nacht. Ein Dichterleben.This novel withstrictaccuracyas to historical details. poetizesthe lifeof Hdlderlin 1898-C. F. Meyer: Petrus Vinea, publishedby Langmesser fromMeyer's Nachlass as drama and shortstory. Vinea is creditedby some scholars with having been the fatherof the Italian sonnet. 1899-Rudolf Huch: Mehr Goethe. Seems to be a bit of poetry; written under the pseudonymof A. Schuster. 1900-Karl Bleibtreu: ByronsGeheimnis, Akten. ein Drama in fiinf 1902-Adolf Paul: Der Fall Voltaire, eine heroische Komodie. dramatisches Gedicht. On 1903-K6nigsbrun-Schaup: Unsterblichkeit, Petrarch. 1903-Adolf Bartels: Martin Luther, eine dramatische Trilogie(Der junge Luther,Der Reichstagzu Worms,Der Reformator). 1903-Fritz Lienhard: Thiiringer Tagebuch. On Heinrichvon Ofterdingen. "Was Lienhard von Ofterdingen Urerziihltist nicht geschichtlichen Frau sprungs,sondernfliesstaus rein poetischerQuelle, die Scheffels Aventiuremit ihrerromantischen hat." aufgedeckt Wtinschelrute 1904-G. H. Schneideck: Heinrichvon Ofterdingen, ein deutsches Spiel in vierAkten. 1905-Georg Fuchs: Manfred,eine Tragbdiein vier Aufzilgen. Heinrich von Ofterdingen is the motif-giving character. 1905-Wildenbruch: Die Lieder des Euripides. Schauspiel mit Musik. Dichtermachtund Dichterent"Ein Gedicht von Dichtersehnsucht, sagung." 1905-Julius Riffert: LuthersAbschied vonder Wartburg, ein Schauspiel. 97
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ALLEN WILSON
PORTERFIELD
1906-Fritz Lienhard: Eine dramatische Wartburg-Trilogie (Heinricr von 1903; Die heiligeElisabeth, 1905; Luther auf der WartOfterdingen, burg,1906). On 1906-Johannes Dose: Der Held von Wittenberg, Unterhaltungsroman. Luther. 1906-Ferdinand Saar: Sappho, eine Novelle. 1908-Adolf Rest: Tannhduser, ein Sagendramain siebenBildern. Amaland Tannhiuser explains himself Tannhiuser Ofterdingen. gamates by saying: "Ich bin ein Ofterdingen." The hero 1910-Rud. Hans Bartsch: Schwammerl, ein Schubert-Roman. is Franz Schubert. Grillparzer, Goethe, Moritz von Schwind,Beethothe of Schubert'sfamily, old Italian painters, ven, Mozart,the members in one way and poetswhosepoemsSchubertset to music,are introduced another. eine Trag6die in fiinf Akten. 1910-Jul. Fel. Humpf: Der Tannhduser, Tannhauser, Ofterdingen, Biterolf,and Der TugendhafteSchreiber are characters. Reich. Die Trag6die des Individualismus. 1910-Paul Friedrich: Das dritte On Nietzscheand Wagnerand theircircle. Time is from1874 to 1888. 1912-Franz Karl Ginzkey: Der von der Vogelweide. Ein Roman. "Ein Helden hat, einenHelden von so Roman, der einen so ausgesprochenen bietet dem Autor immer grosse Vorteile. Wesen, feingestimmtem Ginzkeyhat sie redlichgeniitzt." 1912-SiegfriedKrebs: AugustDaniel vonBinzer,oderdas Ende derRomantik. Ein Roman. 1913-Edward Stilgebauer: Harry, ein Roman aus der erstenHdlftedes Jahrhunderts. On Heine. neunzehnten in deutschenReimen. Introduces Fichte, 1913-Hauptmann: Festspiel Hegel, and Heinrichvon Kleist. 1913-Walter von Molo: Ums Menschentum, ein Schillerroman. 1913-Walter von Molo: Im Titanenkampf, ein Schillerroman.Second part. 1913-Klara Hofer: Alles Leben ist Raub; Der Weg Friedrich Hebbels,ein Roman. 1914-Walter von Molo: Den Sternen zu, ein Schillerroman.Third part. This is the list of epic and dramatic works in German literature that have poets as leading characters. It is undoubtedly incomplete, but even so it is long. And there is but one way to make it shorter: to exclude the works on Luther, on the ground that they treat primarily Luther's conflictwith Catholicism, while his literary activities 98
POETS AS HEROES
35
receive but slightif any attention; and to exclude the workson and Tannhauser,on the ground that their historicity Ofterdingen that theirnames connotenow a legendary remainsunconfirmed, personage, now one whose exact relation to real men and real poets is indeterminable. There is evident argument,however, against exclusionin any of these threecases. The list should remainas it is, or be added to by those who knowof otherinstancesof the same is increasing sort. And since it is plain that this type of literature 1916 will see a number of additional (to reason chronologically, the life creativeworkson Shakespeare),the question arises whether of a poet is a good themefor a creativework. Was Klara Hofer, a novel on Hebbel, with its for example, really justifiedin writing but withrealityand fiction bit of impressionistic criticism, delightful a question is to waste ? to answer such To attempt intermingled The and time. and will answerin the negaspace cynical pedantic is tive; they will say that Hebbel's life not adapted to dramatic and that instead of writing an epic workof pure fiction treatment, on Hebbel, one should writean interesting study that adheresto the facts. But not all are cynicaland manyare unpedantic. When, about 1815, critics and readers were wonderingwhy Fouqu6's Undinewas such a success,Goethe calmlysaid: "Es war Goethe himself makes a good heroof ein guterStoff." But whether an epic or dramaticworkdependslargelyupon his creativeadmirer. And whetherconventional themesare becomingscarce in Germany in an age ofpeace and consequent forthosewhofeedon the monotony and the thrilling, and in an age, at the same time,of abunexciting dant literaryproductivity, in an age when the numberof creative writershas been suddenlyalmost doubled by the participation of women writers-no one can answer such a query. Concerning the entiresituation,only two thingsare whollycertain: the poet is better and Germanpoets adapted to epic thanto dramatictreatment, have written,and are writing, some exceedingly strongand some weak epic and dramaticworksthat poetize otherpoets. extremely
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
99

Poets As Heroes of Epic and Dramatic Works in German Literature

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Poets as Heroes of Epic and Dramatic Works in German Literature Author(s): Allen Wilson Porterfield Source: Modern Philology,

POETS AS HEROES IN GERMAN LITERATURE

ALLEN WILSON PORTERFIELD

ALLEN WILSON PORTERFIELD

ALLEN WILSON PORTERFIELD

ALLEN WILSON PORTERFIELD

ALLEN WILSON PORTERFIELD

POETS AS HEROES IN GERMAN LITERATURE

POETS AS HEROES IN GERMAN LITERATURE

POETS AS HEROES IN GERMAN LITERATURE

ALLEN WILSON PORTERFIELD

von Schaden: Theodor Kdrners 1817-Johann Adolph Nepomuk Tod,oder

ALLEN WILSON PORTERFIELD

ALLEN WILSON PORTERFIELD

T. Zianitzka: Der Roman eines Dichterlebens in drei Bdnden.

introduced. 1865-A. E. Brachvogel:Beaumarchais, has also ein Roman. Brachvogel

Sir Philipp and LordSackville, Francis thetwopossible ofthe authors

The characters areHeine, hisrelatives, and acquaintances.The dateis onlycalculated.

1870-Otto Ludwig: Das FrduleinvonScuderi,Trauerspiel in fiinfAkten.

Victor Hugois thehero.

The heroine is thesameas in Hoffmann's work ofliketitle.

1871-Wilhelm Bennecke: ReinholdLenz, eine Novelle. Aside fromLenz,

and otherwell-known characters of Lenz's Nicolai,Ramler, Goethe, timeare speaking characters.

A newedition in 1913with an introduction appeared Roman-Chronikc. by FranzvonBrentano.

ALLEN WILSON PORTERFIELD

ALLEN WILSON PORTERFIELD

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