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Title: Goethe and Schiller's Xenions
Translator: Paul Carus
Release date: August 17, 2025 [eBook #76691]
Language: English
Original publication: Chicago, IL: The Open Court Publishing Co, 1915
Credits: Markus Brenner and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GOETHE AND SCHILLER'S XENIONS ***
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Transcriber’s Notes
This e-text is based on the printed version of ‘Goethe and Schiller’s
Xenions,’ from 1915. Inconsistent spelling and hyphenation have
been retained, but punctuation and typographical errors have been
corrected.
The footnotes in the preface (pp. 1-22) have been placed below their
respective paragraphs. They have been assigned alphabetical symbols
([A]-[C]). Endnotes, which have been placed at the end of the main
text, have been arranged by using consecutive numbers ([1]-[23]).
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GOETHE AND SCHILLER’S
XENIONS
[Illustration]
GOETHE AND SCHILLER’S
XENIONS
SELECTED AND TRANSLATED
BY
PAUL CARUS
SECOND EDITION
CHICAGO LONDON
THE OPEN COURT PUBLISHING CO.
1915
COPYRIGHT BY
THE OPEN COURT PUBLISHING COMPANY
1915
Motto:
“Warum willst du dich von uns allen
Und unserer Meinung entfernen?”
Ich schreibe nicht euch zu gefallen;
Ihr sollt was lernen. -- Goethe.
“Why keepest thou aloof? Why lonely
Art from our views thou turning?”
I do not write to please you only,
You must be learning!
Table of Contents.
PAGE
~The History and Poetical Form of the Xenions~ 1
The History of the Xenions 3
The Elegiac Distich 13
~Introductory~ 23
Our Purpose 25
Our Method 26
The Distich 27
Boisterous 28
Our Common Fate 29
The Last Martyr 30
~Soul and World~ 31
Our Own 33
Harmony 34
The Key 35
Worth and Value 36
Nature and Reason 37
Oneness 38
Various Destinies 39
The Immutable 40
The Law of Nature 41
Zeus to Heracles 42
Folly and Insanity 43
Motives and Action 44
Baal Priests 45
Salvation 46
Human Life 47
Immortality 48
Indestructible 49
God, World, and Man 50
~Critical and Literary~ 51
The Poet Addresses his Muse 53
To Incompetent Reviewers 54
Wolf’s Homer 55
Intellectual Aristocracy 56
Bad Times 57
Mutual Admiration Society 58
Dilettante 59
To One Author 60
To Another Author 61
Wanted 62
Artifice 63
A Discussion 64
~Satirical and Personal~ 65
The Great Moment 67
To Some Critics 68
The Vinculum 69
Present Generation 70
To Those in Authority 71
Questionable Investigation 72
The Spirit and the Letter 73
The Sense of a Committee 74
Taste in a Watering Place 75
Sample of Modern Criticism 76
Nicolai’s Book on the Source of the Danube 77
The Collector 78
Crudity 79
Nicolai’s Motto 80
A Publisher 81
In Comparison with Socrates 82
To Certain Moralists 83
Martyrs 84
The Brothers Stolberg 85
The Connoisseur 86
Sentimentalists 87
The Prophet 88
The Half-Bird 89
Partisan Spirit 90
~The Philosophers in Hades~ 91
The Poet Speaks 93
Aristotle 94
Urgent 95
Descartes 96
My Answer 97
Spinoza 98
Berkeley 99
Leibniz 100
Kant 101
David Hume 102
Fichte 103
Reinhold 104
My Answer 105
K. C. F. Schmidt, the Moral Philosopher 106
My Answer 107
Philosophy 108
~Philosophical Problems~ 109
For Sale 111
A Flaw 112
Empiricists 113
Theoreticians 114
Last Refuge 115
Natural Science and Transcendental Philosophy 116
The Same 117
Kant and his Interpreters 118
Teleology 119
The Problem of Natural Law 120
Puffendorf’s Reply 121
A Moral Problem 122
The Kantian’s Decision 123
Human Knowledge 124
Systems 126
~Science and Art~ 127
Genius a Gift 129
Truth and Form 130
Creation 131
Different Applications 132
The Sublime 133
Fiction and Truth 134
The Poet and the Naturalist 135
Trust in Scientific Truth 136
Wisdom and Prudence 138
~Wisdom, Morality and Religion~ 139
The Highest 141
Piety and Natural Science 142
Misrepresented 143
Philosopher and Bigot 144
Theological Hedonists 145
Friend and Enemy 146
Distinction 147
Perfection 148
Goodness and Greatness 149
The One Thing Needed 150
Our Duty 151
Difference in Oneness 152
Repetition 153
Utility 154
Harm 155
Discipline 156
Comfort 157
Analytical Truth-Seekers 158
Depreciated Coin 159
Ritual 160
Mystics 161
Light and Color 162
Not Irreligious 163
Our Father 164
~Notes~ 165
THE HISTORY AND POETICAL
FORM OF THE XENIONS.
The History of the Xenions.
The appearance of the Xenions, a collection of satirical epigrams
in the _Musen-Almanach_ of 1797, is a memorable event in the
literature of Germany. With the end of the eighteenth century a new
era had commenced. The idea of evolution, first clearly pronounced by
Caspar Friedrich Wolff in his theory of epigenesis,[A] pointed out
new aims of investigation in the realm of natural sciences; Kant’s
_Critique of Pure Reason_ propounded new problems in philosophy;
and Beethoven conceived his grand sonatas, which reflected the spirit
of an all-comprehensive aspiration in the soul-stirring notes of music.
New ideals, religious, moral, and social, had dawned upon mankind, and
the two great apostles of this movement in the domain of poetry were
Goethe and Schiller.
[A] His _Theoria Generationis_ appeared in 1759.
It is well known what good friends Goethe and Schiller were. After
the two great poets had become personally acquainted they inspired,
criticised, and corrected each other. Their common ideal became the
firm basis of their mutual friendship, and the chief monument of their
alliance is the collection of satirical distichs known as the Xenions.
Great though Schiller and Goethe were, they did not find sufficient
support among those who should have been their first followers and
disciples. The men of literary callings, who should be the priests of
the holiest interests of humanity, were too envious fully to recognize
and acknowledge the merit of these two great poet-thinkers. Moreover,
the men of letters were chiefly enamoured of their own traditional
methods of literary production and could not appreciate the purity, the
grandeur, and the holiness of the new taste. They misunderstood the
progressive spirit of the time, and to their puny minds the rise of the
new era appeared as a mere disturbance of their traditional habits.
They looked upon the twin giants of the world of thought as usurpers,
who from personal vanity and ambition tyrannized over all others, and
whose impositions had either to be resisted, or silenced by shrugs.
On the one side, the orthodox and narrow-minded pietists considered
Goethe and Schiller irreligious and un-Christian, and accused them
of paganism. On the other side we find the two great poets opposed
by such men as the shallow Nicolai, a man of good common sense but
without any genius, a man who preached that stale kind of rationalism
which consisted in both the suppression of all higher aspiration and
the denial of spirituality in any sense. He railed at Goethe and
Schiller as well as at Kant, Fichte, and other great minds of his time
who went beyond his depth and were incomprehensible to him. The pious
are characterized in the Xenions as enthusiasts and sentimentalists
(_Schwärmer_) while the prosaic rationalists are called by the
German student term “philistines” which denotes common-place people,
and the pedantic Nicolai figures as the “arch-philistine.”
Nicolai was a rich and influential publisher in Berlin; he was an
author himself, and a very prolific one too, but his writings are
superficial and barren. On several occasions he criticised Goethe
severely, and our great poets asserted that in fighting superstition
he attacked poetry, and in attempting to suppress the belief in
_spirits_ he also tried to abolish _spirit_. So Goethe makes
him say in the _Walpurgisnacht_:
“Ich sag’s Euch _Geistern_ in’s Gesicht,
Den _Geistes_-Despotismus leid ich nicht;
Mein Geist kann ihn nicht exerciren.”
[I tell you, spirits, to your face,
I give to spirit-despotism no place;
My spirit cannot practise it at all.]
_Tr. by Bayard Taylor._
The irritation of the literary dwarfs showed itself in malevolent
reviews of Schiller’s literary enterprise, _Die Horen_.
Schiller wrote to Goethe June 15, 1795:
“I have thought for some time that it would be well to open a
critical arena in _Die Horen_. Yet we should not give away our
rights by formally inviting the public and the authors. The public
would certainly be represented by the most miserable voices, and the
authors, as we know from experience, would become very importunate. My
proposition is that we make the attack ourselves. In case the authors
wish to defend themselves in _Die Horen_, they must submit to our
conditions. And my advice is, not to begin with propositions, but to
begin with deeds. There is no harm if we are denounced as ill-bred.”
Several letters were exchanged on this subject, and Goethe wrote in a
letter of December 23, 1795, to Schiller:
“We must cultivate the idea of making epigrams upon all journals; one
distich for each magazine, in the manner of Martial’s _Xenia_; and
we must publish a collection of them in the _Musen-Almanach_ of
next year. Enclosed are some Xenions as a specimen.”
Schiller answered at once, December 23, 1795:
“The idea of the Xenions is splendid and must be carried out.... What a
wealth of material is offered by the Stolbergs, by Racknitz, Ramdohr,
the metaphysical world with its _Me’s_ and _Not-Me’s_, friend
Nicolai, our sworn enemy, the Leipsic taste-mongers, Thümmel, with
Göschen as his horsegroom, and others.”
Thus the two poets decided to wage a destructive war against their
common enemies, and to come down upon them in a literary thunderstorm.
The poets planned a “poetical deviltry,” as they called it, and named
their satirical poetry “Xenions.”
The word Xenion originally meant a gift presented by a host to a
stranger who enjoys his hospitality. The Roman poet Martial called his
book of satirical epigrams _Xenia_; and, as Goethe and Schiller
intended to make similar epigrammatical thrusts at Nicolai and other
offenders, they adopted Martial’s expression and called their verses
Xenions.[B] They agreed to publish all their Xenions together, and to
regard them as their common property.
[B] We prefer the Saxon form of the plural (_Xenions_) to the Latin
form (_Xenia_), which is appropriate only as a name of Latin poetry.
The first Xenions were very aggressive, but by and by they became more
general and lost their personal character. There are among them many
which are lofty and full of deep thought. It happened now and then
that the authors of the Xenions hit the wrong man; but this, although
to be regretted, was more excusable than the abuse with which their
adversaries retorted.
The Xenions raised a storm of indignation, as was to be expected, and
Anti-Xenions were written by many of those who had been attacked. But
while the tenor of the Xenions is lofty in spite of their personal
character, and while we feel the high aims of Goethe and Schiller in
their attempts to purify literature, the Anti-Xenions are _wholly_
personal. They are rude, malicious and mean. They insinuate that the
Xenions were prompted by vile motives; that Goethe and Schiller wanted
more praise and flattery; that they were envious of the laurels of
others and wanted to be the sole usurpers of Mount Parnassus. Schiller
was called Kant’s ape, and Goethe was reproached with his family
relations.
The history of the Xenions is their justification. The Anti-Xenions
are, in themselves alone, a wholesale condemnation of the opposition
made to Goethe and Schiller.
Goethe wrote to Schiller concerning the reception which the Xenions
found, on December 5, 1796:
“It is real fun to observe what has been offensive to this kind of
people, and also what they think has been offensive to us. How trivial,
empty, and mean they consider the life of others, and how they direct
their arrows against the outside of the works! How little do they know
that a man who takes life seriously lives in an impregnable castle!”
Goethe and Schiller had wielded a vigorous and two-edged weapon
in the Xenions. They had severely chastised their antagonists for
incompetency; but now it devolved upon themselves to prove the right of
their censorship, and they were conscious of this duty. Goethe wrote,
November 15, 1806:
“After the bold venture of the Xenions, we must confine our labors
strictly to great and worthy works of art. We must shame our
adversaries by transmuting our Protean nature henceforth into noble and
good forms.”
Events proved that both Goethe and Schiller were not only willing but
able to fulfil these intentions. Their antagonists have disappeared.
Some of them would now be entirely forgotten had not the two poets
immortalized them in the Xenions.
Some Xenions are of mere transitory importance, especially such as
contain allusions and criticisms that are lost to those who are not
thoroughly versed in the history of the times, while others are gems
of permanent value, reflecting in a few words flashes of the deepest
wisdom, and they ought to be better known among English-speaking
people. We have therefore extracted and translated those which we deem
worthy of preservation for all time.
Goethe and Schiller’s distichs, we are sorry to add, are not always
very elegant, and sometimes lack in smoothness and correctness. The
first half of their pentameters is often very weak, and many of the
second parts are extremely awkward, as for instance in the distich on
page 163, where we read:
....“Und warum
kei′ne?” Aus Re′ligion′.
This excited the anger of Voss, the translator of Homer in the original
meter of dactylic hexameters. Voss ridiculed Goethe and Schiller for
their bad versification in a distich, which he intentionally made
even worse than the worst of theirs, using the words with a wrong
accentuation:
“In′ Weimar und′ in Jena′
macht man′ Hexa′meter wie′ der;
A′ber die Pen′tameter′
sind′ doch noch ex′cellenter′!”
[In′ Weimar and′ in Jena′
they make′ hexame′ters such as′ this;
But′ the Pen′tameters′
are′ even more′ excellent′.]
In spite of some awkwardness and lack of elegance in diction, the
Xenions became very popular in Germany on account of the profound ideas
embodied in many of them. The shortcomings of their form have been
forgotten on account of their intrinsic value, and there is perhaps no
poetry quoted more frequently than these pithy aphorisms. They have
become household words in Germany and deserve a place of honor in the
literature of the world.
The Elegiac Distich.
The form of the Xenions is, like their Roman prototype, the elegiac
distich.
The elegiac distich has rarely, if ever, been used in English poetry,
although there is much classical beauty in its rhythm. It consists of
alternate dactylic hexameters and pentameters which in ancient Greece
were recited to the accompaniment of the flute, and went by the name
of “elegies,” the etymology of which has nothing to do (as has been
assumed) with lamentations, but probably means flute-songs.
A meter in Greek prosody is comparable to the musical bar, while a
foot is a rhythmic figure. Some meters, such as the iambic (◡–◡–) and
trochaic (–◡–◡), consist of two feet, but the dactylic meters(–◡◡)
consist of one foot only.[C] Accordingly a trochaic trimeter consists
of three meters or six feet; while six dactyls, the last one of which
is always catalectic, are called a dactylic hexameter. Catalectic means
“ending” or “terminating,” signifying that every line is mutilated at
the end. A catalectic meter lacks the last syllable, which, musically
considered, is to be regarded as a pause so as to make a musical halt
between the lines. According to another rule, the last syllable is
always indifferent, i. e., it may be either long or short (̲◡).
[C] The name “dactyl” or “finger” (Greek δάκτυλος) indicates that,
like a finger, it consists of one long and two short members.
The dactylic (or, as it is also called, the heroic) hexameter is too
long to be read in one breathing, so it is divided into two, sometimes
into three parts, and the division is called a _caesura_, i. e., a
cut or incision. This division of the line is irregular and we do not
hesitate to say that to its irregularity the hexameter owes a peculiar
charm, for it breaks the monotony of the dactylic rhythm.
The new start after the caesura will never be dactylic (–◡◡) like the
beginning of the line; it may be anapaestic (◡◡–) or iambic (◡–); but
not dactylic. The break should occur either after an arsis (–) or
after a trochee (–◡) so as to change the character of the latter part
of the hexameter from a descending into an ascending meter. The former,
the descending meter which begins with a long syllable, is halting and
possesses an attitude of holding back, of dignity, of assertion, while
the descending meter rushes forward from a short syllable to a long
one; it is progressive, it rises. The latter indicates struggle while
the former shows strength and the calmness of victory.
Every caesura has its own name in Greek and the most common caesura
cuts the verse in the third meter between the arsis, the long accented
syllable, and the thesis, i. e., the two short syllables or the one
long unaccented syllable. Since in prosody two short syllables are
equivalent to one long syllable, they are regarded as half a meter, and
so this caesura is called penthemimeres πενθημιμερὴς which means the
one after the fifth half-meter. It runs thus:
–◡◡-◡◡–||◡◡–◡◡–◡◡–◡
There is another caesura after the seventh half-meter. It is called in
Greek hephthemimeres (ἑφθημιμερὴς) and runs thus:
–◡◡–◡◡–◡◡–||◡◡–◡◡–◡
Caesuras after the third and after the ninth half-meter are rarely
used; they occur sometimes in Latin but the latter is regarded as
inadmissible in Greek.
Almost as common as the penthemimeres is the caesura between the two
short syllables in the third meter; and because it cuts off from the
meter a trochee (thus –◡||◡) it is called κατὰ τρίτον τροχαῖον, i. e.,
the caesura “after the third trochee.” It runs thus:
–◡◡–◡◡–◡||◡–◡◡–◡◡–◡
Caesuras after the second trochee are rare and after the fourth are
strictly forbidden in Greek metrics.
Finally we must mention the caesura after the end of the fourth
measure, which is not uncommon in bucolic poetry, picturing the
peaceful life of the ancient Greek cowboys, so different from the
cowboys of the American Wild West, and it has therefore received the
name, “bucolic caesura.” It is rare in heroic poems; nevertheless it
occurs sometimes and its occasional appearance is effective, for the
combination of one dactyl with one trochee (–◡◡–◡) gives a euphonious
ring to the verse.
The heroic hexameter is best known to the English-reading public from
Longfellow’s _Evangeline_. It has not been a favorite with them
mainly because of the awkwardness with which it has been handled and
the boldness with which short syllables are frequently used to serve
as long syllables. We may say that at present the German language
has proved itself most apt in reproducing this classical measure, in
which, however, the long syllable (_arsis_) is to be replaced by
a decidedly accented syllable, while the place of a short syllable
(_thesis_) is taken by an unaccented syllable. This makes it
possible that the same word may, according to position, in one place
serve as a short, in another as a long, syllable, while the prosody of
the classical languages is more severe. There a syllable is either long
or short, and a short syllable can only become long through subsequent
consonants, which is called “length through position.”
We have to recognize the fact that Teutonic languages are qualitative
while the classic languages are quantitative. This means that in the
former the accent of the word is predominant and wrong accents render
a word positively unintelligible, while in the latter the word-accent
is of less account. It is of little consequence in English whether we
pronounce “ĕgg” or “aigg,” but it makes a decided difference whether
we say “in′fidel” or “infi′del.” In modern French however, we may
pronounce with propriety either “_la mai′son_” or “_la maison′_”. And
this character of the Teutonic languages which renders quality of
accent so prominent in speech is the reason why they tend to brevity,
for they contract words more and more until, as is the case in English,
most of their forms are reduced to monosyllables. Thus the Gothic word
_habededian_ is contracted in Middle German into _habete_, (viz.,
_haben_--_tat_ = “I did have”), in modern German into _hatte_, and in
English into “had.” The Teutonic languages neglect the unimportant and
unaccented portions of the word, and wherever they can be disposed of
drop them entirely or fuse them into the main syllable.
Another reason why the hexameter is not liked in English is on account
of the length of the verse. If the reader has first to search for the
caesura, for the place where he can take breath, he feels discouraged
at the long line that stretches before him like a road through the
desert, and for this reason we deem it an improvement to print dactylic
verses so as to begin a new line with the caesura. It renders the
reading of the line easier in the measure, as the break in the verse is
thus most easily taken in by the eye.
* * * * *
Since we have been discussing metrical details at some length, we may
be permitted to add a few comments on the iambic trimeter which in
English is really nothing else but what is commonly known as blank
verse. This verse is very generally misunderstood and we have nowhere
seen it properly explained in English books on prosody.
The blank verse is the most common and best adapted form for dignified
speech in both the dialogue and the monologue of the drama. We quote as
a typical verse the first line of Hamlet’s soliloquy:
“To be or not to be, that is the question.”
The meter is a catalectic iambic trimeter and there is only one rule of
importance, viz., that at the beginning and after caesuras an iambus
◡– can be replaced by a trochee metric: –◡. A scheme of the meter runs
thus:
◡–◡–|◡–◡–|◡–◡||
Or in musical script thus:
[Music]
The last long syllable, sometimes even the whole last foot, is omitted
or, more correctly, is replaced by a pause. We may write it thus:
[Music]
This latter case, originally merely allowable, has become very frequent
in English, because the English language is rich in monosyllables so
as to make it sometimes difficult to end the verse with an unaccented
(i. e., a short) syllable, but this custom has produced the impression
that the verse consists of five iambi, and among people but little
versed in the rules of classical poetry who forget that an iambic meter
consists of two feet, has given rise to the error that blank verse is
an iambic pentameter. Strange to say this mistake is now perpetuated in
almost all our text-books.
* * * * *
After this digression on the iambic trimeter we shall make, in
conclusion, a few comments on the dactylic pentameter.
The pentameter, i. e., “a five-measure,” is so called because it
consists of twice two and a half dactylic meters thus:
–◡◡–◡◡–
In reality the pentameter is a repetition of a penthemimeres.
Two short syllables may always be replaced in elegiac distichs by one
long syllable, with the exception of the fifth meter of the hexameter
and the latter half of the pentameter. The schedule of a distich,
accordingly, is thus:
— — — — — —
–◡◡–◡◡–◡◡–◡◡–◡◡–◡◡–◡
— —
–◡◡–◡◡–||–◡◡–◡◡–
Considering the fact that the measures of Greek prosody are comparable
to musical bars in which time and not accent is the decisive element,
we readily understand that the name “pentameter” is a misnomer, for the
pentameter consists as much as the hexameter of six full dactylic bars,
only that there is a pause of one-half meter after each two and a half
meters. Expressed in musical characters, the distich reads as follows:
[Music]
INTRODUCTORY.
Our Purpose.
These gay verses, revering the good,
will annoy the philistine,
Ridicule bigots, and smite
hypocrites, as they deserve.
Vorsatz
Den Philister verdriesse,
den Schwärmer necke, den Heuchler
Quäle der fröhliche Vers,
der nur das Gute verehrt.
Our Method.
Wherefore in verse are we speaking?
We trust that the verse is impressive.
When we were talking in prose,
never ye listened to us.
Das Mittel.
Warum sagst du uns das in Versen?
Die Verse sind wirksam,
Spricht man in Prosa zu euch,
Stopft ihr die Ohren euch zu.
The Distich.
In the hexameter rises
the jet of a wonderful fountain,
Which in a graceful descent
back as pentameter falls.
Das Distichon.
Im Hexameter steigt
des Springquells flüssige Säule,
Im Pentameter drauf
fällt sie melodisch herab.
Boisterous.
Times have I witnessed run mad,
and never let slip the occasion,
Following fashion’s command,
madly in madness to join.
Uebermüthig.
Tolle Zeiten hab’ ich erlebt
und hab’ nicht ermangelt,
Selbst auch thöricht zu sein,
Wie es die Zeit mir gebot.
Our Common Fate.
O, how we struggle and hate!
Inclinations, opinions divide us.
Yet in the meantime thy locks
turn into silver like mine.
Das gemeinsame Schicksal.
Siehe, wir hassen, wir streiten,
es trennet uns Neigung und Meinung;
Aber es bleichet indes
dir sich die Locke, wie mir.
The Last Martyr.
That you may roast me like Huss,[1]
it is possible; but it is certain,
After me cometh the swan
who will my mission complete.
Der letzte Märtyrer.
Auch mich bratet ihr noch
als Huss vielleicht, aber wahrhaftig!
Lange bleibet der Schwan,
der es vollendet, nicht aus.
SOUL AND WORLD.
Our Own.
Common possessions are thoughts,
while your sentiment only is private.
Shall He your property be,
feel Him--the God whom you think.
Das eigne Ideal.
Allen gehört, was du denkst,
dein eigen ist nur, was du fühlest,
Soll er dein Eigenthum sein,
fühle den Gott, den du denkst.
Harmony.
Reason, what is it? The voice of the whole;
and thy heart is thy selfhood.
Happy thou art, if for aye
reason will dwell in thy heart.
Schöne Individualität.
Stimme des Ganzen ist deine Vernunft,
dein Herz bist du selber:
Wohl dir, wenn die Vernunft
immer im Herzen dir wohnt.
The Key.
If, friend, thyself thou wilt fathom,
observe how thy fellows are acting.
If thou thy fellows wilt know,
search in thine own heart of hearts.
Der Schlüssel.
Willst du dich selber erkennen,
so sieh, wie die Andern es treiben.
Willst du die Andern verstehn,
blick in dein eigenes Herz.
Worth and Value.
Dost thou _possess_ things, impart them to me,
and I’ll pay thee their value.
But, friend, if something thou _art_,
let us our souls interchange!
Das Werthe und Würdige.
Hast du etwas, so gib es her
und ich zahle, was recht ist,
Bist du etwas, o dann
tauschen die Seelen wir aus.
Nature and Reason.
Reason may build above nature,
but findeth there emptiness only,
Genius will nature increase,
nature, however, it adds.
Der Genius.
Ueber Natur hinaus baut die Vernunft
doch nur in das Leere,
Du nur, Genius, mehrst
in der Natur die Natur.
Oneness.
Beauty is always but one,
though the beautiful changes and varies,
And ’tis the change of the one,
which thus the beautiful forms.
Schönheit.
Schönheit ist ewig nur Eine,
doch mannichfach wechselt das Schöne,
Dass es wechselt, das macht
eben das Eine nur schön.
Various Destinies.
Millions of folks are kept busy
the race of mankind propagating,
But in the minds of a few,
only, humanity grows.
Die verschiedene Bestimmung.
Millionen sorgen dafür,
dass die Gattung bestehe,
Aber durch Wenige nur
pflanzet die Menschheit sich fort.
The Immutable.
Time, unimpeded, is hastening on.
Why? It seeketh the constant.
He who is faithful will bind
time with eternity’s ties.
Das Unwandelbare.
“Unaufhaltsam enteilet die Zeit.”
Sie sucht das Beständ’ge.
Sei getreu, und du legst
ewige Fesseln ihr an.
The Law of Nature.
Thus it was always, my friend;
it will be so forever, that weakness
Claims in its favor the rule,
yet it is strength that succeeds.
Das Naturgesetz.
So war’s immer, mein Freund,
und so wird’s bleiben. Die Ohnmacht
Hat die Regel für sich,
aber die Kraft den Erfolg.
Zeus to Heracles.
Thou hast divinity, son,
not acquired by drinking my nectar;
But thy divinity has
conquered the nectar for thee.
Zeus zu Herkules.
Nicht aus meinem Nektar
hast du dir Gottheit getrunken;
Deine Götterkraft war’s,
die dir den Nektar errang.
Folly and Insanity.
Wit, if it awkwardly misses the point,
is regarded as silly,
But when a genius slips,
madly in fury he raves.
Aberwitz und Wahnwitz.
Ueberspringt sich der Witz,
so lachen wir über den Thoren,
Gleitet der Genius aus,
ist er dem Rasenden gleich.
Motives and Action.
“God only seeth the heart!”
Since the heart can be seen by God only,
Friend, let us also behold
something that is not amiss.
Inneres und Aeusseres.
“Gott nur siehet das Herz.”
Drum eben, weil Gott nur das Herz sieht,
Sorge, dass wir doch auch
etwas Erträgliches sehn.
Baal Priests.
Liberty sacred and holy,
man’s noble endeavor for progress,
Never couldst thou for thy cause
worse representatives find.
Baalspfaffen.
Heilige Freiheit! Erhabener Trieb
der Menschen zum Bessern!
Wahrlich, du konntest dich nicht
schlechter mit Priestern versehn!
Salvation.
Two are the roads out of life,
which to all lie equally open:
To the ideal the one
leadeth, the other to death.
Venture to make thine escape
on the former while time still may grant it,
Ere on the latter thou art
doomed to destruction and death.
Die idealische Freiheit.
Aus dem Leben heraus
sind der Wege zwei dir geöffnet:
Zum Ideale führt
einer, der andre zum Tod.
Siehe, dass du bei Zeit
noch frei auf dem ersten entspringest,
Ehe die Parze mit Zwang
dich auf dem andern entführt.
Human Life.
When we are starting in life,
an eternity opens before us.
Yet e’en the wise at its close
narrowly limited end.
Menschliches Wirken.
An dem Eingang der Bahn
liegt die Unendlichkeit offen,
Doch mit dem engesten Kreis
höret der Weiseste auf.
Immortality.
Art thou afraid, friend, of death,
and for life everlasting art yearning?
Live as a part of the whole!
When thou art gone it remains.
Unsterblichkeit.
Vor dem Tode erschrickst du?
Du wünschest, unsterblich zu leben?
Leb’ im Ganzen! Wenn du
lange dahin bist, es bleibt.
Indestructible.
Float down-stream to the ocean,
O ice-floe! And if as an ice-floe
Reachest thou not the great main,
surely thou’lt find it as drops.
Unsterblich.
Schwimme, du mächtige Scholle, nur hin!
und kommst du als Scholle
Nicht hinunter, du kommst
doch wohl als Tropfen ins Meer.
God, World, and Man.
Is it a secret abysmal,
what God, what the world, and what man is?
No! But the truth is not liked:
therefore the secret remains.
Gott, Welt und Mensch.
Ist’s denn so grosses Geheimniss,
was Gott und der Mensch und die Welt sei?
Nein! Doch Niemand hört’s
gerne; da bleibt es geheim.
CRITICAL AND LITERARY.
The Poet Addresses His Muse.
How I could live without thee,
I conceive not. But horror o’ertakes me,
Seeing these thousands and more
who without thee can exist.
An die Muse.
Was ich ohne dich wäre,
ich weiss es nicht; aber mir grauet,
Seh’ ich, was ohne dich
Hundert’ und Tausende sind.
To Incompetent Reviewers.
Difficult ’tis to achieve;
to find fault, though, is easy, O critics!
Shrink not, when finding a flaw,
excellence freely to praise.
Die Unberufenen.
Tadeln ist leicht, erschaffen so schwer;
ihr Tadler des Schwachen,
Habt ihr das Treffliche denn
auch zu belohnen ein Herz?
Wolf’s Homer.
Seven Greek cities have boasted
of being the birthplace of Homer.
Since he is torn by the Wolf,[2]
ev’ry one taketh her piece.
Der Wolfische Homer.
Sieben Städte zankten sich drum,
ihn geboren zu haben,
Nun da der Wolf ihn zerriss,
nehme sich jede ihr Stück.
Intellectual Aristocracy.
Easily wins an enthusiast
disciples by stirring the masses.
Thinkers of solidest stamp
find but a scanty support.
Pictures that miracles work
are invariably daubs without value,
Products of genuine art
suit not the taste of the mob.
Geistige Aristokratie.
Schüler macht sich der Schwärmer
genug und rühret die Menge,
Wenn der vernünftige Mann
einzelne Liebende zählt.
Wunderthätige Bilder
sind meist nur schlechte Gemälde:
Werke des Geists und der Kunst
sind für den Pöbel nicht da.
Bad Times.
Language philosophers spoil,
so is logic distorted by poets;
Sound common sense in this way
badly is crippled for life.
Böse Zeiten.
Philosophen verderben die Sprache,
Poeten die Logik,
Und mit dem Menschenverstand
kommt man durch’s Leben nicht mehr.
Mutual Admiration Society.
Be not so dainty, dear sirs.
Are ye anxious to heap on each other
Honor and praise, ye should rail
one at the other with vim.
Auf zwei Sudler, die einander loben.
Nicht so, nicht so, ihr Herrn.
Wollt ihr einander zu Ehren
Bringen, muss vor der Welt
Einer den Andern verschrei’n.
Dilettante.
If thou succeed with a verse
in a language worked out and consummate,
Shaping thy thought and thy rhyme,
think’st thou a poet thou art.
Dilettant.
Weil ein Vers dir gelingt
in einer gebildeten Sprache,
Die für dich dichtet und denkt,
glaubst du schon Dichter zu sein.
To One Author.
Tell me the things that you know,
and I’ll be glad to receive it.
But if you will give yourself,
spare me, my friend, if you please.[3]
An ⁕.
Theile mir mit, was du weisst,
ich werd’ es dankbar empfangen,
Aber du gibst mir dich selbst,
damit verschone mich, Freund.
To Another Author.
Please do not try to teach facts,
for we care not a straw for the subject.
All we do care for are facts
as they are treated by _you_.[4]
An ⁕⁕.
Du willst Wahres mich lehren?
Bemühe dich nicht, nicht die Sache
Will ich durch dich, ich will
dich durch die Sache nur sehn.
Wanted.
Wanted, a servant who writeth
a legible hand, and who also
Fairly can spell, but he must
leave the _belles lettres_ alone.
Sachen so gesucht werden.
Einen Bedienten wünscht man zu haben,
der leserlich schreibet
Und orthographisch, jedoch
nichts in _belles lettres_ gethan.
Artifice.
Do you desire the applause
of the worldly as well as the pious,
Picture licentiousness, but
picture the Devil besides.[5]
Der Kunstgriff.
Wollt ihr zugleich den Kindern der Welt
und den Frommen gefallen?
Malet die Wollust -- nur
malet den Teufel dazu.
A Discussion.
One, we can hear, speaks after the other,
but no one gives answer.
Several monologues are,
certainly, not a debate.[6]
Das philosophische Gespräch.
Einer, das höret man wohl,
spricht nach dem Andern, doch Keiner
Mit dem Andern; wer nennt
zwei Monologen Gespräch?
SATIRICAL AND PERSONAL.
The Great Moment.
This our century, freely I grant,
has begot a great epoch;
But the great moment, alas!
findeth a very small race.
Der Zeitpunkt.
Eine grosse Epoche
hat das Jahrhundert geboren,
Aber der grosse Moment
findet ein kleines Geschlecht.
To Some Critics.
Wretches! Speak wretched of me,
but oblige me by truthfully adding:
Earnest is he. For the rest,
wretches, speak wretched of me.
An die Herren H. J. K.
Lumpen! redet lumpig von mir,
doch saget: es war ihm
Ernst! und redet sodann,
Lumpen, ihr lumpig von mir.
The Vinculum.
How has nature united
in man the sublime and the vulgar?
Vanity did she ensconce
right in the middle of both.
Das Verbindungsmittel.
Wie verfährt die Natur,
um Hohes und Niedres im Menschen
Zu verbinden? Sie stellt
Eitelkeit zwischen hinein.
Present Generation.
Has it been always as now?
O how strange is to-day’s generation!
Youthful is only old age,
old, alas! only is youth.
Jetzige Generation.
War es immer wie jetzt?
Ich kann das Geschlecht nicht begreifen.
Nur das Alter ist jung,
Ach! und die Jugend ist alt.
To Those in Authority.
Don’t be disturbed by the barking;
remain in your places. The barkers
Eagerly wish for your seats,
there to be barked at themselves.[7]
An die Oberen.
Immer bellt man auf euch!
bleibt sitzen! es wünschen die Beller
Jene Plätze, wo man
ruhig das Bellen vernimmt.
Questionable Investigation.
Gentlemen, boldly dissect,
for dissection is very instructive.
Woe, none the less, to the frog
who has to offer his leg.
Kritische Studien.
Schneidet, schneidet, ihr Herrn,
durch Schneiden lernet der Schüler,
Aber wehe dem Frosch,
der euch den Schenkel muss leihn!
The Spirit and the Letter.
Truly, you may for a time
still deceive with your valueless counters,
But in the end, my dear sirs,
debts must be paid in good coin.
Der Geist und der Buchstabe.
Lange kann man mit Marken,
mit Rechenpfennigen zählen,
Endlich, es hilft nichts, ihr Herrn,
muss man den Beutel doch ziehn.
The Sense of a Committee.
Ev’ry one singly considered,
is sensible, doubtless, and clever;
But in a body the whole
number of them is a dunce.
Gelehrte Gesellschaft.
Jeder, siehst du ihn einzeln,
ist leidlich klug und verständig,
Sind sie _in corpore_,
gleich wird ein Dummkopf daraus.
Taste in a Watering Place.
This is a singular country;
the springs here have taste and the rivers;
Taste, though, is not to be found
in the inhabitants’ minds.
Gesundbrunnen zu ⁕⁕⁕.
Seltsames Land! Hier haben
die Flüsse Geschmack und die Quellen,
Bei den Bewohnern allein
hab’ ich noch keinen verspürt.
Sample of Modern Criticism.
You, among poets, alone possess worth,
for to imitate nature,
Nevermore would you object
platitudes freely to use.
Probe moderner Kritik.
Du nur bist mir der würdige Dichter!
Es kommt dir auf eine
Platitüde nicht an,
nur um natürlich zu sein.
Nicolai’s Book on the Source of the Danube.[8]
Nothing he likes that is great;
for that reason the shallow inquirer
Traces, great Danube, thy course
till thou art shallow and flat.
Nikolai’s Buch über die Quellen der Donau.
Nichts kann er leiden was gross ist
und mächtig, drum, herrliche Donau,
Spürt dir der Häscher so lang
nach, bis er seicht dich ertappt.
The Collector.
Always he fought against form,
and he knows it. He, during his lifetime,
Gathered with trouble and pain
formless material in heaps.
Formalphilosophie.
Allen Formen macht er den Krieg,
er weiss wohl, zeitlebens
Hat er mit Müh’ und Noth
Stoff nur zusammengeschleppt.
Crudity.
Can you not touch it with hands,
then, O blind one, you think it chimeric!
And, ’tis a pity, your hands
sully whatever they touch.
Das grobe Organ.
Was du mit Händen nicht greifst,
das scheint dir Blindem ein Unding,
Und betastest du was,
gleich ist das Ding auch beschmutzt.
Nicolai’s Motto.
Truth I am preaching. ’Tis truth;
and nothing but truth--understand me.
My truth, of course! For I know
none to exist but my own.
Das Motto.
Wahrheit sag’ ich euch, Wahrheit
und immer Wahrheit, versteht sich:
Meine Wahrheit; denn sonst
ist mir auch keine bekannt.
A Publisher.
Look at this press which I own.
The machine when it printeth is thinking.
Here I present you a book
which as a sample may serve.
Verleger von P⁕⁕ Schriften.
Eine Maschine besitz’ ich,
die selber denkt, wie sie drucket,
Obengenanntes Werk
zeig’ ich zur Probe hier vor.
In Comparison with Socrates.
Pythia dubbed him a sage,
when of ignorance boldly he boasted.
Friend, how much wiser art thou!
What he pretended, thou art.
Sokrates.
Weil er unwissend sich rühmte,
nannt’ ihn Apollo den Weisen.
Freund, wie viel weiser bist du;
was er blos rühmte, du bist’s.
To Certain Moralists.
’Tis a great pity, dear sirs,
to espouse the right cause you are anxious,
But you are void of good sense:
reason and judgment are gone.
An die Herren N. O. P.
Euch bedaur’ ich am meisten,
ihr wähltet gern das Gute,
Aber euch hat die Natur
gänzlich das Urtheil versagt.
Martyrs.
Nail to the cross the fanatic
as soon as he reacheth the thirties!
For when he knoweth the world,
surely the dupe will turn rogue.
Guter Rathschlag.
Jeglichen Schwärmer schlagt mir ans Kreuz
im dreissigsten Jahre;
Kennt er nur einmal die Welt,
wird der Betrogne der Schelm.
The Brothers Stolberg.[9]
Since you reviled the Olympian gods,
Apollo has thrown you
Down from Parnassus. You now
enter the heavenly realm.
Der Ersatz.
Als du die griechischen Götter geschmäht,
da warf dich Apollo
Von dem Parnasse; dafür
gehst du ins Himmelreich ein.
The Connoisseur.
Vases of classical art!
O how easily live I without them!
But a Majolica pot
maketh me happy and rich.[10]
Der Kenner.
Alte Vasen und Urnen!
Das Zeug wohl könnt’ ich entbehren;
Doch ein Majolica-Topf
machte mich glücklich und reich.
Sentimentalists.
Never thought I very highly
of people that are sentimental.[11]
When an occasion arrives,
grossly their meanness appears.
H. S.
Auf das empfindsame Volk
hab’ ich nie was gehalten, es werden,
Kommt die Gelegenheit nur,
schlechte Gesellen daraus.
The Prophet.
Pity ’tis, when thou wast born,
that Nature created but one man!
Stuff for a gentleman is,
and for a scoundrel, in thee.[12]
Der Prophet.
Schade, dass die Natur
nur Einen Menschen aus dir schuf,
Denn zum würdigen Mann
war und zum Schelmen der Stoff.
The Half-Bird.
Vainly the ostrich endeavors to fly:
he but awkwardly saileth
When he is moving his feet
over the issueless sand.[13]
Der Halbvogel.
Fliegen möchte der Strauss,
allein er rudert vergeblich,
Ungeschickt rühret der Fuss
immer den leidigen Sand.
Partisan Spirit.
Where there are parties, the people
are siding with zeal on each issue.
Years must elapse before both
join in the middle their hands.
Parteigeist.
Wo Parteien entstehn,
hält Jeder sich hüben und drüben,
Viele Jahre vergehn,
eh’ sie die Mitte vereint.
THE PHILOSOPHERS IN HADES.
The Poet Speaks.
Good that I meet you together,
my friends; the thing that is needful
Made me descend to this place.
Here I can question you all.
Philosophen.
Gut, dass ich euch, ihr Herren,
_in pleno_ beisammen hier finde,
Denn das Eine, was noth,
treibt mich herunter zu euch.
Aristotle.
Question right out, my dear sir,
for we read philosophical journals,
We keep instructed in Hell,[14]
whatsoe’er happens on earth.
Aristoteles.
Gleich zur Sache, mein Freund.
Wir halten die Jenaer Zeitung
Hier in der Hölle und sind
längst schon von Allem belehrt.
Urgent.
Gentlemen, listen! I’ll stay here
until you propose me a statement
That’s universally true,
one that we all can accept.
Dringend.
Desto besser! So gebt mir,
ich geh’ euch nicht eher vom Leibe,
Einen allgiltigen Satz,
und der auch allgemein gilt.
Descartes.
_Cogito ergo sum._
I am thinking and therefore existing.
If but the former is true,
there’s of the latter no doubt.
Descartes.
_Cogito ergo sum._
Ich denke und mithin, so bin ich,
Ist das Eine nur wahr,
ist es das Andre gewiss.
My Answer.
If I am thinking, I am.
Very well! But who’s all the time thinking?
Often I was, I confess,
when I thought nothing at all.
Ich.
Denk ich, so bin ich! Wohl!
Doch wer wird immer auch denken?
Oft schon war ich, und hab’
wirklich an gar nichts gedacht!
Spinoza.
Things do exist, sir, and therefore
a thing of all things is existing;
And in the thing of all things
swim we just such as we are.
Spinoza.
Weil es Dinge doch gibt,
so gibt es ein Ding aller Dinge,
In dem Ding aller Ding’
schwimmen wir, wie wir so sind.
Berkeley.
True is the opposite, let me declare.
Besides me there is nothing.
Everything else, you must know,
is but a bubble in me.
Berkeley.
Just das Gegentheil sprech’ ich.
Es gibt kein Ding als mich selber!
Alles andre, in mir
steigt es als Blase nur auf.
Leibniz.
Two things exist, I admit,
the world and the soul; of which neither
Knows of the other; yet both
indicate oneness at last.
Leibniz.
Zweierlei Dinge lass ich passiren,
die Welt und die Seele,
Keins weiss vom andern und doch
deuten sie beide auf Eins.
Kant.
Naught do I know of the thing,
and naught of the soul know I either.
Both to me merely appear;
but by no means are they sham.
Kant.
Von dem Ding weiss ich nichts,
und weiss auch nichts von der Seele,
Beide erscheinen mir nur,
aber sie sind doch kein Schein.
David Hume.
Do not converse with those people,
for Kant has thrown all in confusion.
Me you must ask; for I am,
still here in Hell,[14] like myself.
David Hume.
Rede nicht mit dem Volk,
der Kant hat sie alle verwirret,
Mich frag’, ich bin mir selbst
auch in der Hölle noch gleich.
Fichte.
_I_ am _I_, and I posit myself;
but in case I should posit
Self as not posited,--well,
then the not-I is produced.
Fichte.
Ich bin ich, und setze mich selbst,
und setz’ ich mich selber
Als nicht gesetzt, nun gut!
setz’ ich ein Nicht-Ich dazu.
Reinhold.[15]
Surely conception there is;
it proves that a concept existeth
And a conceiver, no doubt;
which altogether make three.
Reinhold.
Vorstellung wenigstens ist;
ein Vorgestelltes ist also,
Ein Vorstellendes auch,
macht, mit der Vorstellung, drei!
My Answer.
These propositions, O sages,
possess but small value; they’re trifling.
Make me some statement that helps,
and let it be to the point.
Ich.
Damit lock’ ich, ihr Herrn,
noch keinen Hund aus dem Ofen,
Einen erklecklichen Satz
will ich, und der auch was setzt.
K. Ch. F. Schmidt, the Moral Philosopher.
In theoretical regions,
no more can be found by inquirers.
But still the practical word
holdeth: “Thou canst, for thou shalt.”
K. Ch. F. Schmidt.
Auf theoretischem Feld
ist weiter nichts mehr zu finden,
Aber der praktische Satz
gilt doch: Du kannst, denn du sollst!
My Answer.
Well, I expected it so;
for whene’er you have nothing to answer,
People like you will at last
still to our conscience appeal.
Ich.
Dacht’ ich’s doch! Wissen sie nichts
Vernünftiges mehr zu erwidern,
Schieben sie’s einem geschwind
in das Gewissen hinein.
Philosophy.
Which will survive of the many
philosophies? Surely I know not!
Always philosophy though,
truly I hope, will remain.
Die Philosophien.
Welche wohl bleibt von allen
den Philosophien? Ich weiss nicht,
Aber die Philosophie,
hoff’ ich, soll immer bestehn.
PHILOSOPHICAL PROBLEMS.
For Sale.
Since Metaphysics of late
without heirs to her fathers is gathered,
Here at the auctioneer’s are
“things in themselves” to be sold.
Auction.
Da die Metaphysik
vor kurzem unbeerbt abging,
Werden die “Dinge an sich”
morgen _sub hasta_ verkauft.
A Flaw.
Let but an error be hid
in the stone of foundation. The builder
Buildeth with confidence on.
Never the error is found.[16]
Die Möglichkeit.
Liegt der Irrthum nur erst,
wie ein Grundstein, unten im Boden,
Immer baut man darauf,
nimmermehr kömmt er an Tag.
Empiricists.
On the securest of paths
you have started, and no one denies it.
But on the straightest of roads
blindly you grope in the dark.
Empiriker.
Dass ihr den sichersten Pfad gewählt,
wer möchte das läugnen?
Aber ihr tappet nur blind
auf dem gebahntesten Pfad.
Theoreticians.
You are obedient to rules;
your conclusions would doubtless be valid,
Were but your premises true,
major, and minor as well.
Theoretiker.
Ihr verfahrt nach Gesetzen,
auch würdet ihr’s sicherlich treffen,
Wäre der Obersatz nur,
wäre der Untersatz wahr!
Last Refuge.
Oh! how disdainful you speak
and how proud, of the specialist’s blindness!
But in emergencies, he
comes to the rescue alone.
Letzte Zuflucht.
Vornehm schaut ihr im Glück
auf den blinden Empiriker nieder,
Aber, seid ihr in Noth,
ist er der delphische Gott.
Natural Science and Transcendental[17] Philosophy.
Enemies shall ye remain!
As yet premature is your alliance.
Though you may separate now,
truth will be found by your search.
Naturforscher und Transcendental-Philosophen.
Feindschaft sei zwischen euch,
noch kommt das Bündniss zu frühe,
Wenn ihr im Suchen euch trennt,
wird erst die Wahrheit erkannt.
The Same.
Both have to travel their ways,
and the one should not know of the other.
Each one must wander on straight,
yet in the end they will meet.
An die voreiligen Verbindungsstifter.
Jeder wandle für sich,
und wisse nichts von dem Andern,
Wandeln nur Beide gerad’,
finden sich Beide gewiss.
Kant and His Interpreters.
One man of wealth gives a living
to armies of indigent people;
Kings that are building provide
teamsters with plenty of work.
Kant und seine Ausleger.
Wie doch ein einziger Reicher
so viele Bettler in Nahrung
Setzt! Wenn die Könige bau’n,
haben die Kärrner zu thun.
Teleology.
Worship, O man, the Creator,
who, when he created the cork-tree,
Kindly suggested the art
how we might bottle our wine.
Der Teleolog.
Welche Verehrung verdient
der Weltenschöpfer, der gnädig,
Als er den Korkbaum schuf,
gleich auch die Stöpsel erfand.
The Problem of Natural Law.[18]
Years upon years I’ve been using
my nose for the purpose of smelling.
Now I must question myself:
Have I a right to its use?
Rechtsfrage.
Jahre lang schon bedien’ ich
mich meiner Nase zum Riechen,
Hab’ ich denn wirklich an sie
auch ein erweisliches Recht?
Puffendorf’s Reply.
Well! ’Tis a critical case!
But possession is strong in your favor.[19]
Since you’re possessed of a nose,
use it in future, I say.
Puffendorf.
Ein bedenklicher Fall!
Doch die Erste Possession scheint
Für dich zu sprechen, und so
brauche sie immerhin fort.
A Moral Problem.
Willingly serve I my friends;
but, ’tis pity, I do it with pleasure.
And I am really vexed
that there’s no virtue in me![20]
Gewissensscrupel.
Gerne dien’ ich den Freunden,
doch thu’ ich es leider mit Neigung,
Und so wurmt es mir oft,
dass ich nicht tugendhaft bin.
The Kantian’s Decision.
Better advice I can’t give you
than that thou must try to despise friends.
Then what your duty demands,
you will perform with disgust.[20]
Decisum.
Da ist kein anderer Rath,
du musst suchen, sie zu verachten,
Und mit Abscheu alsdann
thun, wie die Pflicht dir gebeut.
Human Knowledge.[21]
When thou decipher’st in nature
the writing which thou hast inscribed there,
When its phenomena thou
castest in groups for thine eye,
When thou hast covered its infinite fields
with thy measuring tape-lines,
Dost thou imagine, thy mind
really graspeth the All?
Thus the astronomer paints
on the heavens his star-constellations
Merely his bearings to find
easily in their domain.
Suns that at measureless distances roam,
oh how closely together
Have they been joined in the swan
and in the horns of the bull!
But can the heavens be thus understood
in their mystical cycles,
When their projections appear
on planispherical charts?
Menschliches Wissen.
Weil du liesest in ihr,
was du selber in sie geschrieben,
Weil du in Gruppen für’s Aug’
ihre Erscheinungen reihst,
Deine Schnüre gezogen
auf ihrem unendlichen Felde,
Wähnst du, es fasse dein Geist
ahnend die grosse Natur.
So beschreibt mit Figuren
der Astronome den Himmel,
Dass in dem ewigen Raum
leichter sich finde der Blick,
Knüpft entlegene Sonnen,
durch Siriusfernen geschieden,
Aneinander im Schwan
und in den Hörnern des Stiers.
Aber versteht er darum
der Sphären mystische Tänze,
Weil ihm das Sternengewölb
sein Planiglobium zeigt?
Systems.
Splendidly did you construct
your sublime philosophical systems!
Heavens! how shall we eject
errors that live in such style.
Die Systeme.
Prächtig habt ihr gebaut.
Du lieber Himmel! Wie treibt man,
Nun er so königlich erst
wohnet, den Irrthum heraus!
SCIENCE AND ART.
Genius a Gift.
Born is the poet ’tis said;
and we add, the philosopher also.
For it is certain that truth
has to be formed to be seen.
Wissenschaftliches Genie.
Wird der Poet nur geboren?
Der Philosoph wird’s nicht minder.
Alle Wahrheit zuletzt
wird nur gebildet, geschaut.
Truth and Form.
Truth will be mighty although
an inferior hand should defend it,
But in the empire of art
form and its contents are one.
Mittheilung.
Aus der schlechtesten Hand
kann Wahrheit mächtig noch wirken,
Bei der Schönheit allein
macht das Gefäss den Gehalt.
Creation.
Good from the good, I declare
that each sensible man can evolve it;
But a true genius, indeed,
good from the bad can produce.
Mere imitations are forms reproduced,
but a genius createth;
What is to others well formed,
is but material to him.
Der Nachahmer.
Gutes aus Gutem, das kann
jedweder Verständige bilden;
Aber der Genius ruft
Gutes aus Schlechtem hervor.
An Gebildetem nur
darfst du, Nachahmer, dich üben;
Selbst Gebildetes ist
Stoff nur dem bildenden Geist.
Different Applications.
Science to one is the Goddess,
majestic and lofty,--to others
She is the cow that supplies
butter to put on his bread.
Wissenschaft.
Einem ist sie die hohe,
die himmlische Göttin, dem Andern
Eine tüchtige Kuh,
die ihn mit Butter versorgt.
The Sublime.
Boldly astronomers claim
that their science is truly sublimest;
Aye; but sublimity, sirs,
nowhere existeth in space.
An die Astronomen.
Euer Gegenstand ist
der erhabenste freilich im Raume;
Aber, Freunde, im Raum
wohnt das Erhabene nicht.
Fiction and Truth.
“What is the purpose of poetry’s art?”
By and by I shall tell you.
First of reality, friend,
tell me the purpose and use.
Poet, Erdichtung und Wahrheit.
Wozu nützt denn die ganze Erdichtung?[22]
Ich will es dir sagen,
Leser, sagst du mir erst,
wozu die Wirklichkeit nützt.
The Poet and the Naturalist.
Both of us search for the truth;
thou in nature, I here in the inner
Heart of myself. And the truth
each one thus findeth at last.
Is but clearsighted thine eye,
it will meet in the world the Creator.
And is but healthy my heart,
clearly ’twill mirror the world.
Die Uebereinstimmung.
Wahrheit suchen wir beide;
du aussen im Leben, ich innen
In dem Herzen, und so
findet sie jeder gewiss.
Ist das Auge gesund,
so begegnet es aussen dem Schöpfer,
Ist es das Herz, dann gewiss
spiegelt es innen die Welt.
Trust in Scientific Truth.
Sail, O thou sailor courageous!
Ne’er mind that the wit will deride thee,
And that thy boatswain will drop
wearied of work at the helm.
Sail, O sail on for the West:
There the land must emerge from the ocean,
As thy prophetical mind
clearly perceiveth e’en now.
Trust to the God who thee leadeth,
and cross the mysterious ocean.
Did not the land there exist,
now it would rise from the deep.
Truly with Genius Nature
has made an eternal alliance,
What is by Genius foretold,
Nature unfailing fulfils.
Kolumbus.
Steure, muthiger Segler!
Es mag der Witz dich verhöhnen
Und der Schiffer am Steu’r
senken die lässige Hand.
Immer, immer nach West!
Dort muss die Küste sich zeigen,
Liegt sie doch deutlich und liegt
schimmernd vor deinem Verstand.
Traue dem leitenden Gott
und folge dem schweigenden Weltmeer!
Wär’ sie noch nicht, sie stieg’
jetzt aus den Fluthen empor.
Mit dem Genius steht
die Natur in ewigem Bunde;
Was der eine verspricht,
leistet die andre gewiss.
Wisdom and Prudence.
Would you attain, my dear friend,
to the loftiest summit of wisdom,
Dare it and be not afraid,
should you by prudence be scoffed.
Prudence shortsightedly sees
of the shores but the one that recedeth.
But she can never discern
that one for which you set sail.
Weisheit und Klugheit.
Willst du, Freund, die erhabensten Höh’n
der Weisheit erfliegen,
Wag’ es auf die Gefahr,
dass dich die Klugheit verlacht.
Die kurzsichtige sieht
nur das Ufer, das dir zurückflieht,
Jenes nicht, wo dereinst
landet dein muthiger Flug.
WISDOM, MORALITY AND RELIGION.
The Highest.
Do you desire the highest, the greatest?
A plant can instruct you.
What it unconsciously is,
will it! ’Tis all you can do.
Das Höchste.
Suchst du das Höchste, das Grösste?
Die Pflanze kann es dich lehren;
Was sie willenlos ist,
sei du es wollend -- das ist’s!
Piety and Natural Science.
Had ye the power, O ye dreamers,
to grasp your ideals completely,
Certainly you would revere
Nature, for that is her due.
Had ye, philistines, the power,
to conceive the great whole of all nature,
Surely your path could but lead
up to ideal domains.
Natur und Vernunft.
Wär’t ihr, Schwärmer, im Stande,
die Ideale zu fassen,
O so verehrtet ihr auch,
wie sich’s gebührt, die Natur.
Wär’t ihr, Philister, im Stand,
die Natur im Grossen zu sehen,
Sicher führte sie selbst
euch zu Ideen empor.
Misrepresented.
Moralists pillory Nature,
and yet she is holy and healthy!
Reason’s divinity is
vilely by bigots debased.
Fratzen.
Fromme gesunde Natur!
Wie stellt die Moral dich an Pranger!
Heil’ge Vernunft! Wie tief
stürzt dich der Schwärmer herab!
Philosopher and Bigot.
While the philosopher standeth on earth,
eyes heavenward raising,
Bigots lie, eyes in the mud,
stretching their legs to the skies.
Der Philosoph und der Schwärmer.
Jener steht auf der Erde,
doch schauet das Auge zum Himmel,
Dieser, die Augen im Koth,
recket die Beine hinauf.
Theological Hedonists.
Folks that seek pleasure in all
will with gluttony relish ideas;
Knives they will carry, and forks
up to celestial repasts.
Theophagen.
Diesen ist alles Genuss.
Sie essen Ideen und bringen
In das Himmelreich selbst
Messer und Gabel hinauf.
Friend and Enemy.
Dear is the friend whom I love;
but the enemy useful. The former
Helps me my utmost to dare,
enemies teach me the ought.
Freund und Feind.
Theuer ist mir der Freund,
doch auch den Feind kann ich nützen.
Zeigt mir der Freund, was ich kann,
lehrt mich der Feind, was ich soll.
Distinction.
There’s a nobility, too,
in the empire of morals. For common
Natures will pay with their deeds,
noble ones with what they are.
Unterschied der Stände.
Adel ist auch in der sittlichen Welt.
Gemeine Naturen
Zahlen mit dem was sie thun,
edle mit dem, was sie sind.
Perfection.
No one should be like the other,
but each one should be like the Highest!
“Tell me how that to attain!”
Perfect must ev’ry one be.
Aufgabe.
Keiner sei gleich dem Andern,
doch gleich sei Jeder dem Höchsten!
Wie das zu machen? Es sei
Jeder vollendet in sich.
Goodness and Greatness.
Only two virtues exist.
How I wish they were always united!
Goodness should always be great;
greatness should always be good.
Güte and Grösse.
Nur zwei Tugenden gibt’s.
O, wären sie immer vereinigt,
Immer die Güte auch gross,
immer die Grösse auch gut!
The One Thing Needed.
Whether the smartest thou art
does not matter, but this is important,
That thou be honest throughout,
both at the council and home.
Die Hauptsache.
Ob du der Klügste seist,
daran ist wenig gelegen;
Aber der Biederste sei,
so wie bei Rathe, zu Haus.
Our Duty.
Always aspire to the whole,
and can you alone independent
Not be a whole by yourself,
serve then as part of the whole.
Pflicht für Jeden.
Immer strebe zum Ganzen;
und kannst du selber kein Ganzes
Werden, als dienendes Glied
schliess’ an ein Ganzes dich an.
Difference in Oneness.
Truth is the same to us all;
yet to each her appearance will vary.
When she remaineth the same,
diff’rent conceptions are true.
Wahrheit.
Eine nur ist sie für Alle,
so siehet sie Jeder verschieden,
Dass es Eines doch bleibt,
macht das Verschiedene wahr.
Repetition.
Let me repeat it a hundred,
a thousand times: “Error is error.”
Whether proclaimed by the great,
or by the smallest of men.
Wiederholung.
Hundertmal werd’ ich’s euch sagen
und tausendmal: Irrthum ist Irrthum!
Ob ihn der grösste Mann,
ob ihn der kleinste beging.
Utility.
Truth that will injure is dearer to me
than available error,
Truth hath a balm for the wounds
which she may sometimes inflict.
Was nutzt.
Schädliche Wahrheit, wie zieh’ ich sie vor
dem nützlichen Irrthum!
Wahrheit heilet den Schmerz,
den sie vielleicht uns erregt.
Harm.
Whether an error will harm us?
Not always! but certainly erring
Always will harm us. How much,
friends, you will see in the end.
Was schadet.
Ist ein Irrthum wohl schädlich?
Nicht immer, aber das Irren,
Immer ist’s schädlich, wie sehr,
sieht man am Ende des Wegs.
Discipline.
Never the truth does us harm.
As a mother she sometimes will punish.
Rearing with firmness her child,
checking the flattering maid.
Zucht.
Wahrheit ist niemals schädlich,
sie straft -- und die Strafe der Mutter
Bildet das schwankende Kind,
wehret der schmeichelnden Magd.
Comfort.
Error accompanies us;
yet a yearning inviolate in us
Constantly leadeth our mind
nearer and nearer to truth.
Trost.
Nie verlässt uns der Irrthum,
doch zieht ein höher Bedürfniss
Immer den strebenden Geist
leise zur Wahrheit hinan.
Analytical Truth-Seekers.
Do you take truth for an onion
whose layers you singly can peel off?
Never on truth can you draw
save you deposit it first.[23]
Analytiker.
Ist denn die Wahrheit ein Zwiebel,
von dem man die Häute nur abschält?
Was ihr hinein nicht gelegt,
ziehet ihr nimmer heraus.
Depreciated Coin.
Princes are coining mean coppers
that poorly are plated with silver,
Stamping their portraits thereon.
Long the deceit remains hid.
Thus the enthusiast stampeth,
as genuine, nonsense and errors.
Many accept them as good,
lacking the touchstone of truth.
Schlechte Münze.
Fürsten prägen so oft
auf kaum versilbertes Kupfer
Ihr bedeutendes Bild;
lange betrügt sich das Volk.
Schwärmer prägen den Stempel
des Geists auf Lügen und Unsinn.
Wem der Probierstein fehlt,
hält sie für redliches Gold.
Ritual.
“How these assiduous clerics
are ringing their bells to the people
Only to cause them to come
vain repetitions to make!”
Do not find fault with the clergy;
they know the demands of the people:
Vain repetitions, observe!
always will gladden man’s heart.
Ceremoniendienst.
Wie sie klingeln, die Pfaffen!
Wie angelegen sie’s machen,
Dass man komme, nur ja
plappre, wie gestern so heut!
Scheltet mir nicht die Pfaffen!
sie kennen des Menschen Bedürfniss:
Denn wie ist er beglückt,
plappert er morgen wie heut!
Mystics.
That is the very mysterious secret
that round us lies open,
Compassing always our minds,
but from our sight ’tis concealed.
An die Mystiker.
Das ist eben das wahre Geheimniss,
das Allen vor Augen
Liegt, euch ewig umgiebt,
aber von Keinem gesehn.
Light and Color.
Live, thou Eternally-One,
in the realm of immutable oneness,
Color, in changes so rich,
kindly descend upon earth.
Licht und Farbe.
Wohne, du ewiglich Eines,
dort bei dem ewiglich Einen!
Farbe, du wechselnde, komm
freundlich zum Menschen herab!
Not Irreligious.
What my religion? I’ll tell you!
There’s none among all you may mention
Which I embrace.--And the cause?
Truly, religion it is!
Mein Glaube.
Welche Religion ich bekenne?
Keine von allen,
Die du mir nennst! “Und warum
keine?” Aus Religion.
Our Father.
Though you may work and aspire,
you will never escape isolation,
Till with her might to the All
Nature has knitted your soul.
Der Vater.
Wirke, so viel du willst,
du stehest ewig allein da,
Bis an das All die Natur
dich, die gewaltige, knüpft.
NOTES.
Notes.
[1] Page 30, Note 1.--The name “Huss” means “goose.” When Huss was
condemned to die at the stake he said:
_“Nach mir wird kommen ein Schwan, Den sollen sie ungebraten lah’n.”_
[After me a swan will rise, Whom they will not roast likewise.]
This doggerel with its grim humor on so tragic an occasion is commonly
and naturally regarded as foretelling the coming of Martin Luther.
[2] Page 55, Note 2.--Professor Wolf was the first to prove that the
Iliad and the Odyssey consisted of a number of epic poems by different
poets, which were collected under the name of Homer. For Goethe’s
feeling with regard to criticism see the translator’s book _Goethe_,
page 273.
[3] Page 60, Note 3.--This distich is addressed to Karl Philip Moritz,
author of an interesting novel in the form of an autobiography, _Anton
Reiser_.
[4] Page 61, Note 4.--This is addressed to F. H. Jacobi, who had
written two philosophical novels, _Woldemar_ and _Allwill_. The
difference between him and Moritz is sufficiently characterized in this
and the preceding distich.
[5] Page 63, Note 5.--This satirizes the sensuous novels of Timotheus
Hermes.
[6] Page 64, Note 6.--Directed against Platner, whose philosophy was
a declamation of platitudes. The distich is true of almost all the
debates that take place in literary clubs after the reading of a paper.
[7] Page 71, Note 7.--Goethe wrote this in criticism of Reichardt’s
praise of the French Revolution.
[8] Page 77, Note 8.--This and the following three distichs
are directed against Nicolai, who was the owner of a large
publishing-house, but at the same time a mediocre author, shallow and
conceited.
[9] Page 85, Note 9.--The Stolberg brothers had been liberal, but
suddenly turned Roman Catholic.
[10] Page 86, Note 10.--The pious Count Leopold Stolberg, exaggerating
the value of Christian art while deprecating classic taste, said that
he would give a whole collection of Greek urns for one Faience vase
painted in the manner of Raphael.
[11] Page 87, Note 11.--The censure is true in its general application;
but the Xenion is aimed at a man (Johann Heinrich Jung, whose _nom de
plume_ was Heinrich Stilling) who did not deserve this castigation. See
_Goethe_, page 16.
[12] Page 88, Note 12.--A severe description of Johann Caspar Lavater.
See _Goethe_, page 28.
[13] Page 89, Note 13.--Also directed against Reichardt. (See Note 7.)
[14] Pages 94 and 102, Note 14.--Schiller renders “Hades” by “Hell”
which here retains the classical meaning and does not imply the idea of
punishment.
[15] Page 104, Note 15.--Karl Leonard Reinhold (born in Vienna October
26, 1758) was educated as a Jesuit and became professor of philosophy
in the Jesuit college of the Barnabites, but renounced the faith of
his youth in 1783 and left Vienna for Weimar, where he married the
daughter of the poet Wieland. He became professor of philosophy at the
University of Jena in 1787 and 1794 in Kiel, where he died April 10,
1823. He was a Kantian and wrote much on Kantian philosophy.
[16] Page 112, Note 16.--Very good as a general criticism. Goethe,
however, was on the wrong track, in directing this distich against
Newton’s theory of color.
[17] Page 116, Note 17.--Kant called his philosophy transcendental
idealism, and his followers insisted upon the importance of
transcendentalism. They were opposed by naturalists, who scorned theory
and insisted on the facts of experience.
For the meaning of the word “transcendental” see the translator’s
_Fundamental Problems_, p. 30 _et passim_, and _Primer of Philosophy_,
p. 66. “Transcendent” means what transcends human knowledge, i. e.,
what is unknowable, but “transcendental” is in Kantian terminology
non-sensory or formal knowledge such as pure logic and arithmetic,
involving the principles of theory or systematic abstract thought.
[18] Page 120, Note 18.--Here the term “natural law” does not mean laws
of nature but the juridical principle based upon primitive natural
conditions.
[19] Page 121, Note 19.--Samuel von Puffendorf (1632-1694) was a famous
jurist and professor of natural law in Berlin. (See previous note.)
[20] Pages 122 and 123, Note 20.--Kant declared that the man who
performed his duty because it gave him pleasure was less moral than he
who did it against his own inclinations.
[21] Page 124, Note 21.--Schiller was a disciple and follower of Kant,
who finds the conditions of knowledge in the thinking subject, not in
the object that is thought. Since a thinking being does not acquire an
insight into the laws of form by experience, but establishes them _a
priori_, Kant believes that things have to conform to cognition and
not cognition to things. Man thus produces truth out of his own being,
and imports it into the objective world. Now it is true that truth and
the criterion of truth, namely reason, develop together with mind; for
indeed reason is the characteristic feature of mind. Things are real,
not true, and truth can dwell in mental representations only. But
considering the fact that mind develops from and by experience which
originates by a contact with objects, and that reason is but the formal
element extracted from experience and systematized--a consideration
which Kant did not make because he never proposed the problem of the
origin of mind--we shall find that the nature of reason and truth
are not purely subjective. Reason is not an arbitrary classification
of things (as the nominalists believe), but a formula that describes
the necessary and universal relations of the objective world.--For
a critical exposition of the problem see the translator’s books on
Kant: _The Surd of Metaphysics_ and _Kant’s Prolegomena_ in which
the question “Are there things in themselves?” is answered in the
negative, but the existence of forms in themselves is insisted upon.
See also the chapters on the “_A Priori_ and the Formal” in his _Primer
of Philosophy_; “The Origin of the _A Priori_” in his _Fundamental
Problems_; and “The Origin of Mind” in _The Soul of Man_.
[22] Page 134, Note 22.--The caesura has here been placed contrary to
the classical rule.
[23] Page 158, Note 23.--Truth cannot directly be taken from reality
but is the product of work, for facts must be observed, stated, and
systematized so as to become truth.
INDEX.
Index.
Action and motives, 44.
Admiration Society, Mutual, 58.
Analytical truth-seekers, 158.
Answer, My, 97, 105, 107.
Anti-Xenions, 9.
Apollo, 85.
Appearance not sham, 101.
Aristotle, 94.
Art, 56, 130; Christian, 168.
Astronomers, 133.
Authority, Those in, 71.
Authors, Two different, 60, 61.
Baal priests, 45.
Barkers, 71.
Beauty, Oneness of, 38.
Beethoven, 3.
Being and possession, 36.
_Belles lettres_, Servant and, 62.
Berkeley, 99.
Bigot and philosopher, 144.
Bigots, 143; (_Schwärmer_), 25.
Blank verse, 19-21.
Boisterous, 28.
Born is the poet, 129.
Bottle wine, How to, 119.
Bubble in me, A, 99.
Bucolic caesura, 16-17.
Caesura, 14-15, 171;
Bucolic, 16-17.
Catalectic, 14.
Celestial repasts, Pleasure in, 145.
Changes and oneness, 162.
Christian art, 168.
Clerics, 160.
Coin, 73;
Depreciated, 159.
Collector, The, 78.
Color and light, 162.
Columbus, 136-137.
Committee, A, 74.
Common natures and noble ones, 147.
Conception makes three, 104.
Connoisseur, 86.
Conscience, 107.
Cork-tree, The, 119.
Counters, Valueless, 73.
Cow or goddess, 132.
Creation, 131.
Creator and world, 135.
Critics, 54, 68.
Crudity, 79.
Dactylic pentameter, 21-22.
Danube, Nicolai on the, 77.
Death, 46; and immortality, 48.
Descartes, 96; Answer to, 97.
Destinies, Various, 39.
Devil, Licentiousness and the, 63.
Dilettante, 59.
Discipline, 156.
Discussion and monologues, 64.
Dissection, 72.
Distich a fountain, 27;
The elegiac, 13ff.
Distinction, 147.
Divinity, 42.
Dreamers, 142.
Dunce, The whole a, 74.
Dupe will turn rogue, 84.
Duty, Our, 151.
Empiricists, 113.
Enemy useful, 146.
Enthusiast, 5, 56, 159.
Erring will harm, 155.
Error and truth, 157, 159;
hid, 112;
is error, 153;
Truth dearer than, 154.
Errors, 126.
Eternity, 40.
Eyes in the mud, 144.
Facts and their treatment, 61.
Fate, Our common, 29.
Father, Our, 164.
Fathom thyself, 35.
Fichte, 103.
Fiction and truth, 134.
Flaw, A, 112.
Folly and insanity, 43.
Foot and meter, 13.
Form, Truth and, 130.
Formless material, 78.
Fountain, The distich a, 27.
Friend and enemy, 146.
Frog, 72.
Genius, a gift, 129;
and nature, 37, 136;
when it slips, 43.
Gift, Genius a, 129.
Goddess or cow, 132.
Goethe and Schiller, 3ff., _et passim_.
Good from the bad, 131.
Goodness and greatness, 149.
Growth, Propagation and, 39.
Hades, Philosophers in, 91-108.
Half-bird, The, 89.
Harmony, 34.
Heart and reason, 34;
of hearts, Thine own, 35.
Hedonists, Theological, 145.
Hell, 169.
Hephthemimeres, 16.
Heracles, Zeus to, 42.
Hermes, Timotheus, 63, 168.
Heroic hexameter, 17.
Highest, The, 141.
Homer, 55, 167.
Honest throughout, Be, 150.
_Horen, Die,_ 6f.
Human, knowledge, 124-125;
life, 47.
Hume, David, 102.
Huss, 30, 167.
Hypocrites (_Heuchler_), 25.
I and not-I, 103.
Iambic trimeter, 19-21.
Ice-floe, 49.
Ideal, Road to, 46.
Imitations, 131.
Immortality and death, 48.
Immutable, The, 40.
Incompetent reviewers, 54.
Indestructible, 49.
Insanity, Folly and, 43.
Investigation, Questionable, 72.
Irreligious, Not, 163.
Jacobi, F. H., 61, 167.
Kant, 3, 101, 102, 169, 170, 171;
and his interpreters, 118.
Kantian’s decision, The, 123.
Key, The, 35.
Language and logic spoiled, 57;
qualitative and quantitative, 18;
shaping verse, 59.
Lavater, Johann Caspar, 88, 168.
Leibniz, 100.
Letter, Spirit and, 73.
Licentiousness and the Devil, 63.
Life limited, 47.
Light and color, 162.
Logic and language spoiled, 57.
Longfellow, 17.
Luther, 167.
Madness, Join in, 28.
Majolica pot, 86.
Martial’s _Xenia_, 7, 8.
Martyr, The last, 30.
Martyrs, 84.
Metaphysics for sale, 111.
Meter and foot, 13.
Method, Our, 26.
Modern criticism, 76.
Moment, The great, 67.
Monologues and discussion, 64.
Moral Problem, A, 122.
Moralists void of sense, 8.
Moritz, Karl Philip, 60, 167.
Motives and action, 44.
Muse, The poet and his, 53.
_Musen-Almanach_, 7, 8.
Mutual Admiration Society, 58.
Mystics, 161.
Natural law, 120, 170.
Naturalist and poet, 135.
Nature, and reason, 37;
Genius and, 136;
Law of, 41;
misrepresented, 143.
Nectar, 42.
Newton’s theory of color, 169.
Nicolai, 5f, 168;
Motto of, 80;
on the Danube, 77.
Noble and common natures, 147.
Nose for smelling, 120.
Nothing, I thought, 97.
Olympian gods, 85.
One thing needed, 150.
Oneness and changes, 162;
Difference in, 152;
Indicated, 100;
of beauty, 38.
Onion, Truth not an, 158.
Open secret, 161.
Ostrich, The, 89.
Parnassus, 85.
Part of the whole, 151.
Parties, 90.
Pentameter, Dactylic, 21-22.
Penthemimeres, 15, 21.
Perfection, 148.
Philistines, 5, 25, 142.
Philosopher and bigot, 144.
Philosophy will remain, 108.
Piety and science, 142.
Plant unconscious, 141.
Platitudes, 76.
Platner, 168.
Pleasure and virtue, 122;
in celestial repasts, 145.
Poet and his muse, The, 53;
and naturalist, 135;
is born, The, 129.
Poetical deviltry, 8.
Poetry, Purpose of, 134.
Possession and being, 36.
Practical, 106.
Press is thinking, 81.
Problem, A moral, 122.
Propagation and growth, 39.
Prophet, The, 88.
Prose, 26.
Prudence and wisdom, 138.
Publisher, A, 81.
Puffendorf, 120-121; 170.
Purpose, of poetry, 134;
Our, 25.
Pythia, 82.
Reason, and heart, 34;
and nature, 37;
and truth, 171.
Reason’s divinity, 143.
Refuge, Specialist the last, 115.
Reichardt, 168.
Reinhold, Karl Leonard, 164, 169.
Religion, 163.
Repetition, 153.
Repetitions, Vain, 160.
Reviewers, Incompetent, 54.
Ritual, 160.
Sale, Metaphysics for, 111.
Salvation, 46.
Schiller, 170;
and Goethe, 3ff, _et passim_.
Schmidt, K. Ch. F., 106.
Science, 132;
and piety, 142;
and transcendental philosophy, 116, 117.
Scoundrel, Stuff for a, 88.
Secret, open, 161; remains, 50.
Sentiment and thoughts, 33.
Sentimentalists, 5, 87.
Servant and _belles lettres_, 62.
Socrates, 82.
Soul, Thing and, 101.
Souls, Let us interchange, 36.
Specialist the last refuge, 115.
Spinoza, 98.
Spirit and letter, 73.
Star-constellations, 124.
Stilling, Heinrich, 87, 168.
Stolberg, The Brothers, 7, 85, 168.
Strength and weakness, 41.
Sublimity not in space, 133.
Sully, Your hands, 79.
Systems, Philosophical, 126.
Taste in a watering place, 75.
Teleology, 119.
Teutonic languages, 18.
Theoreticians, 114.
Thing, and soul, 101;
of all things, 98.
“Things in themselves” to be sold, 111.
Thoughts and sentiment, 33.
Three, Conception makes, 104.
Time, 40.
Transcendent and transcendental, 169.
Transcendental, idealism, 169;
philosophy, Natural science and, 116, 117.
Trochaic trimeter, 14.
True universally, 95.
Trust in scientific truth, 136.
Truth, and error, 157, 159;
and fiction, 134;
and form, 130;
and her appearance, 152;
and reason, 171;
dearer than error, 154;
My, 80;
not an onion, 158;
Trust in scientific, 136;
will punish, 156.
Universally true, 95.
Urgent, 95.
Value and worth, 36.
Vanity, 69.
Various destinies, 39.
Verse is impressive, 26;
Language shaping, 59.
Vinculum, 69.
Virtue and pleasure, 122.
Voss, Johann Heinrich, 11, 12.
Wanted, 62.
Weakness and strength, 41.
Whole, Part of the, 151,
Wisdom and prudence, 138.
Wolf, 55, 167.
Wolff, Caspar Friedrich, 3.
World, Creator and, 135.
Worth and value, 36.
Wretches, 68.
Xenions, and Xenia, 8;
History of the, 3ff.
Zeus to Heracles, 42.
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