29. Göttern, Homer and the Greeks appear to him like gods. 35. Luise, by Joh. Heinr. Voss, published 1795. 41. meise, directed against the trifling of the Elegies. 45. Nationen, French emigrants had come to Weimar where they were provided for by the Duke. 46. unser eignes Herz, i.e., unser deutsches Herz und nicht das Griechen- und Römertum. An important concession of the poet's patriotism. Compare Sprüche in Prosa, 463. 3. Aleris und Dora First printed in Schiller's Musenalmanach for 1797. Of this most perfect and beautiful of Goethe's classical imitations Schiller says in his letter to Goethe, June 18, 1796: “Die Idylle hat mich beim zweiten Lesen so innig, ja noch inniger als beim ersten Lesen bewegt. Gewiss gehört sie unter das Schönste, was Sie gemacht haben, so voll Einfalt ist sie, bei einer unergründlichen Tiefe der Empfindung." And W. von Humboldt writes to Goethe, June 25, 1796: "In Ihrer Idylle vereinigt sich alles, was diese schöne Gattung anziehend und reizend machen kann: einfache Wahrheit der Empfindungen, liebliche Natur der Schilderungen, hohe dichterische Schönheit und eine bewunderungswürdige Zierlichkeit und Leichtigkeit der Diction." 3. die Geleise, the old feminine gender of the word which is now used as a neuter. 27. die seltene, der zierlichen Bilder Verknüpfung, one of the frequent Latin constructions in Goethe. Compare note, p. 25, 1. 89. = 46. geringeltes Tuch = das Kringel, a ring-shaped pad, still used in Europe by women as a protection for the head when carrying baskets or jars. 53. Flut. Goethe had originally Woge,' which he changed to 'Flut,' owing to the metrical criticisms of Humboldt. See Goethes Briefwechsel mit den Gebr. Humboldt, p. 18 ff. A comparison of the version in the Musenalmanach with the present form of the poem, in the revising of which A. W. Schlegel assisted, will show the trouble which the hexameter gave to Goethe. 4. While Wir sind vielleicht. Taken from the Zahme Xenien. the 'wir' here refers to the Xenien which Goethe published with Schiller, it expresses at the same time the change in Goethe's attitude toward classicism. Concerning this change, see also von Loeper in Goethe-Jahrbuch V, 292 ff. 5. Im Vaterlande. Taken from Sprichwörtlich. With this complete return to the poetry of his own country, compare Fr. Schlegel in his Fragmente, Athenäum 12, 79: "Deutschheit ist ächte Popularität und darum ein Ideal." See also in the poem Ilmenau, p. 48, 1. 167: Ich sehe hier, wie man nach langer Reise Im Vaterland sich wieder kennt. 6. Ein ewiges Kochen. First printed after Goethe's death, 1836. It was presumably written at the time when he finally gave up his useless efforts of writing correct hexameters. Compare Hildebrand, Beiträge z. d. Unterricht, 402 ff. 1-2. A description of the distress which his own hexameters caused him. 4. keine Hexameter, compare Sprüche in Prosa, 703: “Nachdem uns Klopstock vom Reim erlöste und Voss uns prosodische Muster gab, so sollen wir wol wieder Knittelverse machen wie Hans Sachs." 6. Knittelversen. On the nature and history of the doggerel, compare Hildebrand in Grimm's Wb. under 'Knüttelvers' (V, 1535). When writing these lines Goethe had evidently forgotten that he himself had used the Knittelvers in the earliest scenes of his Faust. How completely he was convinced toward the end of his life that German metrical forms alone were suitable to the German language, may be seen from the introduction to the 18th book of D. u. W. The following lines show how, during this period of his return to the meters of his own race he prefers the melodiousness of the German verse to the monotonous clatter of the hexameter: Allerlieblichste Trochäen Aus der Zeile zu vertreiben 7. Phorkyas-Mephistopheles Taken from Faust II. The verses are inserted here, because they contain Goethe's renunciation of his one-sided worship of classicism. 2. Gemenge Haufe ohne Ordnung, compare 'Handgemenge.' 7. von Herzen gehen. The poetry of the ancients, though plastic, is cold compared with modern poetry. See Humboldt in his introduction to Briefwechsel mit Schiller, p. 16: "Die tiefere und wahrere Richtung im Deutschen liegt in seiner grösseren Innerlichkeit, die ihn der Wahrheit der Natur näher erhält. . . . Dadurch unterscheidet er sich von den meisten neueren Nationen, und in näherer Bestimmung des Begriffes der Innerlichkeit wieder auch von den Griechen." Compare also Klopstock's ode, Der Hügel und der Hain (1767): Sing, Telyn, dem Dichter die schönere Grazie Der seelenvollen Natur. 12. Thränenlust, compare Wonne der Wehmut, p. 56. See also Schiller, Worte des Wahns: Es ist dennoch das Schöne, das Wahre! V. Lieder und Balladen The poems of this group are not arranged historically. Having originated in various periods of the poet's life they are intended here to form a kind of lyric intermezzo containing the most perfect specimens of Goethe's lyric art. 1. Vorklage A poetic preface to the new edition of his poems, published 1815. Concerning the title, compare Faust, Zueignung: Der Schmerz wird neu, es wiederholt die Klage Des Lebens labyrinthisch irren Lauf. Mein Leid ertönt der unbekannten Menge. Goethe's poetry is essentially 'verarbeiteter Schmerz.' See P. 140, 1. 80: and p. 140, 1. 84: Zart Gedicht wie Regenbogen. Meine Dichterglut war stets gering. 1. leidenschaftlich, Leidenschaft, passion, does not have here the meaning which it has at present, but stands for feeling, emotion, as it frequently did during the 18th century. Compare Lessing XII, 49: "Ich finde keine einzige Leidenschaft, die das Trauerspiel in dem Zuschauer rege macht als das Mitleiden." Stammeln, because the emotion of his heart cannot find adequate expression in language. Thus he writes to Aug. von Stolberg, Jan. 26, 1766: "ich fühle Sie können ihn tragen, diesen zerstückten stammelnden Ausdruck wenn das Bild des Unendlichen in uns wühlt." In the same way he uses 'lallen' Faust I, 57: Ach! was in tiefer Brust uns da entsprungen, and 'stottern' in Künstlers Abendlied (II, 188): Ich zittre nur, ich stottre nur, Und kann es doch nicht lassen. The same expressions are used by Herder and especially by Klopstock who introduced them. See Lyon, Goethes Verhältnis zu Klopstock, 45 ff. 2. Geschrieben. He frequently expresses his aversion to writing. Thus he writes to Frau von Stein, Apr. 16, 1776, “ich hab Dir was zu sagen, das fürs Papier zu gut ist." Egmont, "unter vielem Verhassten ist mir das Schreiben das Verhassteste." See also the frequent expression of contempt for mere words in Faust. Goethe in this respect, too, represents the great change which had come about since the period of learning during the 17th and the early part of the 18th century. 4. sammeln. Goethe was very free in communicating to his friends his unpublished poems. 5-8. In a letter to Frau von Stein, May 14, 1779, he compares his poems to "alte abgelegte Schlangenhäute, auf weissem Papier aufgezogen." 11. Widerspruch. Nowhere does the difference between common philosophical thinking and Goethe's thinking appear so clearly as it does in his treatment of contradiction. With Goethe contradiction is the form in which the deepest hidden truths manifest themselves, and to grasp contradiction means to know the truth. Hence his fondness for the seemingly contradictory expression of truths. Compare Faust I, 328-329: Ein guter Mensch in seinem dunklen Drange and p. 82, 1. 6: Und kann ich nur einmal Recht einsam sein, Dann bin ich nicht allein. Concerning his fondness for contradiction, see Faust I, 2557: Bleibt gleich geheimnisvoll für Kluge wie für Thoren, and p. 139, 1. 67: Wo recht viel Widersprüche schwirren, Mag ich am liebsten wandern. The tone of the entire poem is rather cool and prosaic, corresponding to the state of mind which the political events of the time (1814) had produced in him. 2. Erster Verluft First printed 1789. Perhaps a reminiscence of his experience in Sesenheim. |