lofty mountains, green and sunny meadows, where we breathe the balmy air of spring, listen, full of rapture, to the songs of birds, and bow before the majesty of the Great Creator. We are transplanted to the thickets of the forest, a soft delicious coolness pervades it, its darkness broken here and there by glimpses of light from the blue canopy of heaven. After having passed it, a wild scenery extends before the wanderer's eye, wild mountain brooks dash down from the lofty height; everything around seems dreaming in melancholy and silence. Soon the scene changes again; bright streams winding their silvery path through green meadows; we listen to the sweet sounds of the shepherd's flute; smiling villages are dotting the country around in every direction, happiness, health, contentment, are its inmates. 'Glückliches Volk der Gefilde,' the wanderer exclaims. Noch nicht zur Freiheit erwacht theil'st du mit deiner Flur frölich das enge Gesetz!' Here interrupting his picture in order to describe the contrast between conventional town life and that of nature; he speaks of the cultivation of arts and sciences, of the difference between the various ranks of society, 'Stände seh' ich gebildet, der Pappeln stolze Geschlechter zieh'n in geordnetem Pomp vornehm und prächtig daher.' He then describes the life of the artisan, how by constant thought and activity, the slumbering faculties of men are set in motion, and the greatest things accomplished by industry and noble emulation. The blessings of agriculture, and all the arts of peace are then alluded to in highly eloquent language by figures horrowed from antiquity. Ceres offers the plough, Hermes the anker, Bacchus the grape, Minerva the olive-tree. Mourning over the by-gone happy mythological age, he speaks of the immortal works of art of Greece and Rome, of Ionia, and points out the causes of the downfall of ancient and modern nations, their degeneracy arising from the abuse of liberty, and uncontrolled passions. 'Hohl ist die Schaale, der Geist ist aus dem Leichnam gefloh'n,' till at last, awaking from his dream, recovering from his intoxication, brought on by excesses, he returns again to never changing nature, where alone he finds calm, peace, and happiness. 'Die Ideale,' are like a beautiful echo of the ideal time of youth passed for ever. 'Die Macht des Gesanges,' is aptly depicted by the mightiest of of all singers, who knew how to strike the right chord in the human heart. Er taucht es in das Reich der Todten, Und wiegt es zwischen Ernst und Spiele 'Ideal und Leben,' a poem, which in a letter to his friend Wilhelm von Humboldt, he recommends the latter to read in consecrated silence, 'in geweihter Stille.' Jugendlich von allen Erdenmalen, Schwebet hier der Menschheit Götterbild! Schiller's 'BALLADS' are patterns of descriptive poetry, and were mostly written at the time when he was engaged in his great dramatic works, 'Wallenstein,' 'Maria Stuart,' and 'Wilhelm Tell.' In painting scenes of nature, Schiller, who had never travelled, and therefore been precluded from beholding with his own eyes the scenes which he so truthfully and graphically describes, derived his knowledge from conscientious study of the subject, but chiefly from his own ardent poetical imagination. The passage in 'The Diver'* in which he describes the depth of the sea, and its hidden wonders, that in the Handschuh,' descriptive of the combat between the Lion and the Tiger, are strikingly graphic and true. 'Ritter Toggenburg,'t perhaps the finest among his ballads, is a beautiful medieval picture over which the purest halo is spread. 'Die Bürgschaft,' is a touching homage paid to real friendship. 'Hero und Leander' describes in gloomy language that love which shrinks from no sacrifice, from no impediment. Hört ihr jene Brandung stürmen, Asien riss sie von Europen; And in another passage. Ach, zu dem entfernten Strande Und kein Fahrzeug stösst vom Ufer; In the 'KAMPF MIT DEM DRACHEN'-'THE FIGHT WITH THE DRAGON,' Schiller intended to depict the old Christian chivalry, half knightly, half monastic. It expresses the moral of that humility which consists in self-conquest, its origin being found in the annals of the Maltese order. The date assigned to the conquest of the dragon in 1342. Helion de Villeneuve being the name of the Grand-master, Dieu-Donné de Gazon that of the knight of this order. Rudolph of Hapsburg.-Humility is exalted in this poem, derived from a story told by Aegidius Tschudi, the Swiss chronicler. * See p. 346. † See P. 342. See p. 344. The Victory Feast.-Here the classical spirit is blended with the more deep and tender philosophy of modern romance. We are reminded of Homer, and as yet the Teutonic sentiment pervades everywhere. Its inspiration rises from a purely Hellenic source, but the Germanic clothing is discernible.-Blackwood's Magazine. But how shall we express in adequate terms our admiration of that wonderfully graphic picture drawn of human life, in the 'Lied von der Glocke,'* the crown of his transcendant genius! A poem, with which the German nation will always associate the revered name of one of its greatest bards! We are told how that bell is destined to be man's companion in good and evil days; how its merry peals will fill with joy the heart of the parents, when announcing the ushering into life of their first-born; how its melodious sounds will mingle with the sweet emotions of her who is led to the hymeneal altar; how its solemn chimes invite the pious to the house of God; how it strikes terror into the bosom of the peaceful citizen when the tocsin of alarm rouses him from his peaceful slumber in a time of conflagration, of war or rebellion; how again it gladdens the heart of the humble husbandman, when it tolls in happy harvest home; or when the weary soldier, after the struggles of war, bends his steps homewards, and peace prevails again throughout the land; and, alas! how its mournful tunes mingle with the grief of the bereaved, when the wanderer is conducted to his last resting-place. Then it seems, as if, through its solemn vibrations, we heard a voice from above uttering its own mournful motto MORTUOS PLANGO.' DIE IDEALE. In this poem, so full of feeling and depth, Schiller describes man mourning over the beautiful, but, alas! too rapidly fleeting dreams of youth. Imbued with tenderness and sweet melancholy, the language here appeals the more powerfully to our feelings; because it strikes a chord in our own hearts, and kindles the electric spark running from soul to soul. DIE IDEALE, 1 So willst du treulos von mir scheiden TO THE IDEAL. Then, wilt thou, with thy fancies holy- Wilt thou thus relentless flee? * See p. 349. 2 Erloschen sind die heitern Sonnen, Die einst das trunk'ne Herz geschwellt; 3 Wie einst mit flehendem Verlangen 4 Und theilend meine Flammentriebe 5 Es dehnte mit allmächt'gem Streben Die enge Brust ein kreisend All, Herauszutreten in das Leben, In That und Wort, in Bild und Schall. 6 Wie sprang, von kühnem Muth beflügelt, 7 Wie leicht ward er dahin getragen, The suns serene are lost and vanish'd From that wild heart they whilome fill'd Gone the divine and sweet believing In dreams which Heaven itself unfurl'd! What godlike shapes have years bereaving Swept from this real work-day world! As once, with tearful passion fired, The Cyprian Sculptor clasp'd the stone, Till the cold cheeks, delight-inspired, Blush'd-to sweet life the marble grown; So Youth's desire for Nature!-round The Statue, so my arms I wreathed, Till warmth and life in mine it found, And breath that poets breathe - it breathed. With my own burning thoughts it burn'd; Its silence stirr'd to speech divine;Its lips my glowing kiss return'd; Its heart in beating answer'd mine! How fair was then the flower-the tree!How silver-sweet the fountain's fall! The soulless had a soul to me! My life its own life lent to all! The Universe of Things seem'd swelling How happy in his dreaming error, His own gay valour for his wing, Of not one care as yet in terror, Did Youth upon his journey spring; Till floods of balm, through air's dominion, Bore upward to the faintest starFor never aught to that bright pinion Could dwell too high, or spread too far. Though laden with delight, how lightly The wanderer heavenward still could soar, And aye the ways of life how brightly The airy Pageant danced before!Love, showering gifts (life's sweetest) down, Fortune, with golden garlands gay, And Faith, with starbeams for a crown, And Truth, whose dwelling is the Day. Afar the blithe companions stray; In vain their faithless steps explore, 8 Doch ach schon auf des Weges Mitte Ah! midway soon, lost evermore, As, one by one, they glide away. 9 Ich sah des Ruhmes heil'ge Kränze Auf der gemeinen Stirn entweiht ; 10 Von all' dem rauschenden Geleite. Der Freundschaft leise, zarte Hand, 11 Und du, die gern sich mit mir gattet, The holy crown which Fame was wreathing, Behold! the mean man's temples wore! The barren path more lonely lay, Who, loving, linger'd yet to guide me, And follows to the House of Dread? Thine, Friendship! thine, the hand so tender, Thine the balm dropping on the wound— Thy task-the load more light to render, Ŏ earliest sought and soonest found! And thou, so pleased with her uniting To charm the soul-storm into peace, Sweet Toil! in toil itself delighting, That more it labour'd, less could cease: At least thou strik'st from Time, the while, NOTES. 1. Treulos von mir scheiden,' allusion to the golden time of youth, not mentioned here. 2. The ideals vanish before stern reality. 3. Having begun life with soaring aspirations, the poet uses here a happily chosen figure, taken from Grecian art. Similar to Pygmalion, who knew how to infuse life into the cold marble, the aspiring youth clung to nature, the pure daughter of heaven, until it became animated under his warm embrace. 4. Every thing great and beautiful in nature, trces, flowers, the song of birds, the return of spring found a ready echo in his own sympathising heart, for it is from the wonders of nature that the poet draws his inspirations. 5. By activity ideals are realised, the artist, the orator, creates around him a domain conformably to these ideals; but how great is man's disappointment, how little the result, compared with his expectations. 7. The aims of striving youth are:-Love, with its sweet reward, fortune in its golden wreath, glory adorned with its star-crown, truth shining in its sunny splendour. 8-9. But before having only half reached the aim, the beautiful dreams vanish, one after another, fortune deceives him, the thirst after knowledge remains unquenched, doubts arise, honour is often staked for an empty object, and love proves a short dream. But when all has departed, hope alone remains shedding its pale light over the gloom around. 10. Who also, when all has fled, still clings to him with affection, proves a comforter in suffering. and follows him to the 'finstern Haus,' i.e., the grave? it is the friend, the true friend. 11. In this verse, the poet points out the blessings of active life. Beschäftigung, which associated with friendship without ever flagging, contributes its grains of sand, one after another, slowly, but steadily, to that great edifice of life, built by the hands of man, in order to enable the latter to pay off a portion of the debt he owes to his great Creator. |